His given name was Tafari; 'Makonnen' was his father's given name. His grandfather's given name was Woldemikael, so according to Ethiopian custom his full name was Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael. Haile Selassie is his name in Ge'ez – the 'classic Ethiopic' language – which was given to him at his infant baptism and adopted again as part of his regnal name in 1930.
To Ethiopians he has been known by many names, including Janhoy, Talaqu Meri, and Abba Tekel. The Rastafari movement uses many of these, also referring to him as Jah, Jah Jah, Jah Rastafari, and HIM (the abbreviation of "His Imperial Majesty").
'Ras' is a rank of nobility, equivalent to Duke, which translates as 'head' or 'prince'.
In childhood he was known as Lij Tafari Makonnen – 'Lij' being a title given to children of noble blood. Haile Selassie (1892–1975) claimed descent from Menelik I, the first Emperor of Ethiopia, who ruled (according to oral tradition) in the 10th century BC. The royal line descended through his maternal grandmother from Sahle Selassie, who was Negus (king) of Shewa (a former autonomous kingdom within the Ethiopian Empire, which includes Addis Ababa) from 1813 to 1847.
© Haydn Thompson 2020