Igbo people is the word used by the south westerners to describe the easterners far years back.
It simply means or translated to bush people.

The british couldn't pronounce igbo like the Yorubas and call it *ibo* which many Nigerian later adopt.

This is strictly for educational purpose, therefore no insult any foul language the mod will do justice to that.

Senseless.

Etymologically, "Igbo" does indeed mean "forest" or "bush", and it is/was used in the SE to denote forest-dwelling communities as opposed to river-dwelling communities known as "Oru". This dichotomy seems to be wholly indigenous in the SE, making it highly unlikely that SW ever ascribed "Igbo" to the SE. Rather, it is probably more so the case that the term, Igbo, is a legacy from proto-YEAI period. After all, Igbo and Yoruba are part of the same language family. Igbo simply branched off sooner than Yoruba. Therefore, it is not surprising that there would be terminology that is shared between the two branches that survived over the millennia.

ChinenyeN:
Etymologically, "Igbo" does indeed mean "forest" or "bush", and it is/was used in the SE to denote forest-dwelling communities as opposed to river-dwelling communities known as "Oru". This dichotomy seems to be wholly indigenous in the SE, making it highly unlikely that SW ever ascribed "Igbo" to the SE. Rather, it is probably more so the case that the term, Igbo, is a legacy from proto-YEAI period. After all, Igbo and Yoruba are part of the same language family. Igbo simply branched off sooner than Yoruba. Therefore, it is not surprising that there would be terminology that is shared between the two branches that survived over the millennia.

Lately, I've been thinking "Igbo" as "forest" or "forest-dwelling" is rather too simplistic. I find myself leaning more now towards Onwuejeogwu's interpretation. Onwuejeogwu says it means "community of people." I would say "population cluster".

And I think there's linguistic evidence within the YEAI subphylum that lends support to a theory of the root "-gbo-" denoting "an assemblage (of people)." In Yoruba, "agbo" means "a flock", "a fold", "a throng". "Gbogbo" in the same Yoruba, which means "all", "entire", "whole", also carries a connotation of "an assemblage."

In Urhobo, an Edoid language, the same sense of "population cluster" is carried by some words with a - gbo- root. "Egborho" means "many towns grouped together, and "egborha" means "a coven".

Ironically, it doesn't appear there are many clear examples from the Igbo language. But in Ekpeye (an Igboid language), "ogbo" means "all" and also means "group".

Even though, many clear examples are not known from Igbo, there are indications in the way 'igbo' is used (or was used) among the Igbo that suggest the word could be considered as being synonymous with "mba" and "ọha"/ọra; these are words that the Igbo peoples use for "population clusters". For example the meanings of these Igbo names don't really change if you remove the "igbo" in them and replace it with "mba" or "ọha/ọra":- Igbokwe, Igboanugo, Igboamalu, Igbozulike, etc. This is also the context within which place-names like Igbuzo, Igbo-Ukwu and Amaigbo could be understood. The 'igbo' in these place-names probably mean exactly the same thing Mba means in place-names like Mba-Ukwu and Mbanọ; or that ọha means in place-names like Ọhafịa or Ọraifite.

Even more interesting (for me at least) is that Igbo peoples also use "mba" and "ọra/ọha" in the same "sometimes inclusive, sometimes exclusive" way they used "igbo" in the past. "Ndị mba" and "ndị ọra" are used till this day among many Igbo groups to mean "outsider", in exactly the same way "ndị igbo" was used among many Igbo-speaking peoples in the pre-Igbo ethnogenesis days.

With this said though, "igbo" as "cluster of people" and "igbo" as "bush" or "forest" probably still descended from the same root, that meant cluster. Cluster of people. Cluster of vegetation/trees. It's not a far-fetched semantic leap. But "cluster of people" would seem closer to the mark in the context of the meaning of the name of the modern southern Nigerian ethnolinguistic group.

Mraphel:
Igbo people is the word used by the south westerners to describe the easterners far years back.
It simply means or translated to bush people.

The british couldn't pronounce igbo like the Yorubas and call it *ibo* which many Nigerian later adopt.

This is strictly for educational purpose, therefore no insult any foul language the mod will do justice to that.

OP, chineke gozie gi! This is how yanminri will say God bless you. Quite interesting discovery. Ive always wondered what igbo means. In yanminri land they dont even know, they just know they are igbo. Now yanminri mean someting but not igbo.

AjaanaOka, I can certainly agree that the use is heavily associated with the sense of "community". There should be no way anyone would miss that connotation. However, you do bring up an interesting point. Outside of the current known use of "igbo" (within place and personal names), we don't see anything else. Even to make the potential "ogbo" (all, group) connection would not be possible without lookout outside of the Igbo-speaking region. Speaking of which, this is a new revelation for me. "Ogbo" is a term I am very much familiar with, but today is the only day I am seeing a potential connection between it and "igbo". But again, it is not something that could have been arrived at internally.

If I may add one more "hmm" observation, it is even more striking that the sense of "forest" that we get from the term "igbo" (at least within the Igbo-speaking region) comes almost exclusively from juxtaposing it with "oru".

Granted, with respect to the "forest" sense, I am speaking from a limited perspective. "Igbo" is not a term that is used in my region, so my knowledge of the full list of usages would be slim. If the term "igbo" is/can be used on its own when talking about forests and/or bushes within the Igbo-speaking region, then I will stand corrected. However, for now, and to the best of my limited knowledge, I have yet to come across any usage of "igbo" that directly references the forest or the bush. With that, I have decided to say that the "forest" sense is only realized when juxtaposing "igbo" with "oru".

All of this considered, there seems to be more than enough basis to suspect/suggest a 'cluster' etymology for "igbo".

Blame the white men who cannot spell simple IGBO

Ndigbo means everybody. Just like Ndi owerri means owerri people. Gbo means all like gbogbo in Yoruba.