While many people have postulated and opined what the name really means, there can’t be said to be much consensus as to that meaning,

 

Firstly I would like to reiterate that the name of an ethnic group does not always originate within that ethnic group, for instance the Yoruba used to refer to themselves as the anago or the aku people and the name Yoruba is alleged to have been given them by the Hausa in reference to someone who is tricky or untrustworthy, what ever the case that’s not our focus, it’s just an example.

 

About the name Igbo, many have suggested or assumed that it comes from Heebo, Eboe, or Ibo, that is entirely false narrative driven by an agenda, which is to make it look more it easier to draw similarity to Hebrew,

 

However no Igbo clan or town or tribe ever refers to themselves or others as Ibo, Mr Ibu, Heebo or Eboe, in fact the first place we encounter these terms are in colonial texts or documents done by Portuguese or British cartographers and explorers, and the reason is simple, Portuguese for example does not have much of our sound case especially consonants, they do not have “gb” consonant sound, and so they did not speak the language, they will transcribe the names as it sounds in their ear based on their own native linguistic rules, thus it’s easy to transcribe Igbo into Heebo or Eboe, that is what they can pronounce, to further buttress my point further consider how Igbuzo was anglicized to Ibusa and Enugwu to Enugu, also the Portuguese had transcribed Ibinu in their texts to Beny, which morphed to Benin,

 

Thus I don’t understand the rationale of elevating a western corruption of your native tribe to a factual and legitimate status except out of mischief,

Heebo, Eboe and Ibo are all Western corruptions of Igbo and have no meaning to the indigenous neither do the spellings even respect our linguistic structures,

Olauda who uses the erroneous spellings in his work, I don’t blame him, he received his literary training from the colonists where he spent most of his life,

Some have tried to link Igbo through this fraudulent link to Hebrew, and thus have created synonyms such as Igbrew, Hibu, Hibru, well other than having no factual basis nor oral traditional support these are mere fabrications from the imagination and does not mean anything to the indigenous people, or at best they are mere assumptions

 

The name Hebrew itself is an English rendition or corruption of the original Ivriyyim which means of Abraham(Abraham equally being an English rendition itself)

 

There many examples of English corruptions on which false similarities are created and on which if the actual corrections to the original Hebrew are made will dismantle all perceived similarities, one example is the Word Jew, Jew is an English word

 

The original Hebrew is “Yahudi” while Judah is Yahuda, James is Yakov, Elijah is Aliyahu etc

 

One important example is equally the name Eri found in the English translation of the Bible which in the original Hebrew is actually Arai this dismantling any perceived similarities

 

Others have tried to link Igbo to gboo thus they say Igbo means ndi gboo meaning ancient people, well while these seems more credible than the very first examples, but ndi gboo is just what it is “ndi gboo” while ndi Igbo is ndi Igbo, they are not just the same besides a large chunk of Igbo land uses Oche or ochie or akani/okani to refer to ancient, if it was “ndi gboo” then it would have been gboo people and not Igbo people, you know just as we have gbagyi people or gboko, gboo and Igbo do not have the same etymology, neither do they have the same intonation, the double stressed vowel (oo) in gb”oo” is what gives it it’s meaning, it wouldn’t mean the same thing if written as gbo, this gboo is gboo and Igbo is Igbo

𝐎𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 “𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨”

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨-𝐊𝐰𝐚 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐰𝐚 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐨-𝐊𝐰𝐚 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐏𝐲𝐠𝐦𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 (𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐤𝐚𝐡 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞)

𝐁𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐘𝐨𝐫𝐮𝐛𝐨𝐢𝐝 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐔𝐠𝐛𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐥𝐚𝐣𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈𝐭𝐬𝐞𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐢,

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐝 𝐞𝐭𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐬 𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨, 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐫𝐮/𝐨𝐥𝐮

𝐓𝐨 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐩 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐰𝐡𝐲 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐰𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐫𝐝 𝐞𝐭𝐲𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲

𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲, 𝐰𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐨 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐛𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐟 𝐰𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐞𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐡𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐨𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐞 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐚𝐥𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐠𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐡𝐚 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐯𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐜 𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬

𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐮𝐬𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐝𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐩𝐨𝐩𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐫 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐚𝐬 “𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨 𝐍𝐬𝐮𝐤𝐤𝐚” 𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨 𝐄𝐭𝐢𝐭𝐢, 𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨 𝐄𝐳𝐞, 𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨 𝐔𝐤𝐰𝐮, 𝐈𝐠𝐛𝐨 𝐔𝐳𝐨

It was used by our ancestors to refer to the people and the community at large and with time just like in the case of Bantu which means the same thing, it coalesced into an ethnic identity even encompassing Oru eventually.