Kenya was named after Mount Kenya, Africa's second highest peak. The Kikuyu community who lived at the foot of the mountain call it Kirinyaga which means "place of brightness". This is because despite being located on the equator, Mount Kenya has permanent glaciers on it. The British, who were busy colonizing Kenya in the mid 19th Century, mispronounced the Kikuyu name and they called the mountain "Mount Kenya" and named their territory after it.
Another story holds that a German missionary, Dr Johann Ludwig Krapf, encountered Mount Kenya in 1849 and asked his guide "what do you call that?".

The guide was carrying a gourd, and as he was a member of the Kamba community he said "kli-nyaa", which means "gourd" in that language. Krapf then proceeded to call the mountain Mount Kenya, the British followed suit and thereafter named the colony Kenya.

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