Black People Names? (especially to white people)?

African Americans as a group have less power in society than the dominant group, European Americans. Therefore, a name that sounds "black" is unfortunately associated with the negative stereotypes that are associated with the out-group, in this case, African Americans. Furthermore, because of the loss of African heritage and culture as a result of enslavement, these names are fairly new, often viewed as being "made up", and therefore illegitimate.

You're right, all culture is made up. But that doesn't stop people from holding it against blacks and not whites. That's just how societal prejudice is.

And yes, if black people were the dominant group in society, their names would be preferred.

Black People Names

Because it's a way to filter out people without being caught. Sure you can name a kid jamal and yes it is the parents ultimate choice, but that kid will have a tougher row to hoe because of it. It has been documented, by several studies, that kids with those names get passed over by those with traditional names. Why? Because, if the name signifies blackness and we love all things white* it is an easy no without wasting time by following a process to the end. Granted, you may miss on a employee, student, volunteer that could produce in a major way, but who cares. We want white, we love white & if that means losing out on a few organizational rock stars to prevent people from darkening up our classrooms, boardrooms and offices so be it. This is like naming a mexican kid Tecuelhuatzin and expecting him to have open doors in Mexico City.

Now whether we like it or not we are conditioned, in this hemisphere, to view things thru 3 prisms White, Black and Native. So much so that germans, scandinavians, french, irish, british & polish americans have ended their old world ethnic hatred (those battles were fierce over here too) to become one group, White! So while parents have a choice in this country to name their children they must realize that child has to live with that name (unless they change it) until death. Given the heavy cultural conditioning in this, and every other country, parents must take that into consideration before that good idea becomes a bad one. Ask yourselves this question, what do YOU think when those names are presented without any physical information about the person. If you think growing up in the hood when you see the name Jamal or Terrorist when you see the name Abdul then you fall right in line with most people in this hemisphere whether you are white, black or native.

* Studies have shown that most people associate all things good with white. Matter of fact I believe A.C. 360 had something on it last night.

Hers is MUCH MUCH worse, i HATE all of her names, while i like or love all of urs. There isn't anything u can do to convince her that those are cruel names to name a child, she is just going to hafta grow up and decide that on her own (or hopefully decide that anyways) Some of my friends have odd tastes in names too (i'm also 14, and my friends are 13 to 15), although not as odd as ur friend lol, and i hope they grow outta it too before they have kids, but if not then there isn't anything i can do about it. I have one friend who wants to name her boys River Jay, Ocean Ray, and Lake Gray and her girls Winter Mae, Summer Rae, and Autumn Jae. Which my main problem with those names is they are too matchy. And another of my friends wants to name her boys Slade Pierre, Steele Pierce, and Saber Pirate and her girls Saber Pearl, Sable Pixie, and Saba Paisyn. The names are weird and out there for real kids i think they make better GP names, and plus again they are too matchy.

I know a rather conservative, educated black woman named Tanesha. She didn't choose her name, her parents chose it for her and she was born in the early 80's to rather militant parents who were well into black power/pride at the time. I met a girl named Keisha when I was in university who was also very well educated, well traveled and well spoken. The name doesn't determine someone's personality but, unfortunately, we're all judged by external things over which we have no control. Those names have negative connotations as one poster already said and it's a direct result of the majority culture thinking everyone should have names that reflect that culture - Seamus is a rather strange name if you think about it but because it's connected with Irish culture, it's ok. It's not fair that we don't judge people named Apple and Moonbeam as harshly but life isn't fair I guess.

Sometimes I wonder whether we live on another planet than some who ask questions on this site. I have black grandchildren and they have both types of names. I also have never heard anyone make an issue regarding these beautiful names. In fact the only comment I have ever heard is "oh, I love that name where did you hear it from".

There are beautiful names in all ethnic backgrounds and I personally, love mixing them as my grandchildrens . Three of them have either a "black" name first, or second and funnily enough everybody prefers to call them by their "black" names even though it may be the second name.

The only reason why some would mock other ethnic names, as far as I am concerned, is prejudice or jealousy.

Yup, I think I am right! Somebody with the profile name SKELETON calls "black" names "stupid". What did I say above, either jealousy or prejudice? Maybe I should add something else to that list - but there again maybe not!

Wow! I feel I have to add yet another note. HELL states that only uneducated parents call their parents ethnic names. My son happens to be high up in the court system, so I would not call that uneducated. The names go with the beauty of each child, and trust me, they are VERY beautiful. They also are both in special classes for high achievers, so their names do not seem to have done them any harm whatsoever, in fact quite the opposite.

i dont know what rock half of u ppl in S&C crawled from under. Are u aware that mostly all the names in the BIBLE are hard to pronounce and if they werent from the BIBLE u wd think they were ghetto or some type of racist comment.

Would i ever date a guy name Hung Ching, sum dum goo, billy bob, suzie kate or whatever. Ur name is what ur mom and ur dad wants u to have they r the ones who feed u and care for u everyone else does not count

You are doing the child a huge disservice when you name them something like "Quashanda". She will always have that ghetto girl stereotype and nobody will take her seriously.

You know what they say, When in Rome...

It's a good idea to stick to more traditional names if you want to fit in.

I love myself some black ppl, but I would NEVER date a chick with those names. There's a negative connotation behind names like that. I have yet to meet an educated, conservative chick named LaQuita. An African name (Kenya) is sweet, but -ishas, -eekas are no-nos.

Plus do you know how hard you're making your kid's life when you name them "ghetto" names? Who wants to hire Jaqulay Kenisha Jackson as the CEO of a company?

EDIT: All I'm saying is this, black ppl came from Africa right? Why not research the wonderful African names instead of making up stupid ****. I met a chick named Criteria. No come on! I can bet her parents were uneducated and didn't even know what that word means. Let me add, Kelly, Sue, & Becky are stupid names also.

@Mind2Mind, my mother is half Ethiopian and I was born in Chad. So please don't try to tell me ****. Your ***** @ss is from Atlanta, what do YOU know about Africans? Don't let my chinky eyes fool ya.

***OK shyt monkey whatever your Americanized ignorant @ss says. LOL

well frank zappa named his daughter moon unit so all things considered there are worse names out there folks should be dreading then to fuss over ones that end with "isha" or what have you, over in asia they like to pick their own english names example, my wife's cousin named herself watermelon i $#@! you not