Origin and meaning

Dangote surname meaning and origin

Little has been published about this surname. This page separates what is documented from what is likely and what is unknown.

Where does the surname Dangote come from?: Nigeria. About 98% of recorded bearers live there, and the best-documented family line is a Hausa family from Kano.
What does Dangote mean?: It is not established. The name probably begins with the Hausa ɗan, “son of”, but no reliable source we have found explains -gote or the name as a whole.
Is Dangote a first name or a surname?: Mostly a surname, but it is also recorded as a first name.

Documented

The name is concentrated in Nigeria. About 504 of an estimated 516 bearers live there.¹
The best-documented line is a Hausa family from Kano. Mohammed Dangote, a Kano businessman, died in 1965. His son Aliko Dangote was born in Kano in 1957 into a Hausa Muslim family.³
The name is also used as a first name.¹

Likely, but not confirmed

In Hausa, ɗa means “son” or “child”, and its linked form ɗan means “son of”.² Many Hausa names start with it. For example, Danjuma joins ɗan with Juma’a (Friday), and Danladi joins it with Lahadi (Sunday).⁴ In everyday spelling the hooked ɗ is written as a plain d.

Given its spelling and its Hausa setting, Dangote probably follows the same pattern, as ɗan + gote. However, we have not found a published source that analyses this particular name, so this remains an inference.

Unknown

We have not found a reliable source for what -gote means in this name. Several explanations circulate on social media and name-meaning websites, for example that it was a nickname for trading skill. None cites a source, so this site does not repeat them as fact.

Also unknown: when the name was first used, and whether everyone who bears it today descends from a single family. If you know of a documented source, please send it to us.

Sources

Forebears, “Dangote Surname”, forebears.io/surnames/dangote.
Paul Newman, Hausa–English Dictionary, Yale University Press, 2007.
“Aliko Dangote”, Wikipedia, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliko_Dangote. Also “Aliko Dangote: Kano trader’s son who rose to become Africa’s richest man”, Nation (Kenya), nation.africa.
“Danjuma” and “Danladi”, Wikipedia: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danjuma, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danladi.