Home › Clan names › Pedi › Bakwena
Bakwena Clan — History & Meaning
Pedi clan · Sepedi
Totem Crocodile (Sotho/Tswana: Kwena)
History & origin
The Bakwena ('people of the crocodile') are one of the oldest and most widespread Sotho-Tswana clusters, ancestral to numerous later groups across South Africa, Botswana and Lesotho. The name derives from the crocodile (kwena) totem. Many other clans, including branches of the Bapedi, Bafokeng-related lines and Tswana royal houses, trace descent from or splits within the Bakwena. Within the Northern Sotho/Pedi sphere of Limpopo and Sekhukhuneland, Bakwena groups were among the constituent peoples acknowledging the Pedi (Marota) kings.
Associated surnames
Surnames that share this clan: Sebei, Mmutle, Koena, Mogale, Magopa.
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.