Home › Clan names › Zulu › Linda
Linda Clan — History & Meaning
Zulu clan · isiZulu
History & origin
Linda is a Zulu clan name from KwaZulu-Natal. It is most reliably documented through the musician Solomon Linda, for whom Linda was the clan name (his alternative recorded name being Ntsele). He was born in 1909 near Pomeroy in the Msinga reserve of the Umzinyathi area of Natal, a region steeped in Zulu choral and wedding-song traditions that shaped his music. Beyond this well-documented individual, a fuller chiefly genealogy of the clan is not strongly attested in reliable scholarship.
Notable figures & facts
Solomon Popoli Linda (1909-1962), Zulu singer and composer who recorded 'Mbube' in 1939; the song later became the global hit 'The Lion Sleeps Tonight' (the 1961 Tokens version), though Linda himself received almost no royalties in his lifetime.
We publish the full izithakazelo (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.