You Named Your Baby WHAT???

[bjorkfan]

By Josephine Hammond, Onyx Magazine

Someone needs to sit our people down and have a healthy discussion about the names we as African Americans are giving our children. We are hurting our kids and putting their futures in peril from the moment they are born.

That’s right, I said it. We are KILLING our kids and crippling their futures with the names we give them. Don’t you want your kids to get JOBS someday? Good jobs, and serious careers? With a name like Jaquez Ja’Quan Diante’, you’re dooming your sons to a life of drug dealing on some seedy street corner.

Our Black men face enough challenges. I do not subscribe to the notion that we are giving our children names that “convey pride in their African Heritage”. We’re way off the mark. I’ve got dear friends from all over Africa, and their children have beautiful cultural names like Akos, Ama, and Fia.

Notice how neither of those names had a “quita” in it? Or an “eisha”? Or more than four syllables? That’s because even in the motherland, they don’t give their kids the crazy names that we do in Black America. Many Africans even RESENT the implication that these names stem from their culture. I’ve yet to meet anyone from any African nation named Shaquandiniquah Takei’sha, or any other of the ‘colorful’ monikers we’re pinning on brand new precious lives.

Parents, we are stacking the odds against our children from birth. We’ve been doing it for generations, but we get mighty cross when white and mainstream America laughs and mocks us. With a name like Quieshianiquita (I know, I can’t pronounce it either), you’re dooming your children to employment at no better than a dollar store or the nearest fast-food joint.

You are automatically relegated in the minds of many to second-class citizenry, because when they hear the name, they instantly categorize you as ignorant, ghetto, incompetent, uneducated, and not worthy of much respect or basic human considerations.

We hear so often about African American students who excel in school, etc. and “beat the odds.” Well, guess what? Often times, the “odds they have to beat” is the tough challenge of being taken seriously in America with the atrocious name you gave them...names like Jaqui’sheia Sha’qu’an Tai’isha. If they can get someone to look past the name (and quit laughing), there is remarkable talent there in that person.

Unfortunately though, much of mainstream America isn’t willing to find this out. Come in with the wrong name, and you are nothing more than fodder for stereotypical, distasteful jokes. We as African Americans face enough challenges as it is. Our kids deserve a better start and a way better shot than this.

You’re angry with me? I can live with that. Now answer this: when have you ever seen an IBM Executive or a fancy New York office with a fancy highrise office door nameplate that says “Quandaniquah Roshel-Shaquita, Chief Executive Officer”? When? You don’t, and you never have, because the reality is, corporate America and a huge chuck of mainstream doesn’t have a high regard for those names. Quite frankly, you won’t be taken seriously.

I’ve been behind many a closed door with white corporate America. Oddly enough, many of them still see the Negro in the room as ‘non-existent’ or invisible, so they talked like I wasn’t even in the room. I hear everything they say. When Nakia Shaniquah-Quashiqua fills out an application, they have a field day in the office. Once they get their fill of ghetto and ‘weave’ jokes and ripping you to pieces sight unseen, they usually toss the application, or it gets stuck in the ‘bottom of the pile’. If they do hire you, you’re relegated to some meaningless, inconsequential task behind the scenes so they won’t be embarrased by you.

I’ve learned the harsh truth that right or wrong, no quality mainstream company wants someone named (oh just pick a name) representing them in the forefront. We don’t hear that, though. We just want you to get the name right, and look at you funny if you don’t. I recall a time a young woman got really cross with me because her name was LaShi’quita and I forgot to capitalize the ‘S’ and left the little accent mark off the first ‘i’ - how was I supposed to know? But lawd ha’mercy...what did I do THAT for? She was mad, hostile, and ready to FIGHT! It was a BIG ridiculously overblown embarassing ordeal (for her), and that’s OUR fault, parents.

She wouldn’t have such a huge chip on her shoulder and be so defensive, confrontational and mean if we had just given her a name that the average person can pronounce or spell. No spell check in the world can help, so most of her existence is spent correcting the spelling of her name, and feeling disrespected because people can’t get it right. We set her up for this constant and unnecessary battle.

I do not advocate naming all our children Bobby and Susie. But let’s do our babies a favor and keep the syllables down to a minimum, leave out the suffixes “quita”, “sheika”,“eisha”, “niqua”, “quan”...anysuffix with the letter ‘Q’. I could go on, but you get where I'm headed.And if you want your child to have an authentic African or other ethnic name, do a little research. Don’t just make up a name and expect the world to be able to spell and pronounce it. You're not being original or cute. That child has to LIVE with that horrible name, and that's not funny...or cute.

Amen. Now pass the cornbread.

http://www.onyxmagazine.com/aspx/oped_babynames.aspx

[IndyOp]

1. Hm. I don't think the author would like people from India much at all...

Ashwatthama .... fiery tempered
Ajatashatru .... without enemies
Badriprasad .... goft of Badri
Balaaditya .... young sun
Balachandra .... young moon
Balakrishna .... young krishna
Bhanuprasad .... gift of sun
Chandrashekhar .... one who holds moon in his hair knot (Shiva)
Chittaranjan .... one who pleases the mind
Chittaswarup .... the supreme spirit
Dattatreya .... a son of Atri, a god
Phanishwar .... king of serpents
Phaninath .... lord of serpents
Phoolendu .... full moon
Ravikiran .... sun ray
Vachaspati .... lord of speech
Vidyacharan .... learned
Vikramendra .... king of prowess
Vishvakarma .... architect of the universe

http://www.indiaexpress.com/specials/babynames/boy-a.html

[rockymountaindem]

2. I think the difference here is that those are the actual names used in that culture

whereas the ones the author of the article in the OP is talking about are supposed to be of African origin but actually aren't.

[IndyOp]

10. All names are created, all names were new and strange at one time...

When my sister named her son Ian - my hard-of-hearing Aunt Dora asked over and over - "Now why would anyone name a baby End?"

:shrug:

[pulsatilla]

82. But as someone who writes, I can tell the difference between

a made-up name and a cultural name. And even the cultural names which sound and look unusual seem to work. The made-up names sound and look ugly. The sound of a word is very important.

[Kahuna]

9. Those names have meanings. They are not comprised of people

sitting around and devising names made up of four diverent names they put together.

[pulsatilla]

81. The article made allowances for CULTURAL names

And as we know from little Bobby Jindal, his real name is Piyush. He wanted it changed at age 4; probably was so over the "pee-yew" jokes...

[AllyCat]

3. Wow. It's too bad people can't just name their kids what they want

and the rest of us accept it. However, it is tough when it's a name you've never heard before and try to spell or pronounce it (and botch it). I work on an OB unit at the hospital and hear a lot of names I've not heard before and need help with the spelling/pronunciation. I've not had anyone get mad at me yet for goofing it up.

Sometimes, it seems people (of all backgrounds) try to come up with something so completely new and original as to be just comical.

[Captain Hilts]

6. It's tied to a certain degree of rootlessness. nt

[Quantess]

49. Some countries will not allow parents to name the kid *whatever* they want.

Sweden, for example. A couple tried to name their daughter Metallica. The Swedish government said no.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Why aren't black girls named 'Coretta', 'Ella', 'Mary McLeod', 'Soujourner'??? nt

[Kahuna]

11. Because they're being named, Laquanda, Laquisha and Shenaqua.

:eyes:

[Captain Hilts]

62. So much history being lost.

As Eleanor Holmes Norton said, when she was a kid, "being neamed 'Eleanor' was like being named 'Elizabeth' in England," it stood for something. So would Ella, Mary McLeod, etc. Sad.

[joey5150]

90. Integrate[x^2 Sin[x]^3, x]

also so so true...

[PSPS]

5. It's rather obvious that Ms. Hammond needs a new circle of friends and co-workers.

I wonder if she has a framed picture of Stepin Fetchit on her wall. No, I guess not, since he has a son with one of "those" names -- Jemajo.

[AllyCat]

7. That's a nice name, I think. n/t

[roguevalley]

38. I think she's right because we do the same thing to white kids too

Apple, Banjo, etc. Names are powerful. People should take more care. Remember Harry Bottoms, Ima, Ura Hoag, etc?

[Fridays Child]

8. Love it. I'm not a bigot BUT...

:eyes:

Hey, Josephine, after Katrina, six-year old Diamante Love singlehandedly led himself and five other children--including a baby--on a multiple-day trek to safety. Seventeen-year old Jabbar Gibson loaded a school bus with storm refugees and drove them all the way to Houston. Beautiful kids, Beautiful names. If you aren't comfortable with the situation, that's your misfortune.

[eppur_se_muova]

13. I like the spirit of your answer ... maybe best in the thread ...

but to split hairs, "Diamante" basically is the same as 'Diamond' in French, while "Jabbar" is an Arabic name meaning 'consoler'. So neither is a phony name. But I wouldn't even consider dissing either of these kids for his name. A name is just a label that's slapped on you at birth; it doesn't necessarily say anything at all about you. I feel a little sympathy with the Native American notion of giving adults their names when they have accomplished something that reveals what kind of person they are, or the Chinese tradition of changing your name later in life to better reflect the person you have developed into. (Not to mention the obvious phenomenon of self-assigned usernames ...)

I find myself agreeing in rejecting some of the more absurd extremes. When you put in meaningless apostrophes and accents (which really don't DO anything, or have any historic origin) or intercaps, that's getting carried away. As for making up names -- why not? Names are mostly a matter of tradition, and different traditions produce different names. It used to be that most European names were taken from the Bible, which led to something of a surplus of Johns and Pauls and Timothys and Marys and Rachels. If somebody hadn't started making up some new names, the world would be a more confusing (and duller) place.

FWIW, most of those "phony African" names strike me as more Creole than anything, since they seem to have both French and Spanish components (both use "q" more heavily than in English, for example). I've known at least one young lady from the Caribbean with one of those names, and I don't think she got it because her parents were imitating an American fad. I'd be interested to know if such names actually originated in Caribbean culture before migrating to the USA. Anybody know?

[Fridays Child]

17. Good question about origins. It'd make for an interesting study.

[fed_up_mother]

52. One of my good friends is an obstetrics nurse.

I'm guilty. We really laugh at the names some people give their kids. (And I'm not just talking about black kids.)

And depending on where they are from, the apostrophe is actually a "comma to the top" or "comma to the sky" - not a plain ol' apostrophe!

[sandnsea]

12. Because Oprah, Barak, Kwame, and Deval,

are mainstream. :crazy:

If you think people who would discriminate against you because of your "black" name aren't going to discriminate against you because of your black skin - well then you just aren't thinking.

[babylonsister]

23. Oprah was my first thought, and look how unsuccessful she is.

:eyes: That just doesn't work for most people anymore.

[MIS_UNDER_ESTIMATED]

65. Oprah-- a misspelling

Many names are either purposely made-up, or just misspelled out of ignorance.

According to Oprah herself:

"Oprah Winfrey: I was born, as I said, in rural Mississippi in 1954. I was born at home. There were not a lot of educated people around and my name had been chosen from the Bible. My Aunt Ida had chosen the name, but nobody really knew how to spell it, so it went down as "Orpah" on my birth certificate, but people didn't know how to pronounce it, so they put the "P" before the "R" in every place else other than the birth certificate. On the birth certificate it is Orpah, but then it got translated to Oprah, so here we are. But that's great because Oprah spells Harpo backwards. I don't know what Orpah spells. "

[fed_up_mother]

53. All short and easy to pronounce

with no guesswork at where the apostrophes should go.

[Warpy]

14. I thought this would be a tirade against naming your daughters

things like Bambi and Heidi. Those names are great through about high school, then the girls have to grow up. Personally, I can't imagine being a grey haired granny looking for a little dignity in her life but stuck with a name like Cissy.

I did envy them through high school, though. My name was decidedly uncute.

[noamnety]

48. laughing here

"I did envy them through high school, though. My name was decidedly uncute."

I am picturing going through high school with the name "Warpy." :)

The author of the article is a bit misdirected on one thing, I think. If the problem is that white folks discriminate when they see a black name, it really won't matter if that name is authentic or not, most white folks - at least the sort doing the discriminating - aren't likely to be familiar with authentic African names. They'll still think they are something to laugh at and they'll still be idiots about it.

[notadmblnd]

15. I understand what you are saying and have had the same thoughts in regards to names

but the racism goes much deeper and it is indeed sad. My husband was a very dark skinned black man. One day I went out a purchased an overcoat for him as a gift. It was purchased from an upscale mens store. Long after the receipt was gone, he decided to wear it and discovered that the zipper in the lining was broken. My husband went in his every day clothes to return it (his every day clothes being jeans, tee shirt and his baseball cap on backwards and several ear piercings). He came home with the coat in hand telling me that the sales clerk would not exchange the coat and basically treated him like a criminal. I told him, just as an experiment; to put one of his his suits on, take the jewelery off and go back and try it again. The next time he came home with a new coat. He was amazed that his casual appearance intimidated people and that they associated it with the "gangsta" cult. From that moment on when he wanted to be treated seriously, he wore his suit.

[robinlynne]

22. My mom taught us that when we were teens.

[TalkingDog]

25. Hey. I'm an attractive white woman and it works the same here.

I figured that one out in my teens.

Read the book "Blink".

We all make instantaneous judgments. No one is immune from that particular foible. It is simply how our brains are wired.

But....BUT....the difference is how we react to that instantaneous judgement.
Do we go with our "blink"? Sometimes, for safety's sake, yes. But other times, we need to stop and gather more information. Because although our "gut", our "blink" is generally right. It is sometimes very wrong.

I use a similar idea when I teach 2-D design. I'll have students offer up one shoe and then pick 3 or 4 in a variety of styles. I ask them to describe the "person" that wears this shoe. It's amazing how detailed and rich the feedback from that one little item of clothing can be. Sometimes the description "fits" the real owner, sometimes not. But it teaches them a very valuable lesson about the internal chatter created by visual stimuli.



My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios

[Captain Hilts]

30. BINGO! We're all: size-ists, sexists, racists, but smart folks don't act on those initial thoughts

Our brains naturally want to take the short route.

[Captain Hilts]

29. White guys dressed like that get shabby treatment too. nt

[dmallind]

47. Not race dependent either

It's amazing how much better service I get when I'm wearing business casual and have shaved recently rather than my weekend slobby wear. And the difference between showing up to a place where you car is visible in my Mercedes vs. the wife's Subaru is remarkable too.

It would undoubtedly be more dramatic if I were black, but this seems much more perceived class based than anything else.

[pulsatilla]

84. Question for you: do you feel resentful that he has to go to those lengths

to get respected? I had the same thing happen to me. I wear bandanas (I have an olive complexion) and one day used a gift card I received in this snooty little store (overpriced). Didn't get barely a word from a saleswoman. I figured it was due to my scarf. But I won't shop there again.

[Bjornsdotter]

16. 47 years ago

....my parents decided to forgo the name Ingeborg, because it was too foreign sounding for the US. Instead I got stuck with a bullshit common name that I hate...they should have gone with Ingeborg.

Cheers

[Captain Hilts]

31. Change it! go for it! nt

[kestrel91316]

18. Ouch. At least she gets to say this - she's black.

I have thought the same thing to myself for years, but as a white felt I had no business commenting out loud about it.

Neologisms for names of people just strike me as silly - like when they started doing it for cars......

[Rosa Luxemburg]

19. I call my friend's daughter 'Q'

she has a very long name beginning with Q she doesn't mind at all

[The Doctor.]

20. Lame Screed.

'Latrina's name does not keep her from becoming a Supreme Court Justice any more than "Antonin"s did.

Seriously.

[Captain Hilts]

34. Making up a name is different from naming someone 'Anfernee' instead of 'Anthony'. nt

[The Doctor.]

41. I'm not saying the author doesn't have a point...

but nothing is stopping Laqueshia from getting a 4.0 and a 1400.

If, at that point, Harvard admissions turns down her otherwise impressive application based on her name, then the problem is with Harvard, not with her parents.

[AccessGranted]

58. Anfernee ---- Aaaaaaaaaaaaargh

Why does that name drive me nuts LOL.

[TygrBright]

21. There's an easy way to sort this out... pass a law allowing kids to sue for damages...

...that the outlandish names their parents saddle them with cause. Including the pain and suffering inflicted by schoolmates mocking the child because of the weird name.

Speaking as someone who was mercilessly tormented because of a "weird" name (even though it was a perfectly ordinary name in an ethnic group common elsewhere in the country,) I would have really appreciated being able to get a little compensation for that.

Maybe if we allowed/encouraged that, parents would be a bit more considerate in naming their kids.

FWIW, though, as far as I can tell, there are so many Lakeishas and Shawans and suchlike in the last 20 years that it's pretty much like the Dorothys and Sallys and Marthas I grew up with. Probably a kid named "Mary" or "Theresa" or "Anne" gets ragged on these days.

wearily,
Bright

[TroubleMan]

24. So African Americans should not name their babies what they want because of racism?

A person who doesn't take a Raekwon as seriously as he does a John for a job application should be sued to the fullest extent of the law, and lose his job and/or business.

Let's end the racism and the stereotypes - not kowtow to them.

[Captain Hilts]

33. No, that's not what's being said here.

White folks name their kids stupid names too - from soap opera stars, etc.

[Real_Talk]

64. Condoleezza RIce

sort of sank this argument. It might make things harder but it is not a deal breaker. The truth is the people who toss your application on seeing your name were not going to give you much of a shot anyway.

[Lady Missie]

85. Have fun with that..

Have fun trying to prove they weren't hired because of their name.

[FatDave]

26. So let me get this straight...

Giving your kid a "black" sounding name will automatically saddle them with a life of crime? I fail to see the causality there. Is it because if you name them Steve or Barry they can pass for white on paper? They can trick an employer into thinking they're white on their resume? I realize that racism still exists in this country, but that you would complain about names that indicate a person's race makes it sound as if you believe that the race is something to be ashamed of, and I would dare say that that's pretty racist in itself. Also, you need to understand that African American culture and African culture are not the same thing. Perhaps the names that so offend you are a reflection of pride in African American culture.

And incidentally, have you ever seen what white celebrities name their babies? <shudder>

[roguevalley]

39. perhaps, in an unjust world, people can take more time to understand

the possible outcomes for names that are out of the ordinary or out of the mainstream. my nephew is named Jakeob because his mom misspelled Jacob. He has to spend his whole life correcting the spelling. Small comparison but reasonable. Give your kid as good a chance in an unfair world as you can, all I'm saying.

[harlinchi]

27. Of course Blacks should name our children as we see fit.

But we HAVE gone a little too far, or occasionally we do. work in an area where I'm exposed to large lists of student names. I've seen some doozies! Anyone who names their child Tinea or Tinnea or Tinnia will have issues later.

Tinea Infections

Also called: Ringworm

Tinea is the fungus that causes ringworm, athlete's foot and jock itch.

[Captain Hilts]

35. My sister had a student named 'placenta'. nt

[fed_up_mother]

54. My all time favorite is pronounced like this

Pa' (like "Pat" without the t) - juh - mus

spelled like
...


...


...


...


...


...


...

Pajamas. Lord help that poor child. I really think the mother was probably very uneducated, and no one had the heart to tell her what she was doing.

[soothsayer]

28. Whites shouldn't have Dawns or Tiffanys or Brandys (pole dancers)

[Captain Hilts]

32. Don't forget 'Amber'. Yes, people assume folks named Tiffany, etc. are stupid just as they...

assume all Brendas are fat.

[soothsayer]

36. yet most playboy playmates are named Susan of all things. (my name!)

[soothsayer]

40. case in point! here's a susie centerfold from another du thread

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x2052828

[greguganus]

72. Most playmates and pole dancers use fake names.

Don't ask me how I know.

[Karenina]

37. Dweezil? Moon Unit? Whose your daddy???

OH HIM!!! NO PROBLEMO!!!!

[greguganus]

73. Those 2 don't have to worry about money or making a living. n/t

[freestyle]

42. What else needs changing to appease bigots?

Her time would be far better spent fighting for a world where all are judged on qualifications rather than bashing creative expressions. The fact of discrimination is not an argument to appease those who discriminate.

[HamdenRice]

43. Guess the author never reads NY Times, lived in Africa or heard of "NoRailway Mabuza"

It's one thing to say that people shouldn't name their children with stereotypical ethnic names. It's another to say that he has never met Africans with made up names, or that Africans would be surprised or insulted by made up names.

In fact, in southern Africa, it is very common for parents to make up weird names for their children, because the name is supposed to commemorate an event. When I lived in southern Africa, people joked about this all the time. The funniest name I heard was Norailway. The guys parents lived in a rural area and had been told that the railroad was going to be built out to where they lived. When it didn't arrive by the time their baby was born, they named the boy, "NoRailway." One of my friends was named Kedibone which roughly means, "Nobody knows the troubles I've seen." She was born while the family was in exile during apartheid. Actually it means, "we saw them," but in context, that expression means "we've seen hard times," and Kedi said that the meaning is similar to the longer American expression.

Here are some more examples in an article that appeared recently in the Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/01/world/africa/01names.html?ex=1348891200&en=e4bebbadd34805f6&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Bulawayo Journal
In a Land of Homemade Names, Tiffany Doesn’t Cut It

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe — Thirty-two years ago in western Zimbabwe, a baby boy named Tlapi was born so sick that his parents feared he would die. They took him to sangomas, or traditional healers, and to Western-style doctors, but nothing worked. It seemed that God, not man, would decide his fate.

So when he was 1 year old, Tlapi’s parents changed his name to reflect that. “Some people think I’m lying when I tell them my name,” said Godknows Nare, who survived to become a freelance photographer. “They think I am teasing them. But I’m not.”

Not at all. In Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, another Godknows was a waiter at a popular outdoor cafe. So was a man named Enough, about whom more will be said later. Across southern Africa, in fact, one can find any number of Lovemores, Tellmores, Trymores and Learnmores, along with lots of people named Justice, Honour, Trust, Gift, Energy, Knowledge and even a Zambian athlete named Jupiter.

...

Indeed, Godknows, Enough and company are a continuation of an African tradition arguably more logical than the one that churns out Justins and Tiffanys in America. In southern Africa, a child’s name is chosen to convey a specific meaning, and not, as is common in the West, the latest fashion.

Increasingly, however, those traditional names are bestowed not in Ndebele, Sotho or some other local language, but in English, the world’s lingua franca. English names arrived with colonial rule, were further imposed by missionaries and, for some, became fashionable with the spread of Western culture.

...

The Financial Gazette in Harare loosed an assault on the trend toward English names in a 2004 essay. “Oh, please! Why burden our children so unnecessarily just for the sake of feeding our misguided ego?” a columnist complained. “Quite frankly, these names amount to a form of child abuse ...

<sound carpingly familiar?>

[jmm]

44. For every black Alizé I've met I also know a white Alizé.

I'm not a fan of appeasing bigots. The same people who would discriminate against LaShi’quita would at best still expect her to be a "credit to her people" at all times. When Audio Science and Pilot Inspektor were born or when some guy changed his name to Trout Fishing in America we didn't see articles written about "white" naming trends.

[bjorkfan]

45. There's a white Alizée

Alizée Jacotey (IPA: ) (born August 21, 1984) is a French singer. Born in Ajaccio, Corsica, she goes by the stage name Alizée — the feminine form of alizé, the trade wind.<1> She was discovered by Mylène Farmer, a successful Quebec-born French singer, following her winning performance in the talent show, Graines de Star,<2> in 1999. While collaborating with Mylène Farmer and Laurent Boutonnat, Alizée came up with two albums — both of which were hits inside and outside of France. Alizée is considered the protégée of Mylène Farmer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aliz%C3%A9e

[noiretextatique]

46. she's making a lot of assumptions

she doesn't back up with facts, except her anecdotes.

this article provides a more balanced perspective.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/29/national/main575685.shtml

[WildEyedLiberal]

50. I kinda feel the same way about dumb white names

I have a couple of nieces in elementary school (I'm from a 99% white town so these are all white kids) and there are a bunch of kids with idiotic names like "Mykaylah" and "Skylerr" and "Braydon" and "Kristell" and oh I could go on and on and on. Their parents wanted to be "kreaytive" and either made up some dumb name out of a hybrid of two normal names ("Aubriana") or just spelled a conventional name in an excessively stupid way (I don't think I've ever seen the name Michaela/Mychaela/Mykaylah spelled the same way twice).

Honestly, names like LaQuiesha are dumb too, not because they tell me that someone is "black" but because it's made up nonsense, just like the lily white Mykaylas and Krystuls and Kamrynns of the world. I don't judge people like that, but I do judge their parents for being idiots.

[kwassa]

51. "Kreaytive". I like that. Maybe I will name my daughter .......

[fed_up_mother]

55. Actually, people are using "boys" names so much for girls

that we're going to run out of names for boys in a few years! LOL

Names that were once clearly "male," are now female. I hadn't thought about it until my daughter was pregnant. She and her husband wouldn't use so many boys' names that I suggested because they had been converted to girls' names.

And I don't have a problem with creative spellings. (Freedom and all that...) However, don't scream at me when I can't spell your child's name! How many ways can a person spell Amy? Aimee? Amee? Aime? Aimy? Aimey? Aemee?

[Sophia_Karina]

56. name discrimination is real

http://www.thedigeratilife.com/blog/index.php/2007/07/02/name-discrimination-how-it-affects-job-and-career-choices-life-status-overall-success/

[cambrianexplosion2]

57. Sadly, Bjorkfan is right

Rightly or wrongly, employers judge applicants by their names. People with certain very black specific names get less call-backs pure and simple. Acknowledging that this occurs is not the same as agreeing that it is right.

[AccessGranted]

59. Try Being African-American and Named After A Plantation

When my mother was pregnant with me, she was watching the movie "Gone with the Wind" and decided to name me "Tarra" after the plantation. She just added another "R" for the sake of drama I guess. I'm African-American and I've had to hear stupid jokes about it all my life. Still do from time to time. Could have been worse, she named my older sister, "Artie". Bwahahahaha!

[greguganus]

74. Could have been worse. She could of named you Rhett. n/t

[MullenBank]

60. One of my ex-employees

is named "La'Trina". I about did a spit take when I heard that name. Early on in the new job I'm walking down one of the wings, rounding, and I ask casually, "hey who has the assignment for such and such section of rooms and one of the techs answers "that Trina's section. I responded, "say who". "Trina... La'Trina J----. Damn I about lost my coffee. Never really got to know her. No call no show for a couple of days in a row so we termed her.

I don't care for the sound of names like that-- something about the way they roll off the tongue -- nope don't like 'em. Don't have to either, tho. But it's also not my business what YOU name YOUR kid. Then again I prefer names like Clancy, Connor, Sean, Diarmaid,Donal and Séamas. YOU may not. And we tolerate the differences w/o trying to decapitate one another. Dog, I love this country.

[noamnety]

61. That caused a near spit take?

Wow. Actually, just wow at your whole post, "I don't care for the sound of names like that."

[MullenBank]

63. Holy phony leaping jeebus

I just flashed on that moment when mom and dad are discussing baby names and realized she came within a vowel of being named "latrine". Perhaps some OB/GYN defined "latrine" you know, a receptacle (as a pit in the earth) for use as a toilet ,to mommy. Or daddy. Perhaps it was just good fortune and timing. But when I first heard her name spoken I had an immediate flood of images, baby all red, wet and new, mommy and daddy beaming then juxtaposed with an image of a poo filled pit and then cut to the future with a brief reflection on my twenty something CNA's narrow escape from a terrible handle.


As for the aesthetic- that is, what is pleasurable to the senses- choice of some names over others... some sounds are dulcet and mellifluous. Others not so much. I respect your right to select foods/colors/music/baby names based on aesthetic preferences that appeal to you. I respectfully request similar tolerance.

[joey5150]

89. Integrate[x^2 Sin[x]^3, x]

so so true

[MullenBank]

66. Sha'Tavion

applied for the position of business office manager today. The syllables sound pretty especially if said three times. Fast.

[greguganus]

75. I know someone named Chaquita. Every time I see her I have a craving for a banana. n/t

[joey5150]

88. Integrate[x^2 Sin[x]^3, x]

very pretty indeed...

[noamnety]

67. I had an interesting talk with kids when I was subbing for a class

Earlier this week I had to sub for a class, and they had a worksheet to do. One of the kids (white male) started complaining about the names in the worksheet - they weren't white anglo-saxon enough for him. It started with "What kind of name is Saul? I never heard of anyone named Saul." (This was said with some frustration and anger.) It was a good teaching moment - we got to talk about the other names in their problems: Emilio, Rodriguez, etc. I talked about how it used to be that all school worksheets pretty much had one ethic set of names, and there was a movement among educators not to marginalize entire groups of people in these ways. Going back further, used to be that word problems with names of professionals all had male names unless it was nurses or teachers ... and educators had to come to a realization that that's not acceptable.

I hope it gave kids something to think about (besides just their math problems). I would hate for the next generation to be raised in the same way, being taught subtle institutionalized racism that leads to attitudes like we see in our culture at large and even in this thread, with disdain for certain "types" of names that just don't sound "right."

I have no clue why people here are so concerned about "LaTrina," which to me sounds like a fairly normal name (Trina, with "la" in front of it which is very common). I'm not buying the concern that it sounds too close to Latrine. I never saw that level of concern over Dick or Colin - but then again, white people use those names, so 1) it's acceptable, and 2) white people aren't expected to be representatives of their entire race.

[morningglorysunday]

69. For me, who loves words and their sounds, it's the beauty of the name

African names usually sound very lilting. Even though Obama jokes about his name, I find it distinctive; it gets people's attention. However, some names look and sound rather ugly, to be blunt.

[ThomCat]

77. I like your approach.

:)

I hope the kids took that lesson well.

[pulsatilla]

83. As for your examples, "Dick" is short for Richard, and "Colin" is usually

pronounced with a short "O."

I agree with the writer of this piece. She has lived it and is trying to explain what happens behind closed doors.

I just saw a news story where one of the male suspects was named 'Donta.' I am sorry, but what kind of life are you envisioning your son having when you name him THAT?! It has nothing to do with a legitimate cultural name; it's made up and it doesn't look or sound nice (to me).

[melanie1]

68. please check this obama video out

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6y3fUcfVIk

[really annoyed]

70. Ridiculous baby names transcend race

IMO. Many parents are giving their children silly names these days.

Example - Spelling "Heaven" backwards? Not a name to give your baby girl, K?

When parents name their children, they need to consider adulthood too.

[guardian]

71. Agreed

This whole trend of made-up names and "creative" spellings is ridiculous. These days one must always ask how the name is spelled. It doesn't matter if the name sounds normal. Because there are way too many idiots out there that think it is cute to name their child "Sue-zin" instead of "Susan."

Personally, I hope there is a special place in hell for people that use these idiot names and waste precious time from my life. I put it in the same category as the idiot that put poison in the Tylenol and now I have to spend an extra 90 seconds every time I want to open a package of food or medicine.

[greguganus]

76. Tylenol...wonder if anyone has ever named their child that. n/t

[Name removed]

78. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[BlueStateBlackMan]

79. my name

my name detravious and ppl call me dt or d
somethimes ppl talk shit buts much bettr then they lame names like bob or tom that have no heratige

[guardian]

87. "bob or tom that have no heratige"

Your comment sounds ignorant or racist to me. Your supposition is about as sound as your spelling. Do a little research:

ROBERT
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, Scandinavian, German, Czech, Polish, Russian, Slovene, Romanian
Other Scripts: Роберт (Russian)

Pronounced: RAH-bərt (English), ro-BER (French), RO-bert (German), RAW-bert (Polish), RO-byert (Russian), RO-beert (Russian)
Means "bright fame", derived from the Germanic elements hrod "fame" and beraht "bright". The Normans introduced this name to Britain, where it replaced the Old English cognate Hreodbeorht. It has been a very common English name since that time.

The name has been borne by two early kings of France, two Dukes of Normandy, and three kings of Scotland, including Robert the Bruce who restored the independence of Scotland from England in the 14th century. The author Robert Browning (1812-1889) and poets Robert Burns (1759-1796) and Robert Frost (1874-1963) are famous literary bearers of this name. Other bearers include Robert E. Lee (1807-1870), the commander of the Confederate army during the American Civil War, and American actor Robert Redford (1936-).




THOMAS
Gender: Masculine
Usage: English, French, German, Dutch, Scandinavian, Greek, Biblical
Other Scripts: Θωμας (Greek)

Pronounced: TAHM-əs (English), TOM-əs (English), to-MA (French), TO-mahs (German, Dutch), tho-MAHS (Greek) Greek form of the Aramaic name Te'oma which meant "twin". In the New Testament this was the name of the apostle who initially doubted the resurrected Jesus. According to tradition he was martyred in India. Due to his renown, the name came into general use in the Christian world.

In England the name was introduced by the Normans and became very popular due to Saint Thomas Becket, a 12th-century Archbishop of Canterbury and martyr. Another notable saint by this name was the 13th-century Italian philosopher and theologian Thomas Aquinas, who is regarded as a Doctor of the Church. Other famous bearers include philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1588-1679), American president Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826), novelist Thomas Hardy (1840-1928), and inventor Thomas Edison (1847-1931).

[vincent_vega_lives]

80. How many Americans know the correct pronouciation of Irish names?

Sean is easy as it is pretty common. But others are not.

Ceara
Ciarán
Meadhbh
Siobhan
Aisling
Niamh
Ciaran

All very popular, and butchered by English speakers.

[Azalea]

86. Hmm

Fear of the unknown. AN uncommon name will always be villified ina world of conformity.
Take Azalea. At first glance people hear it or see it and think its made up. An Azalea is a flower, not just any flower but the one with the distinction of being symbolic of womanhood in many cultures. It is one of the most resilient flowers because it blooms and can thrive all year.

In horticulture Azaleas are a must haves. I love the name for its infrequency and its meaning.

Sadly, this name has been called "ghetto" or some have even insinuated that its only common amongst uneducated blacks. Sad.