A member of the Kikuyu people, Kenyatta was born with the name Kamau in the village of Nginda. Birth records were not then kept among the Kikuyu, and Kenyatta's date of birth is not known. One biographer, Jules Archer, suggested he was likely born in 1890, although a fuller analysis by Jeremy Murray-Brown suggested a birth "circa" 1897 or 1898. Kenyatta's father was named Muigai, and his mother Wambui. They lived in a homestead near the River Thiririka, where they raised crops, bred sheep and goats. Muigai was sufficiently wealthy that he could afford to keep several wives, each living in a separate "nyūmba" (woman's hut).