Sambo

Diminutive of Samuel, Hebrew

"told by God"

Sambo Origin and Meaning

The name Sambo is a girl's name meaning "told by God".

Sambo went from being a short form of the venerable name Samuel to being a racial slur after the popularity of the children's book Little Black Sambo, first published in 1899 but by the 1930s decried by such esteemed critics as Langston Hughes as being racist. While some measures have been taken to rehabilitate the image of the book, the name Sambo seems terminally tainted.