Ilunga is a relatively common personal name in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

. The name ILUNGA derives from the verb "kulunga", which means to unite, unify, gather or put together. ILUNGA is the name that the BALUBA give to those they consider to be unifying or bringing people together. "Kulunga" opposes the verb "kusansanya", which means to separate or to divide. In June 2004, "ilunga" was reported as being a Bantu word meaning "a person who is ready to forgive any abuse for the first time, to tolerate it a second time, but never a third time", and – in the opinion of 1,000 linguists surveyed on the subject – the

world In its most general sense, the term "world" refers to the totality of entities, to the whole of reality or to everything that is. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the worl ...

's most difficult word to translate.BBC News: Congo word "most untranslatable"
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Ilunga as a family name

Ilunga is a family name placed before the

given name A given name (also known as a forename or first name) is the part of a personal name quoted in that identifies a person, potentially with a middle name as well, and differentiates that person from the other members of a group (typically a ...

. There are many famous African and African-descended people named Ilunga. For example: *

Kalala Ilunga Kalala Ilunga (b. 16th century) was a Prince, King and one of the emperors of Luba Empire, the latter of which spread over the province of Katanga (before cutting) into Zambia and Zimbabwe. A mythic cultural hero who had invented much of Luba cu ...

, legendary founder of the

Luba Luba may refer to: Geography *Kingdom of Luba, a pre-colonial Central African empire * Ľubá, a village and municipality in the Nitra region of south-west Slovakia *Luba, Abra, a municipality in the Philippines *Luba, Equatorial Guinea, a town ...

ethnic group of

Democratic Republic of Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

* Sylvestre Ilunga, appointed as the

Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo The Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: link=no, 1=Premier ministre de la République démocratique du Congo, sw, 1=Waziri Mkuu wa Jamhuri ya Kidemokrasia ya Kongo, ln, 1=Minisele ya Yambo wa Republiki ya Kɔ́ngɔ ...

in May 2019- * Bendele Ilunga, boxer,

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Didier Ilunga-Mbenga Didier "D. J." Ilunga-Mbenga (pronounced Benga; born December 30, 1980) is a Belgian-Congolese former professional basketball player. He has also played for the Belgian national basketball team as he is a dual citizen of both his native countries. ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

, Congo, joined Dallas Mavericks in July 2004 * Dorah Ilunga Kabulu,

politician A politician is a person active in party politics, or a person holding or seeking an elected office in government. Politicians propose, support, reject and create laws that govern the land and by an extension of its people. Broadly speaking ...

, Belgium * Enock Ilunga, painter,

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

* Hérita Ilunga,

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

* Ferousi Ilunga, boxer, Congo * Ilunga A. Kalonzo Ilunga, politician, Congo * Ilunga Katele, traditional culture hero, royal ancestor of the

Chokwe people __NOTOC__ The Chokwe people, known by many other names (including Kioko, Bajokwe, Chibokwe, Kibokwe, Ciokwe, Cokwe or Badjok), are an ethnic group of Central and Southern Africa. They are found primarily in Angola, southwestern parts of the Democ ...

* Martin-Léonard Bakole wa Ilunga (deceased),

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

archbishop, Congo * Masengo Ilunga, former footballer of

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμιλ ...

born in Zaire. * Gen. Ilunga Shamanga (deceased), Congo, Army General, last interior minister of

Mobutu Mobutu Sese Seko Kuku Ngbendu Wa Za Banga (; born Joseph-Désiré Mobutu; 14 October 1930 – 7 September 1997) was a Congolese politician and military officer who was the president of Zaire from 1965 to 1997 (known as the Democratic Republic o ...

's regime, and later prominent member of the

Congolese Rally for Democracy The Congolese Rally for Democracy (french: Rassemblement Congolais pour la Démocratie; abbreviated RCD), also known as the Rally for Congolese Democracy, is a political party and a former rebel group that operated in the eastern region of the ...

rebel group. * Ilunga Mwepu, Congolese footballer * Kasongo Ilunga, Congolese politician Tshiluba is a language spoken in southeastern

References

{{reflist * MacIntyre, Ben. ''Why do Koreans say "a biscuit would be nice" instead of "I want a biscuit"?'',

The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...

, August 21, 2004. Given names Bantu-language surnames Kongo-language surnames

Ilunga as a family name

See also

References