Home › Clan names › Sotho › Bakoena
Bakoena Clan — History & Meaning
Sotho clan · Sesotho
Totem kwena (crocodile)
History & origin
Bakoena is the Sesotho spelling of the same clan known as Bakwena in Setswana/Sepedi — "people of the crocodile." It is the senior royal stock of Lesotho: Moshoeshoe I and the Lesotho royal house belong to the Bakoena (via the Bamokoteli sub-clan). Bakoena groups are dominant across Lesotho and widespread in the Free State, having descended from the broad southward Kwena migrations from the Transvaal highveld. (This is the same clan entity as 'Bakwena'; the two entries differ only in orthography/dialect.)
Associated surnames
Surnames that share this clan: Mokoena, Koena, Kwena, Mokhachane, Moshoeshoe, Letsie.
We publish the full diboko (clan praises) only once we can verify them against documented tradition — for this clan they are still being confirmed. If you can share an authoritative version, corrections are warmly welcomed.