What Do You Call Someone From Rwanda? (Helpful Content!)

Someone from Rwanda is called Rwandan. This is the simplest term to describe a person of citizenship and nationality in Rwanda. Sometimes the term “Rwandese” is used but this is not at all considered common or standard. Rwanda is also a fairly complex ethnic tapestry, which can influence people’s identity more than nationality.

These questions are rarely all that simple, then.

There is a short answer, and that’s that someone from Rwanda is called Rwandan.

On the other hand, the Rwandan population is made up of multiple ethnic groups, though closely related they may be, and this may always be a person’s preferred identifier.

Let’s find out more.

In This Article

What is someone from Rwanda called?

Someone from Rwanda is called Rwandan.

This is the standard, widely used and accepted demonym for a person of Rwandan citizenship or descent.

There can always be multiple ways that a person may feel themselves to be associated with a particular nationality.

Of course, if they are born and raised in the country to native parents—but of course they may also be born to native parents outside Rwanda and still feel Rwandan.

On the other hand, they may be born in Rwanda to non-native parents, and feel themselves Rwandan by association.

Nationality is often a more complex question than we might think, then.

Still, further, we have the fact that there are multiple ethnic groups making up Rwanda’s population.

The majority of Rwanda’s ethnic groups are seen as part of the overarching Banyarwanda group, its constituent ethnicities comprising around 99% of the Rwandan population.

Of this group, by far the largest is the Hutu group, comprising around 85% of the population of Rwanda.

There are around 11-12 million Hutu people living in Rwanda, though they can also be found in equal numbers in Burundi.

There is also a considerable population in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The next largest group making up most of the rest of the population in Rwanda is the Tutsi people.

They number around 1-2 million people, making up about 9-15% of the population.

The precise definition of this term can vary from time to time and place to place, but ultimately they are an ethnic group originating in Africa’s Great Lakes region.

Before 1962, the Rwandan aristocracy was made up primarily of Tutsi people.

1% of the Banyarwanda group is then made up of the Twa people, a so-called pygmy tribe of hunter-gatherers.

Any of these people, then, may feel their ethnic identity to be far more important their modern Rwandan nationality.

Where does the name “Rwanda” come from?

It is very often the case that nations in Africa, in terms of their modern borders and classifications, are named for the people that live there, rather than the other way around.

As best we can tell, this is how Rwanda gets its name.

It is first referred to as Ruanda in 1834 in writing, and probably derived from the French. It wasn’t until after 1970 that the spelling with the W was preferred.

Beyond that, we don’t know a great deal about the etymology of this name.

It is what the people called themselves, and so the Europeans wishing to apply borders to everything as they did, took that name, sectioned off Rwanda, and gave it this name.

More than that, we cannot really say where the locals took their own name from.

Is it Rwandan or Rwandese?

The name for someone from Rwanda is always Rwandan, and not Rwandese.

Some do use this latter term, but it is widely considered to be at best non-standard and at worst outright incorrect.

Indeed, the confusion often comes from the fact that Rwandese was at one time not the name of the people but of the country itself.

It was only in 2003 that the official name of the country was changed from the Rwandese Republic to the Republic of Rwanda.

Of course, many native individuals may have differing views on this question, so you may well find a local that considers Rwandese to be perfectly fine.

This would, though, be a gamble, and a needless one at that; so just stick with the accepted, standard demonym for the people of Rwanda, Rwandan.

Where do Rwandans live?

Virtually all of Rwanda’s indigenous ethnic groups are spread across multiple African nations.

The dominant ethnic group, the Hutu, are found in virtually equal numbers in Burundi as they are in Rwanda.

Following the events of the Rwandan Genocide in 1994, many Rwandans fled the country, and have since settled in many places across the world, particularly in Europe.

There are an estimated 10-15,000 Rwandans living in the U.K., and across Europe figures are generally comparable.

There are also many in France.

All of this is to say, then, that Rwandans may feel many things to be true of their identity all at once; they may be Rwandan but ethnically something distinct, and they may now also identify with the country to which they have moved.

So, again, these questions are rarely completely clear cut.

In terms of someone’s legal nationality in the modern sense of the nation state, then Rwandan is really the only term you’ll need—“Rwandese” is hardly even a demonym in the first place.

On the other hand, of course, you always have a more complex picture in terms of someone’s specific ethnic identity as opposed to their national identity—in these cases, it’s always best just to talk to the individual!

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Founder - @PollyWebster

Polly Webster is the founder of Foreign Lingo and a seasoned traveler with a decade of exploration under her belt.

Over the past 10 years, she has journeyed to numerous countries around the globe, immersing herself in diverse cultures, traditions, and languages.

Drawing from her rich experiences, Polly now writes insightful articles about travel, languages, traditions, and cultures, sharing her unique perspectives and invaluable tips with her readers.

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