Bàbátúndé — Father has returned
Category: Names
A name traditionally given to a boy believed to carry the spirit of a departed grandfather or father back into the family.
The name reflects the Yorùbá belief in "àtúnwáyé" — an ancestor being reborn into their own family line through a newborn child.
"Bàbátúndé" breaks down as "bàbá tún dé" — "father has come again" — and is traditionally given when a child is born not long after the death of a grandfather or father, read as a sign the ancestor has returned through the newborn.
The equivalent name for a girl believed to carry a grandmother's or mother's spirit back is Yétúndé ("mother has returned"); both names reflect a broader Yorùbá belief in ancestral continuity across generations — more about family memory and identity than a literal claim of reincarnation.
Example: Wọ́n sọ ọ́ ọmọkùnrin náà ní Bàbátúndé nítorí bàbá àgbà rẹ̀ ṣẹ̀ṣẹ̀ kú. — "They named the boy Babatunde because his grandfather had just died."
Related words:
- Yétúndé — The equivalent name for a girl, "mother has returned"
- Àtúnwáyé — The belief in an ancestor's spirit returning through a newborn