Nlem Surname

211,868th
Most Common
surname in the World

Approximately 1,945 people bear this surname

Most prevalent in:
Nigeria
Highest density in:
Cameroon

Nlem Surname User-submission:

The Surname NLEM in Cameroon comes primarily from the southern and central region of the country. Its meaning is heart in the Bulu tribe from which the name comes from.

A variant that means the same is Nem in the Ewondo tribe instead.

Read More About This Surname

Nlem Surname Distribution Map

PlaceIncidenceFrequencyRank in Area
Nigeria1,7261:102,6326,934
Cameroon2151:96,60011,495
Brazil11:214,074,3321,693,628
France11:66,422,722504,397
South Africa11:54,177,704343,732
United States11:362,458,9331,988,048

Nlem (18) may also be a first name.

Nlem Surname Meaning

User-submitted Reference

The Surname NLEM in Cameroon comes primarily from the southern and central region of the country. Its meaning is heart in the Bulu tribe from which the name comes from.

A variant that means the same is Nem in the Ewondo tribe instead. Ewondo and Bulu tribes take roots from ancestors that were brothers. A father of 3 children had 2 sons with one woman and one son with another woman. There was a fraternal rivalry between the two eldest from the first mother and the last one, it wasn't a brutal rivalry though more of a competition. At some point, the two elder brothers had made a clan and named their clan Beti (Deity in their dialect at the time) and they decided not to include their younger brother which in turn made a clan of his own (Bulu)

Due to the fact that they were all brothers, at the time they spoke the same language but at various points in time the languages, with new inventions and words, their languages as well as their cultures grew apart (Even within the Beti which further divided into various clans including Ewondo, Eton and Yambassa)

The languages as of now bear various little similarities such as this name, NLEM (Spelt and pronounced NEM in theirs) which means 'Heart' in the language of the descendants of the youngest brother.

- cane___0

The Surname NLEM in Cameroon comes primarily from the southern and central region of the country. Its meaning is heart in the Bulu tribe from which the name comes from.

A variant that means the same is Nem in the Ewondo tribe instead. Ewondo and Bulu tribes take roots from ancestors that were brothers. A father of 3 children had 2 sons with one woman and one son with another woman. There was a fraternal rivalry between the two eldest from the first mother and the last one, it wasn't a brutal rivalry though more of a competition. At some point, the two elder brothers had made a clan and named their clan Beti (Deity in their dialect at the time) and they decided not to include their younger brother which in turn made a clan of his own (Bulu)

Due to the fact that they were all brothers, at the time they spoke the same language but at various points in time the languages, with new inventions and words, their languages as well as their cultures grew apart (Even within the Beti which further divided into various clans including Ewondo, Eton and Yambassa)

The languages as of now bear various little similarities such as this name, NLEM (Spelt and pronounced NEM in theirs) which means 'Heart' in the language of the descendants of the youngest brother.

- cane___0

Nlem Last Name Facts

Where Does The Last Name Nlem Come From? nationality or country of origin

Nlem is held by more people in Nigeria than any other country/territory. It can be found as a variant:. For other potential spellings of this last name click here.

How Common Is The Last Name Nlem? popularity and diffusion

It is the 211,868th most common last name on a global scale, borne by around 1 in 3,746,810 people. The surname Nlem occurs mostly in Africa, where 100 percent of Nlem live; 89 percent live in West Africa and 89 percent live in Atlantic-Niger Africa. Nlem is also the 2,608,198th most commonly used first name throughout the world, held by 18 people.

This surname is most numerous in Nigeria, where it is borne by 1,726 people, or 1 in 102,632. In Nigeria it is primarily concentrated in: Imo, where 67 percent reside, Rivers, where 12 percent reside and Lagos, where 5 percent reside. Without taking into account Nigeria this surname is found in 5 countries. It is also common in Cameroon, where 11 percent reside and Brazil, where 0 percent reside.

Nlem Last Name Statistics demography

The religious adherence of those holding the Nlem surname is predominantly Christian (99%) in Nigeria.

Phonetically Similar Names

SurnameSimilarityWorldwide IncidencePrevalency
Nleme89847/
Nleum897/
Nliem891/
Nlm866/
Nellem8076/
Nletem8068/
Neelem808/
Nailem804/
Neilem802/
N'Leme801/
Nletim801/
Netlem801/
Nilm75500/
Nlen7527/
Nelm7513/
Nlim753/
Hnlm751/
Nnlm751/
Nlne751/
Nylm751/
Nlmh751/
Nlym751/
Nlend675,870/
Nleng67183/
Nlene6739/
Neelm6732/
Nilme676/
Nilne674/
Nelme673/
Nlent672/
Nealm672/
Neilm672/
Nlimg672/
Nailm671/
Nline671/
Nellm670/
Nielm670/
Nehlm670/

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Footnotes

  • Surnames are taken as the first part of an person's inherited family name, caste, clan name or in some cases patronymic
  • Descriptions may contain details on the name's etymology, origin, ethnicity and history. They are largely reproduced from 3rd party sources; diligence is advised on accepting their validity - more information
  • Name distribution statistics are generated from a global database of over 4 billion people - more information
  • Heatmap: Dark red means there is a higher occurrence of the name, transitioning to light yellow signifies a progressively lower occurrence. Clicking on selected countries will show mapping at a regional level
  • Rank: Name are ranked by incidence using the ordinal ranking method; the name that occurs the most is assigned a rank of 1; name that occur less frequently receive an incremented rank; if two or more name occur the same number of times they are assigned the same rank and successive rank is incremented by the total preceeding names
  • Ethnic group cannot necessarily be determined by geographic occurrence
  • Similar: Names listed in the "Similar" section are phonetically similar and may not have any relation to Nlem
  • To find out more about this surname's family history, lookup records on Family​Search, My​Heritage, FindMyPast and Ancestry. Further information may be obtained by DNA analysis