'bahima' originates from Bantu languages (regional varieties such as Runyankore-Rukiga/Kinyarwanda), specifically from the prefix 'Ba-' (a plural/people marker) combined with 'Hima' (a clan or group name associated with pastoralists), where 'Ba-' meant 'people (plural)' and 'Hima' referred to the cattle-herding group.

'bahima' developed from the local form 'Ba-Hima' (the Bantu plural prefix plus the clan name 'Hima') and was adopted into English usage during ethnographic and colonial descriptions of the Great Lakes region as 'Bahima'.

Initially, it meant 'people of the Hima (a cattle-herding clan)'; over time it has remained largely consistent, referring to that ethnic/pastoral group in regional and academic usage.