What was Nelson Mandela’s birth name in the Xhosa language?

Nelson Mandela’s birth name was Rolihlahla Mandela.

He was born Rolihlahla Mandela on 18 July 1918 in Mvezo, in the Transkei region of South Africa. The name is from Xhosa and is commonly explained as meaning “pulling the branch of a tree,” with the informal sense “troublemaker.” His father, Gadla Henry Mphakanyiswa, was a Thembu chief and counselor.

Mandela received the English name “Nelson” from a teacher at the Methodist school in Qunu when he was about seven years old. The custom of assigning English names was common in colonial-era mission schools. Madiba is not his birth name: it is his Thembu clan name, while Dalibhunga was a name associated with his adulthood after a traditional initiation ceremony. These names are therefore related to Mandela but are not interchangeable.