What's in a name?

PositivelyAKA · #1 08-06-2002, 08:27 PM

do the names we give our kids already set them up for discrimination by society. for instance if an employer sees the name Timothy Brown and Malik Brown on resumes all things being equal who would he call in for the interview? how about Amy Dillard vs Shequila Washington. are we giving our identities away before we ever step foot into the office. anyway just a thought, do you think parents disadvantage their kids when they give them traditonally "black" names. to go a little further if we get rid of asking what race someone is on a college applications etc. would it level the playing ground after all an A is an A in any color.

i think you should name your kid whatever you want (well maybe not Satan) but i thought it was a valid question nonetheless and possibly an issue for some.

Swamp Thang · #2 08-06-2002, 08:33 PM

You should name you child WHATEVER name you and your significant other decide. And then RAISE your child with an spirit to OWN their own company so that THEY'LL be doing the HIRING..

evaclear04 · #3 08-06-2002, 08:53 PM

I totally agree...But in the same token we all must have to admit that this world is built on perception. Even as much as we would like to say that it shouldn't matter...it does. To be perfectly honest...as soon as you hear that name Shavanikia or Tequisha...you automatically assume that they are African American. Same thing with the rest of the world.
I don't believe that we should be limited to what we can name our legacy. The names that we bestow upon our children will have a significant meaning to them as well as ourselves. But we can't be blind to the fact that , that very same name may cause them added trouble down the road...
I guess that's where good ol' fashion home training, strong personal pride, work ethic, and tenacity fall in to place.
Those things that we should instill in our children no matter if they are called peggy sue or Asianikisha.

P.s. i apologize if i offend anyone if these happen to be your names..i swear...i just made them up...

RedefinedDiva · #4 08-06-2002, 08:57 PM

I agree that you should be able to name your child what ever you wish, but there is a limit. I, PERSONALLY, can't stand names that are too "ethnic." Some names are just down right atrocious. I am not going to clown anyone's name and I am not trying to offend anyone. I just think that we need to put a lot of consideration into the names that we give our children. I have no problem with "plain Jane" names and Afrocentric names, but some names take it to far. It one chooses to give their child a name something like Chevodkaneisha Fantajaaliyah Jackson, they should be prepared, as well as the child, for any backlash that may come.

AKA2D '91 · #5 08-06-2002, 09:04 PM

Question...

Does ANY one know where the names like Bumqueshnia and Taquarvius and the like came from? Who started it? We know back in the 60's and until a certain time WE were not "called" this.
Does anyone have any data on the history of such?

Who started this so they can catch a whippin'?

Please continue with the seriousness of this thread.

Steeltrap · #6 08-06-2002, 09:16 PM

DISCLAIMER: This is just my theory.

I honestly believe that somehow it got into some of our brains after 1970 or so that the so-called "ghetto" names were somehow related to African names like Nia or Imani.

How that happened, I don't know. But I was born in 1964, and I rarely saw names such as Qyntel, Dajuan, Jahtwasia or Shananashaqeesha until much later.

Swamp Thang · #7 08-07-2002, 08:17 AM

.... how popular names have changed over the years..

I was born in 1968 when:

German Shepards and Dobermans were the dogs of choice.

The popular names then were: Elizabeth, Jerome, James, Mary.

Then, sometime in the 80's.. Ashely became real popular...

I don't know when the "La" & "Sha"prefixes (LaDarryl) and "Qua" suffixes (Shaniqua) (Sha-na-na) came into fruition...

My personal pet peeve is the COMBINED NAME.. the Woman's name is "Lola".. the Guy's name is Roland...

Let's name the baby girl "ROLANDA"... HELL NAW..

But, once again, that's personal... That child was concieved by only one egg and one sperm and it's the total privilege of the owners of that egg and sperm who get to name their creation..

And my real point is that we, as a people, get out this "somebody won't hire us because of our name" mindset and get into a "We're gonna own our own business so our name doesn't matter" mindset. If someone doesn't want to hire you due to the hue of the pigment in your skin, they'll easily find a way too even if your name is "Chad" or "Barbara"..

Professor · #8 08-07-2002, 08:33 AM

Now that's funny but true - - - The few months that I was a teacher I always felt a bit out of sorts when I went down the roll and came across one of our kids name that I could not pronounce much less spell. Now how can you teach reading when the childs name is so wack and I can't even spell it nor pronounce it.

My personal pet peeve is the COMBINED NAME.. the Woman's name is "Lola".. the Guy's name is Roland...

Let's name the baby girl "ROLANDA"... HELL NAW..

FeeFee · #9 08-07-2002, 09:47 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Steeltrap
DISCLAIMER: This is just my theory.

I honestly believe that somehow it got into some of our brains after 1970 or so that the so-called "ghetto" names were somehow related to African names like Nia or Imani.

How that happened, I don't know. But I was born in 1964, and I rarely saw names such as Qyntel, Dajuan, Jahtwasia or Shananashaqeesha until much later.

Aren't names supposed to have meanings to them? If someone wants to give their child an "ethnic" name, why don't they go and find a book of African or Islamic names and find out their meaning instead of trying to create one of their own. I was born in 1970 and my friends have names like Cheryl, Yvette, Michael, Nicole, Anthony, etc. - you get my point. When people started having children from the late 80's until the present, I don't know what the heck some of them were thinking in terms of names. Alize??? C'mon, be for real

I'm just glad that when I had my daughter, I had sense enough to give her a name that was simple for her to pronounce and spell (which she was able to do at age 3)

I do get upset sometimes when folks jack up her name - it's not difficult!!

cleopatrajones · #10 08-07-2002, 09:57 AM

Quote:

Does ANY one know where the names like Bumqueshnia and Taquarvius and the like came from? Who started it?

I ask that same question and I wanted to do a research paper or thesis paper on this very topic. I thought the Black names started in the 70's I guess when the people born in the 50's and 60's were having kids. The parents were around during the full swing of the Black Pride movement (Malcolm X and Black Panthers, etc) and their children's "Black" names came as a result of that. This is just my theory though. But I see these Black names as a way of Black people rejecting the dominant culture and a desire to form something uniquely Black American. However, this does of course come with the backlash of other people, Black, White and other saying these names are ridiculous as well as discrimination.

SeriousAKA · #11 08-07-2002, 11:05 AM

Let me say, I hate made up names and I find that we do that A LOT!!! I am sometimes concerned when our children have names that even they can't spell or prounounce. Why would an employer even attemtp to call someone if they can't pronounce the name?

But let me say, sometimes I take offense to my own name because many, many people assume that I am white. I have had more than one potential employer have a look of surprise when I walk in (moreso if they've heard me on thephone). My name is very plain, very, very plain. Let's see if you can guess from my initials...KEJ.

Professor · #12 08-07-2002, 11:23 AM

Karen Elizabeth Jones

FeeFee · #13 08-07-2002, 11:40 AM

Is your first name Kimberly???? Jones is a pretty plain, common last name. I'm still stuck on the E - Ella???

pinkey08 · #14 08-07-2002, 11:44 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by SeriousAKA
Let me say, I hate made up names and I find that we do that A LOT!!! I am sometimes concerned when our children have names that even they can't spell or prounounce. Why would an employer even attemtp to call someone if they can't pronounce the name?

But let me say, sometimes I take offense to my own name because many, many people assume that I am white. I have had more than one potential employer have a look of surprise when I walk in (moreso if they've heard me on thephone). My name is very plain, very, very plain. Let's see if you can guess from my initials...KEJ.

I totally agree with you. I take offense to my name to. My first day at work everyone thought I was white until I stepped in the door. I think my name is a typical name also. All through my educational years I went to predominantly black schools and there was never anybody else who had the same name as me. I like the names that actually mean something versus the names that stereotype a person.

BTW- SeriousAKA is your name Karen ?
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SeriousAKA · #15 08-07-2002, 11:51 AM

Yep!! Karen is my name and skee-weeing is my game!!