Baba (name)
Baba can be a surname in several cultures such as Dravidian, Japanese, Turkics, and Yoruba.
It is also a nickname for 'father' in some languages, and translates to "father" in the Arabic, Persian and Shona languages.
In various Slavic languages “baba” means an “old lady”.
The Japanese surname is pronounced, and it derives from a common noun that is pronounced and that means "horse-riding ground" or "horse racetrack".
First name
- Baba Abdulai Musah, Ghanaian professional footballer
- Baba Adamu Iyam, Nigerian soldier who served as Military Administrator of Kwara State
- Baba Adeeko, Irish professional footballer
- Baba Balababa oghlu Aliyev, Azerbaijani painter
- Baba Aparajith, Indian cricketer
- Baba Ayagiba, Ghanaian politician
- Baba Balia, Indian spiritual guru and preacher
- Baba Behbud, officer of the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic and colonel in the Turkish Armed Forces
- Baba Bhaskar, Indian dance choreographer, director and actor
- Baba Brinkman, Canadian rapper
- Baba Buddha, Indian prime figure in early Sikhism
- Baba Collins, Nigerian former professional footballer
- Baba Fasiuddin, Indian politician
- Baba Fighani Shirazi, Persian poet active in the late 15th and early 16th centuries
- Baba Hari Dass, Indian yoga master, silent monk, temple builder, and commentator of Indian scriptural traditions
- Baba Haruna, Ghanaian professional footballer
- Baba Kourouma, Spanish footballer
- Baba Iddi, Ghanaian football striker
- Baba Ishak, Seljuk Turkish preacher who led a revolt against the Seljuq Sultanate of Rûm
- Baba Jan, Pakistani political activist
- Baba Keenaram, Indian Aghori ascetic
- Baba Gana Kingibe, Nigerian diplomat, politician and civil servant
- Baba Malick, former Qatari footballer who played as a goalkeeper
- Baba Nobuharu, samurai of Japan's Sengoku period under Takeda Shingen
- Baba Rahman, Ghanaian footballer
- Baba Samid, a Shia Sufi tariqa that gained a widespread following in medieval Azerbaijan and Turkey
- Baba Siddique, Indian politician
- Baba Tahir an 11th-century dervish poet from Hamadan, Iran
- Baba Tatsui, Japanese legislative reformer during the Meiji period
- Baba Vaziroglu, Azerbaijani Writers
Nickname
- Abdulla Baba Fatadi, former footballer who played as a midfielder. Born as Babatunde Fatai in Lagos, Nigeria, he represented Bahrain at international level
- Afdal al-Din Kashani also known as “Baba Afzal”, Persian poet and philosopher
- Aslan Rashidovich Usoyan, also known as Baba Gurgur and Grandpa Hassan or just Grandpa, Georgian-born Soviet-Russian crime boss of Yazidi Kurdish descent
- Alaa El Din Abdul Halim El Baba, simply known as Alaa El Baba, a Lebanese footballer
- Akiko Iwata, also known by nickname “Akiko Baba”, Japanese tanka poet and literary critic
- Arteen Ekizian, better known by the ring name Ali Baba, was an Armenian American professional wrestler
- Ali Tomorri was an Albanian Bektashi religious leader
- Ali Ardekani, best known by his stage name “Baba Ali”, Iranian-born American comedian, games developer, businessman, and actor
- Aruj Barbarossa, known as Oruç Reis/Baba Aruj to the Turks, was an Ottoman corsair who became Sultan of Algiers.
- Sayyid Ali Tirmizi, more commonly known as Pir Baba, an Uzbek Sufi pir who settled in Buner in present-day Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
- Ana di Pištonja, better known as “Baba Anujka”, Serbo-Romanian convicted serial killer amateur chemist from the village of Vladimirovac, Serbia
- Baba Punhan, born Atababa Seyidali oghlu Madatzadeh,, an Azerbaijani poet
- Baba Adamu, known occasionally simply by his nickname “Armando”, Ghanaian former professional football striker
- Gündüz Kılıç or "Baba" Gündüz Kılıç, Turkish football player and coach
- Emmanuel Baba Dawud, better known as Ammo Baba, an Iraqi football player and coach of the Iraq national football team
- Farīd al-Dīn Mas'ūd Ganj-i Shakar, commonly known as “Bābā Farīd” or Shaykh Farīd, a 13th-century Pakistani of Punjabi Muslim preacher, poet and mystic
- Baba Sehgal, known as “Harjeet Singh Sehgal”,, Indian rapper
- Edmond Brahimaj, commonly known as Baba Mondi, Albanian religious leader and the eighth Bektashi Muslims
- Minamoto no Yorimasa, known as “Baba no Yorimasa”, Japanese poet, aristocrat and samurai lord
- Neem Karoli Baba or Neeb Karori Baba, also known to his followers as Maharaj-ji, an Indian Hindu guru and a devotee of the Hindu deity Hanuman
- Mashrab, also known as “Bābārahim Mashrab”, a classic figure in Uzbek literature
- Baruch Abuhatzeira, known as “Baba Baruch”, Moroccan-Israeli Kabbalist rabbi and spiritual
- Barbara Jessica Hardy Beaton, known as “Baba Beaton”, English socialite
- DJ Ozma, known as Nao Baba, Japanese pop singer
- Dèhoumon Adjagnon, popularly known by his stage name Baba Yabo, Beninese comedian and actor
- Midori Matsushima, Japanese politician. Her official name is “Midori Baba”
- Nanak Dev, also known as “Baba Nanak”, Indian founder of Sikhism and is the first of the ten Sikh Gurus
- Ghulam Ahmed Chishti, Pakistani music composer. He is also sometimes referred to as “Baba Chishti”
- Tariku Birhanu, stage name Baba, Ethiopian actor
- Hardev Singh, also known as “Nirankari Baba”, Indian spiritual guru and chief leader of the Sant Nirankari Mission
- Ulubatlı Hasan, also known as Baba Hasan Ağa the Standard Bearer or Baba Hasan-ı ‘Alemî, was the sekbanbaşı who erected the first standard on the Byzantine walls during the Conquest of Constantinople
- Israel Abuhatzeira, known as the “Baba Sali”, leading Moroccan Sephardic Jews rabbi
- Mokō, known professionally as “Yutaka Baba”, Japanese internet celebrity
- Riria Baba, known professionally as “Riria” and “Riria Kojima”, Japanese actress
- Saad El-Haddad, better known by his stage names Baba Saad or just Saad, a German rapper of Lebanese descent
- Sanjay Dutt, Indian film actor and producer
- Starina Novak, Serbian hajduk, also known as “Baba Novac” in Romanian
- Veersen Aanandrao known as “Baba Kadam”, an Indian novelist famous for his detective novels
- Wakashoyo Shunichi, known as “Yoichi Babaguchi”, Japanese mixed martial artist, kickboxer, professional wrestler and former sumo wrestler
- Baba Vanga, Bulgarian attributed mystic and healer who claimed to have foreseen the future
Surname
- Adham Baba, Malaysian doctor and a politician who served as Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation from 2021 to 2022
- Anas Baba, Palestinian photojournalist
- Atsuko Baba, Japanese female handball player for Hokkoku Bank and the Japanese national team
- Corneliu Baba, Romanian painter
- Eiichi Baba, Japanese bureaucrat and cabinet minister in early Shōwa period
- Frank Shozo Baba, Japanese American who worked for Voice of America and Japan
- Fumika Baba, Japanese actress and model
- Ghafar Baba, Malaysian politician
- Hideo Baba, Japanese video game producer and president of the game development company
- Hussain Ali Baba Mohamed, former Bahraini footballer
- Ibrahim El-Baba, Lebanese swimmer
- James Baba, Ugandan politician
- Jaroslav Bába, Czech high jumper
- Khaled Mansoor Al Baba, a Syrian footballer
- Kenji Baba, Japanese footballer
- Kikutaro Baba, Japanese malacologist
- Kosuke Baba, Japanese professional baseball pitcher
- Masao Baba, Japanese general
- Mohd Azizan Baba, Malaysian football player and coach
- Naoto Baba, Japanese cross-country skier who competes internationally
- Naruatsu Baba, Japanese smartphone game developer and businessman
- Nobuyuki Baba, Japanese politician
- Noriko Baba, former Japanese women national football player
- Ryouma Baba, Japanese actor
- Ryosuke Baba, Japanese artistic gymnast
- Saki Baba, Japanese women professional golfer
- Seiya Baba, Japanese professional footballer
- Shigeru Baba, Japanese professional go player
- Shohei Baba, Japanese wrestler
- Seishi Baba, Japanese politician
- Shuhaimi Baba, Malaysian film director
- Sumie Baba, Japanese voice actress
- Tadao Baba, Japanese motorcycle engineer
- Takumi Baba, Japanese professional wrestler
- Toru Baba, Japanese entertainer
- Toshifumi Baba, former Japanese baseball player
- Tupeni Baba, Fijian politician
- Yudai Baba, Japanese basketball player
- Yuki Baba, Japanese politician
- Yuta Baba, Japanese expatriate footballer in South Korea
- Zuhurat Baba, Turkish custodian regarded as a spiritual figure whose tomb is located in Istanbul, Turkey
Honorific
The following have adopted the honorific Baba:- Aḥmad Bābā al-Timbuktī, full name Abū al-Abbās Aḥmad ibn Aḥmad ibn Aḥmad ibn Umar ibn Muhammad Aqit al-Takrūrī Al-Massufi al-Timbuktī, Malinese Sanhaja Berber writer, scholar, and political provocateur
- Rachid Baba Ahmed, Algerian record producer, composer, and singer
- Baba Ram Das, born Richard Alpert, American spiritual teacher and psychologist
- Baba Ramdevji, a Hindu ruler venerated as a folk deity in Gujarat and Rajasthan
- Baba Bulleh Shah, a Punjabi philosopher and Sufi poet
- Demir Baba, a 16th-century Alevi saint
- Haji Baba Sheikh, Kurdish prime minister of the Republic of Mahabad
- Gül Baba, an Ottoman Bektashi dervish poet
- Gurdwara Baba Atal, Indian famous Gurdwara in Amritsar dedicated to Atal Rai, son of Guru Hargobind and Mata Nanaki
- Meher Baba, born Merwan Sheriar Irani, Indian guru
- Mohammad Baba As-Samasi, a Sufi of the Naqshbandi order
- Otman Baba, a dervish traveling throughout the Ottoman Empire
- Rehman Baba, an Afghan Sufi Dervish and poet
- Sai Baba of Shirdi, Indian guru
- Sathya Sai Baba, born Sathya Narayana Raju, Indian guru purporting to be a reincarnation of Sai Baba of Shirdi
- Sersem Ali Baba, a 16th-century Ottoman dervish
- Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, Nigerian economist and politician