Surname Origins

Mali: Surnames are typically derived from the name of a clan. Each clan has a 'tana' (totem) which is an item, or items, the clan believes they have a mystical association with. Tana are often animals a clan has a history with. Vegetables also form some tanas. Often the clan has tales of how the clan, or a member of, was helped of saved by that animal. In the case the totem is an animal, members of the clan are forbidden to do harm to the species. In the Mandinka language, 'tana,' means 'not to eat.' A clan may have two tanas, one to represent the clan's nyama (life-force) and the other represent its ancestors. Upon death clan members are said to transform into the tana of their ancestors. Tradition has it that some clan members have the ability to transform into their nyama during life, particularly when under threat.

Ref: Discourse and Its Disguises: The Interpretation of African Oral Texts; Totemism and exogamy, a treatise on certain early forms of superstition and society (Volume 2)

Keita: hippopotamus - https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=KqAaAQAAIAAJ&q=%22some+traditions+say+that+Sunjata+Keita+became+a%22&dq=%22some+traditions+say+that+Sunjata+Keita+became+a%22&hl=en&sa=X&ei=G2nNVI-XKpD3yQSkoYHACg&ved=0CCIQ6AEwAA

Lots here:http://www.theakan.com/Mande_Sirian_Reptilian_Totems.htmlhttps://www.google.co.uk/search?tbo=p&tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22K%C3%A9l%C3%A9tigui+Abdourahmane+Mariko%22#tbm=bks&q=inauthor:%22K%C3%A9l%C3%A9tigui+Abdourahmane+Mariko%22+diarra+diakahttps://books.google.co.uk/books?ei=ymHNVKHGAsOSyATrw4K4CA&id=mysTAQAAIAAJ&dq=clan+tana+sidibe&focus=searchwithinvolume&q=sidibehttps://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Ghc3AQAAMAAJ&q=inauthor:%22Fran%C3%A7ois-Joseph+Clozel%22++oiseau+sidibe&dq=inauthor:%22Fran%C3%A7ois-Joseph+Clozel%22++oiseau+sidibe&hl=en&sa=X&ei=BInNVOOSJqfesASw2oHIBQ&ved=0CCAQ6AEwAAhttp://archive.org/stream/anthropologie19pari/anthropologie19pari_djvu.txthttp://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://www.webguinee.net/bibliotheque/ethnographie/jGermain/societeTotemClan.html&prev=search