African American Names!!

originally posted by: Entreri06

I hope this thread isn't taken a way I don't intend. Just for background, I'm a 33 white make from mississippi. That said I grew up in trailerparks and project housing, more then once being the only "white" (race is a BS creation) family on the block. Never had one bit of trouble tho. In fact me and my brother were fairly "untouchable" because of it. We an army of sorta thugged out friends who would go the bat for us instantly. Multiple times having having a black best friend in school.


Ok here's where I could be precieved as racist and the actual rant. :p




WHAT tHE HELL! are African Americans thinking when they name there kid ghetto @$$ names!!!

They grew up in America, at times getting profiled and disrespected over there race! Why in the hell would you ensure your child has as hard a time as humanly possible?? Just so you can look ghetto as hell to your friends because you named your child shiniqua!!! Do you really need to feel so unique that it's worth sabotaging every job application your child ever has!!

It's ridiculous, anytime a real employer (aka not fast food) sees a ghetto @$$ name on an application. I guarentee it's trash canned! All so you can brag to your unemployed friends about how you spelled it different....


Stop playing into the stereo type!!! Or if you just freakin have to leave your child out of it!!!


I 100% agree it shouldn't matter what your parents name you, but we all know it does. I'm cool with political statements like that and such, but you have NO right to hamstring your child like that!

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I too am from Mississippi, and only claim it when absolutely necessary. But...one of my favorite things was to read the birth announcements in the local paper. It was truly a nightmare. The one I remember even after 45+ years was one poor kid was saddled with 6 names, 7 if the last name was included...the only one I could even pronounce was...Jacuzzi! I've wondered now snd then over the years how that child has made it through life. I guess it goes without saying that his parents must of had a malicious sense of humor.

You should issue your list of approved names.

Being as we airbrush names on t-shirts, caps, tags etc for nearly 30 years, I will have to say it depends on the location as to how names appear

Yes, some areas we go the names are so out there that my husband has to do a double-take as to how and what he is spelling

Some combine family names to make one
Some may use a male name and add a female ending to it ....Michaela (father being Michael)

Around parts in MS their names almost have a Roman spelling to it

Then some of the smaller rural towns they have normal Christian names, if that's what you want to call it


But then you do have those off the wall 15 letter names that even the dad can't spell, so they put Lil D on the hat
Yes, I've been there and seen many dad's not know the correct spelling so don't tell me otherwise


Bottom line....for me, in my experience, it depends on 'where' they are from
Small town, big city, etc. etc.


Unfortunately, people do judge others by the way one dresses, how one composes themselves, and sadly yes, do think a 'funky' name could influence negative outcome unless your personality shines through to compensate for it


White people are the ones that only recently change how Melissa, Cathy, Hailey, etc. are spelled "special"
They want their princess to be 'special'

That is not the blacks doings
That is uppity white folks trying to spell it differently so their kid stands out



Me, my name is one of the 4 "boring" ones that the poster above listed....oh well
At least I don't have a big name to carry around
Just simple and to the point!!

At my daughter's school there is Loyahl, Anzac, Lesion, Blessing and her sisters Promise and Precious. There is also Zowie, Summer, Harmony, and loads more. More daughters have un usual names if you are a boring Anglo speaking person as they are half Indonesian.

a reply to: snarky412

Sorry I didn't mean to offend anyone saying those names were boring. I should of said extremely common instead. Some of those names I have begun to like when I listen to the sounds of the name like su san but would not call my next child by that name. My apologies.

I never realized just how many people there are in the world that can't resist the driving need to tell others how to live their lives... until I joined ATS.

originally posted by: Cloudbuster
a reply to: snarky412

Sorry I didn't mean to offend anyone saying those names were boring. I should of said extremely common instead. Some of those names I have begun to like when I listen to the sounds of the name like su san but would not call my next child by that name. My apologies.

Oh no worries, truly

Many times, I myself have said why couldn't I have had a more creative name. LOL
Actually, I'm the only one out of 4 siblings that was not names after anyone in particular in our family
so that in itself is a double let down

Only my middle name, which no one would ever guess, is named after my great aunt (maiden name)
It too is boring...LOL


I, however, am not boring

I agree that, sadly, funky stereotypical first names on applications can earn a fast trip to the round file. The only thing I've seen send it down the tubes even faster is the birth date. Had a boss that did this no matter the color or nationality. No Muhammads, LaKishas, Cleatuses (cleatii?), or any format of Junior or Bubba. Over 30? No dice!

What gets me about unique names or funky spellings of common names is when they get all butt-hurt if asked to spell it. Over the years I've come across several ways to spell Shaquanda, for instance. Or spell Michael and they get stupid about how its Mykel. If you know its different just stfu and spell it!

I feel for little kids learning to write and having a jacked up name or a rediculously long hyphenated name.

originally posted by: Sremmos80
a reply to: Entreri06

If your employer is judging you on your name alone, then you don't want to work for that company anyway.

I do some what agree with what you are saying just think a little more tact could have been used.

What is a 'ghetto ass name' to you may not be to others.

You know...I think it was my ex wife who told me a story of someone she knew who named her twin children "lemongelo" and "orangelo". Yes, the person she knew was an african american. Pronounce the "g" in the names as "j". Then go look at the boxes on the shelves in the supermarket...probably the baking aisle...

Also I personally saw in our local paper L-a...pronounced "ladasha"...

I do agree that if your potential employer is judging you on your name etc... but cmon! Orange Jello and Lemon Jello? Thats about as "ghetto" as it can get...

Where I was born people seem to name their child after elements of the periodic table, I don't understand the need to make up names so bad, at one Point Chavez wanted to put a list of 100 names to be used for newborns to curl the madness.

I know a lady named Usnavy, because there was a US Navy vessel in the harbor when her mother was pregnant

a reply to: enlightenedservant

we have no connections to England

The U.S. has many connections to England ( Britain ).

You can begin with the foundation of The U.S. Add to that your Political and Law institutions. Those include Magna Carta and English Common Law.

Why does peoples names bother you so much, I think it's great there's so much variety out there so many different people, cultures and ways of life, I mean if everyone was the same the world would be a very boring place to live.

If an employer is going to trash can someone just because of their name, then they are probably stuck up a##h###s.

If variety is not your thing you could always try living in North Korea.

originally posted by: Nyiah
I disagree with the unique names part (a lot are traditional, just not Anglo, or at least not entirely Anglo) BUT I agree on the cre8tiv names part. Kymburleigh, Mackaylah, Sharlot, Jenipher, Mykal, Hamyltyn, etc. WTH is wrong with Kimberly, Michaela, Charlotte, Jenifer/Jennifer, Michael, Hamilton, and so forth that someone feels the need really butcher the spellings? And the fad names, don't get me started on those. I avoided them like the plague for mine, while a lot of people with kids my age have to contend with 50 other Avas and Bentleys and such. In my parent circle of friends, the repetitiveness is ridiculous. I have one of the 80's fad names, it really sucked having a name called out, and 7or8 other girls going "Um, which one of us...?" I could never intentionally name my kid that year's fad name, no way.

I stayed way the hell away from anything cre8tiv, and popular. Mine don't have names like Agnes or Ethel, but they're respectable traditional names that haven't cracked the top 500 in a long time, and ones that shouldn't hinder them much -- if at all -- in life, nor have them eyeballing half a dozen other people first when their name is spoken.

That's why (like I did with mine) you give them a "normal" first name and have fun with the middle name.

My kid is "Kaelyn, Aniya grace Cox" Aniya is %100 a ghetto name taken from a "ghetto" source lol (school friend named her kid that) but it's not her FIRST NAME!!!

a reply to: Entreri06

Kaelyn is a pretty name; but it's not a traditional name in any sense of the word.

originally posted by: Sremmos80
Are we gonna make a thread about the trailer park names too?
Or are we going to act like strange names is exclusive to black people being 'ghetto'?

What are examples of trailerpark names? Like I said, this thread isn't about right or wrong, it's about what is going to give YOUR CHILD the best probability for sucess and what could have negative ones.






It would be intresting to see what effect a Bertha, Leroy, Clint and other red kneck names would have.... I doubt any really.

Let's be honest, poor African Americans have a harder time then a poor Asian or a poor Arab.


None of this is "right" but it is the way it is. All of us want the best oppertunities for our children, but naming your kid devondre in America is going to make everyone assume your poor and black.

a reply to: Entreri06
Nah, one kid has the family surname of our Irish line (betcha can guess what common surname it is) And the other has my middle name, because hubby liked it & wouldn't budge. I hated it then, and still hate it now, I don't feel like it "fits" her & it feels "copy-cat". It's another one of the more common classic traditional names (but not Anne or Lynn or Marie, etc) but it bugs me because I hate naming kids after the parents. It's one thing to look back in the family line and name a kid after a long-dead relative, or share a name variant with someone. But to me, Joe Jr or Mike the 4th, etc feels like it reduces a sense of individuality & has an unspoken pressure to measure up to the dad, great-grandpa, etc. Can't stand that aspect.

originally posted by: enlightenedservant

originally posted by: mikeone718
Sorry there's nothing African at all about Devontre or La'quita.

To the racially sensitive, progressive, "I'm color blind" types....that sh!+ is ghetto.

There are more than 500 different ethnic groups & 200 different languages spoken in Nigeria alone. And that's just one of the 50+ countries in Africa. Just because you don't know where a name comes from doesn't mean it's not real.

So your saying Laquita and devondre are traditional names then?

I gotta look that up...


No one has said it was morally right or that the negative sterio types placed on black people are correct. But your a Fox newsian if you believe those born poor and black don't have a harder "rope to climb" in America. So I know the best idea ever, let's make sure anyone who reads your child's name is pretty sure they come from a poor black family.


Also I doubt you have many black doctors, lawyers and CEO's name there kid "ghetto" names with crazy spellings. They know how hard a ladder they had to climb.

originally posted by: Bone75
I had a childhood crush on a girl named Emonyiesha... needless to say I don't share your sentiment. I also hope you never get the chance to review one of my children's applications if they ever have to resort to such a thing.

Me personally?!?! The same person who grew up with arguably more black friends then white ones and who's longest high school relationship was a black chic named joshelyn. Lol. I am like literally the best white person you could have review your ("Appearently) crazy named kids app. I didn't make the rules, but we all know what they are.

a reply to: Entreri06

Eh, it happens to the foreigners, too, at least as far as being made fun of goes. I used to work for an Indian-owned business, and the owners got teased/mocked about the husband's name quite a bit. It wasn't outlandish or unpronounceable enough to give him hardships, but part of it bore a phonetic similarity to hash, so he got made fun of by Americans about it & called everything from hash browns to, erm, that other kind of hash.

When they had their first baby, they wanted to name him Arpit. I had to explain why that was not the best idea in the States, and they understood as soon as I said "It's just missing an M, and American kids are going to pick up on that phonetic similarity there. He WILL be a target in school with that name." They picked a different name that phonetically, sounded almost indistinguishable from Dave, and Arpit was his middle name.