I just completed a short study of our presidents given name. My study was done on a whim without any agenda to prove or disprove anything.

Barack

Baraka means 'blessing' in Kiswahili and comes from the Arabic spoken by the Omani Arabs that lived and traded along the coast of East Africa. Though it came to Kiswahili from Arabic it no longer has any sectarian connotations and is in common use amongst East Africans of all faiths. It is a common name for boys in Kenya and Tanzania.

Barack or Barak means 'lightning' in Hebrew. The name Barak is also mentioned in the Bible in the book of Judges. Barak was part of the story of the prophetess Deborah.

Baruch (or Baruwk, Baruk, Strong, 1263) and its cognates berek and baraka all mean the same. Strong, 1288, says "barak, baw-rak', a primitive root; to kneel; by implication to bless God (as an act of adoration), and (vice-versa) man (as a benefit)." (See http://www.virtualchristiancenter.com/biblestudytools/kjvstrongs/STRHEB12.htm)



HUSSEIN (hu- SAYN)

Meaning: "Good Boy, Good Looking Boy"

Origin: Arabic



Obama

Obama is a name from the Luo ethnic group of southwestern Kenya, where Barack Obama Sr. was born. It was originally the given name of Barack Obama's great-grandfather. It is based on the Luo (technically, Dholuo, the name of the language of the Luo) word bam, which means "crooked, slightly bending" . The prefix O- means "he", and many Luo male names begin with it. Since most traditional Luo names were given by the baby's mother referring to something about the child's birth, the best guess is that when Obama's great-grandfather was born one of his arms or legs looked slightly bent.

What do I conclude from this? Hmmm... I'll give it a shot and you can flame me all you want. Please direct any flames for the individual name meaning to Wiki, that's where I got the information.

It appears a literal translation of the name would go something like this:

(Barack)Lightning, blesses, kneeling, (Hussein) a good boy, good looking boy, (Obama)he is crooked, slightly bending.

Interesting.

crooked....how refreshing