Who says "Jimi" sounds so great? You sound like your boy Bill Cosby.  Oprah, Condoleeza  and Barack are doing just fine with so-called funny names.  

Swear to god, I know a white guy named Cletus, like the slacked-jawed yokel character on the Simpsons.  Also, in jr. high, a white kid was named Howard Hughes.  I knew another white boy named Elvis;  this white guy was born in 1959, long after Presely was famous.  White people are more than capable of giving their kids stupid names.

A few years ago, in the NFL draft, a black guy was identified as having Stalin as his first name.  I'm incredibly interested why his parents chose that name.  (Despite what you might think, it is not the equivalent of naming your kid Hitler).

By the way, the Johnny Cash song "A Boy Named Sue" was about a white guy.

Well people generally and young people in particular tend not to have a lot of vision beyond their immediate set.  If the peer group is used to a certain style of name, then it is not going to seem absurd.  As for career limitations, I think that has a lot more to do with an emphasis on education than on anything else.  Lots of neo-hippies I know had strange names but are doing well because they have the Masters and the Licences and the Certifications.

I suppose if Fuquan was exeptionally talented in whatever field he pursued then he would have relatively problems in life.

The problem isn't with the names people choose for their children but rather the people having the children are the problem.  The parents are probably piss poor to being with, regardless of their child naming capabilities.

There are two primary reasons that people choose "exotic" (or ghetto) names.

1. They are effectively removed, or do not know how to operate within, the "norms" of society and they ignore, or not aware of, the petty judgemental nature of a lot of people.  why on earth would you have negative feelings toward someone who, in all likelihhod, did not name themselves?  For the more enlightened idiot, the rational would be that if the parent choose such a "bizarre" name then they probably did a poor job of raising their children.

2. The parents are the creative/astistic types who find pleasure in the creative flair of an exotic sounding name.

Why do people give a *** what someone is named anyway?  It's just a bunch of sounds put together to form a word.  Who cares if it is common or not?  What direct connection does the commonality factor of your name have with your skill level or intelligence level?  Zero.

Crazy names?  The concept should be too stupid to even address seriously.  We experience class and color prejudice because there are assholes in the world.  And those same assholes would exist and operate as normal if every black person named their children Tom, Bill, Sue, or Mary.

While Oprah, Condoleeza and Barack are unique names, I don't think that giving your child a name that is unique is the problem that Jimi is addressing.  There is no problem with giving your child a unique name. There IS a problem with not taking the naming of your child seriously.  Oprah's name was supposed to be Orpah, after a biblical figure, but it was misspelled on her birth certificate.  Condoleeza means "with sweetness" in Italian. Barack is a name of Muslim and/or Arabic origin. Their names had some sort of significant meaning to their parents.  When you name your child Lexus, Versace or after some famous rapper's stage name, you are telling the world what you find important in life through your child.  A material item like a car or a famous person or a brand of clothing is so important to you that you decide to name your child after it. What kind of thought went into that?

What will people assume about the parenting skills of a person who names her child Nike, and with that in mind, what assumptions will be made about 21 year old Nike who's trying to find a job. Nike may have graduated summa *** laude, but some people will still assume that he has a ghetto mama who named him Nike and will think he's a thug.  That assumption will be wrong, Nike could come from a loving, stable two parent family who did an excellent job of raising him. But guess what, Nike still won't have a job. Nike will have to work twice as hard as getting people to take him seriously despite his accomplishments.  When you have a black child, that child has enough to overcome in life due to his or her skin color. Why make that experience even harder?

Names that are a reflection of your culture are great and parents should have every right to express their cultural heritage through the naming of their child.  But when you show the world that your cultural heritage comes from watching too much television or being materialistic, don't complain when the world treats your child accordingly.

I suppose if Fuquan was exeptionally talented in whatever field he pursued then he would have relatively FEW problems in life.

Why did The Root delete part of summa *** laude? It's a latin phrase that means "with highest honor?"  People need to get their minds out of the gutter.

Cornel West said that middle class Black folks need to humble itself. "Peacocks strut because they can't fly."

You want to blame poor working class Black mothers for being targets and victims of a White supremacist culture?  Seriously, are you smoking something?

Ever since White supremacy forced Kunte Kente to go by Toby, we've been fighting to be respected by the name that mean something to us. I applaud those young mothers who have decided that they'd rather have little Kwames and Shaniquas over Jack and Jill anyday, because it demonstrates a certain level of courage and self determination to tell their own stories through their children's names, rather than accept the story being told about them.  

Instead of attacking these young women for their choice to discover their own way, (damn, it's just a name), maybe you should be attacking the racial discrimination in this country that teaches White students to mock people for being uniquely themselves.  

If your name is Nike and you graduated top of your class form M.I.T. an you started shopping your resume and talent around I would have to believe you would have very few problems making your way.

...unless the person reviewing you was actually racist, in which case you would simply make it one step further beyond the paper review before being rejected once they saw that Edgar Smith was a black man or woman in person.

We need to be primarily concerned with the real root problems (racism, education, social and parenting skills) and less about the peculiarities of choosen names.

Amen, Spaniard & Cherisse.... I once knew a girl named Lashaquay; I have no idea what it meant, but thank God she was a soft-spoken biology major. So, unlike most, she'd far exceeded the expectations that people may place on someone w/ a "ghetto" name. I totally agree w/ you Cherisse, people should be free to name their children after cultural or biblical things (things w/ real meaning), but naming them after materialistic things is sometimes a tale-tell sign of ignorance.

I agree with Jimi. I personally know some folks that have met some resistance on account of their names and they are White.  I definitely know some Black folks who have issues on account of their names.  I have even had some eyebrows raised when I would walk into an office or when meeting someone for the first time because they expected me to be a white guy because of my name.  

I remember one incident back in 2001 where I had a phone interview. About 10 min after the call, the person who recommended me for the job called me back laughing.  The woman who interviewed me had asked if I was Black because my voice was too heavy.

Even my boss now admitted to me I caught him off guard because of my. But it was mutual, I didn't expect to meet a White guy named Lamar.

Most often our first impressions come when we meet someone face to face and you can choose then to like or dislike them. But in those instances where they hear a name or only have a piece of paper with a name on it, such as a resume, we begin to picture what this person will sound like or even look like.  For some people, this doesn't matter either way. For others, they may judge the person just because of their name and instantly toss them in a social box.

Now having a ghetto name is not instant failure, but in certain cases, it can give someone ammunition to use against you before they even understand who you are.  It's ignorant for sure but nonetheless is real.

We live in a society where just about everything is stereotyped, including names.  Some names at a glance will automatically garner some type of stereotypical image of the person:

Kunta - African dude

Roscoe - country redneck

Becky - white chic

Tyronisha - black chic with a daddy named Tyrone

Pookie - crack head  (thanks to New Jack)

Habib - cab driver, convenience store owner etc..

Bill - rich black man or white billionaire (microsoft)

Like it or not, this is the reality we live in....why subject those children to this if you don't have to?  What is wrong with Henry, Gerald, Walter, Cheryl, Janice, or Laura?

Don't take it out of context. The point, which you have yet to speak to, is this notion that Black people would be safer from race and class discrimination if they don't have, using your language, "ghetto" names.  Your tone, in and of itself, is what's ridiculous.

White people name their children all kinds of things from fruit, to cars, to animals, to flowers, to biblical and historical figures, to names no more interesting than the plain Jane, but only Black parents are expected to adhere to someone else's standards of what their children should be called or possibly be the targets of cruel pranks, accused of being a terrorist, or passed over for jobs.

The truth is, t's not the name, it's about cultural capital. In college I met plenty of wealthy White people with "funny names,"and I just don't think that they worry much about their names as barriers with their elite educations, and most of them were drunks, did obscene drugs, and had more sex than should be legal, and NO ONE questions their respectibility!

What's the real issue is that Black people are subject to a level of scrutiny that almost NEVER has anything to do with the deeds and character of the individual; instead Black people are characterized and grouped together by stereotypes which often tell a distorted story about our lives that I resent.  In my life, I see a lot of those "funny nameed Black kids" who come from hardworking mothers who go to work, pay taxes, and send their kids to school everyday, still their moral fitness and character are detemrined by the "rapper" she named her son after and not by the fact that she's really not that different from other hardworking folks who want the best for their children.

Negro please!

Spaniard, I like how you are ignoring the formative years of a child with a brand name - how much harder is it to -get- to M.I.T. when your teachers are constantly writing you off? Almost impossible, is what. It could in rare cases have the opposite effect (incidentally, this is the entire point of the song "boy named Sue,") but for an average kid, a socially acceptable or at least non-ridiculous name can make a big difference.

Funny that you chose Nike as an example - that's originally the name of a Greek goddess, and I kind of like it.

If a person is talented, then they are talented. That doesn't change the fact that parents who invent names are trying to make a statement. A ghetto name is just that. Ghetto. You know and I know that somebody with an invented name is giving the finger to society and to family traditions. You can't blame society for a parent's choice. It's not as if somebody who names their kid something bizarre instead of traditional doesn't know what they're doing.

I see it as a mark of desperation. A parent who doesn't know how to give their kid a real advantage in society gives them an invented name - well, he might not stand out in any other way, but at least his name will.

I also thought about it another way. If your name was John Smith or Mary Brown, you would have to be exceptionally talented because you have a perfectly boring, undistinguished name.

If "Fuquan"  were a black kid born into the cradle-to-cell pipeline, he'd have about the same chance in life as a black kid with one of those "smith jones" wasp last name as first name names in the same circumstances.  Though I grant it'd stick out on a resume, so do many of white names I've encountered.  I've met a white guy named "Baby Boy" (his mom was semi-literate) and another named "Shirley" (?), I know a "Joad" (after the Grapes of Wrath family) My Mom went to school with the infamous "Dusty" (Dustin) Rhoads in the '30s.  Look at what Frank Zappa did to his (painfully) white kids "Dweezil" and  "Moon Unit."  An odd name can land on any kid here, but in much of the world they're outlawed.  

Sojourner, I completely forgot about all the weird names that white people use..... Gwyneth P. named her kid Apple. I think Madonna's kids have weird names; Lordus or something like that. But, I think that most times the diff is that white children are deemed artsy or hippie when they have those types of names.... we aren't granted w/ that forgiveness or consideration. Even Kisha, as common a name as it is in our culture, is still stereotyped as some ghetto chick w/ long red weave & other "ghetto" attributes. But consideration has to always be taken for what a child may encounter later on in their life w/ a name, w/ anything for that matter.  

I knew of a guy once named International. He hated it. So he had it legally changed to Boo Boo.     ....In his mind this was an improvement.

BTW: My mother was this close to naming me Elvis when I was born. It is (or at least once was) a common name in the South. But she knew I'd spend the rest of my life answering stupid questions whenever I introduced myself; and thankfully she changed her mind.

@ nista206

That's precisely my point. Our efforts are better served attacking the perception or cultural norm that teaches that there are certain "black" names that tell us something about the fitness of someone's character. That's outrageous nevermind racist. We don't assume those things about odd White names, but even if you want to make the argument that we do, we don't to the extent that is true here.  

What I find interesting is that, we spend all this time talking about Black people's names as if Black people naming their children creative eccentric names is a pull on what's decent in the world as opposed to the real indecency responsible for things like the deficit, high gas prices, high infant mortality rates in the Black community, or the war in Iraq.  

Sojourner, we talk about these things b/c they are mind-numbing conversation.... who really wants to talk about the big a** elephant in the room known a** high gas prices.... we know that they're there, but guess what, we can't do anything about them until November when we will have the opportunity to remove one of the sorriest presidents in US history. So, thank you everyone for the mind-numbing conversation!

Couple of things.

1/ my middle name is La Vaughn. I come from a very middle class family and have been accused of acting white. I asked my mom wtf she was thinking when she named me. She said she thought a long time to come up with my name and it sounded french to her. When she began working fr Pan Am in the late 60's my first trip at age 7 was a flight to Paris. I put the two together and got over my name. Obviously she had a dream.

2/I worked with a young brother whose babymomma had just given birth to his second girl. I almost choked when he introduced me to baby Nautica and her sister Chanel! They were so cute but , honestly, all I could think was....."My People, God love 'em."

Btw, I can't be the only surprised by just how many Shaniquas are running around. Maybe WE just don't get it. Besides, our "black" names are no worse than Egbert, Hortense, etc.

Fuquan is actually a city in China, believe it or not.

Beyonce, Barack, Oprah, Condoleeza (FYI, it is a made-up name that was derived from the Italian phrase) all seem to be doing very well with their made-up or African names. It does sometimes amuse me, since I tend to date younger that almost all of the men that I know in their 30's have African names, but indeed they all have beautiful names that mean something significant, probably much more than the average Joe, John, James, Jill, etc. Here's a link to the story on this from a couple of years ago...if you need to know which names are deemed "whitest" or "blackest."

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=2470131

The NY Times or AP or someone refuted the conclusions of the ABC story in a piece that talked about overall naming including people with names that were profane or ridiculous, like Drop Dead or whatever and it found that naming had little impact on future success or failure.  

So there you go.

Interestingly enough,though, I worked for a large black company you've all heard of where "ghetto" names were in short supply, even among the youngest employees.

When my two (now grown) african-american sons were in HS their little click gave each other "ghetto names" (I hate that term)  They got a verbal ass whipping from their Daddy and me that is still talked about in the family today.  It is not okay to make fun of anyone's name, its mean and hurtful, and in their case  I thought just a little elitest.  

The truth is a name is not just a name, it is something your child will carry his or her entire life,  I find myself cringing when I hear a made up or "weird" name - and its just as likely to be Rainbow or Apple, as it is to be "Fuquan".  While I would never make hurtful remarks I might just wonder what the poor kids parents were thinking,.

Perhaps the issue is not the names, but a society that stereotypes people based on their names without knowing anything about them.    

hey boo, boo, i saw your response to me and i answered you in the BET show post. enjoy :-)

Here are some links to some academic research on names and resumes, if anyone wants to get some more concrete evidence...the gist is that resumes were sent out that were identical in regard to qualifications and education, but some had "Black" sounding names and others had more traditional "white" sounding names....and the only ones that got called for interviews were the "white" names. The study was done by some faculty at the University of Chicago.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/09/29/national/main575685.shtml

www.cramton.umd.edu/workshop/papers/fryer-levitt-distinctively-black-names.pdf

I stand corrected--there are two studies reported in this article that I cited with one suggesting that names matter less than the other study. Its a pretty short article, but covers the topic very even-handedly.

Who is more likely to shoot his best friend in the face and try to cover it up, Richard or Fuquan?  

Anyone remember Dweezil and Moon Unit Zappa? I think parents definitely have an agenda when they name their kids, and although a rose by any other name may smell as sweet, your name is a very important part of the first impression you make on others. An unusual name can set you apart and make what you do (good or bad) more memorable. That is something that will never change, no matter who is president or what the price of fuel.

Sojourner, you are on point.

America is racist.  That's a fact.  So, to saddle your child with a limiting "ghetto" name suggests a lack of foresight on the parent(s).  To insinuate that its somehow okay to assign a child with a ghetto moniker by stating white folk name their kids crazy names too is a totally whack.  If you haven't noticed, white folk get away with a lot of crap that we can't.  As my dad used to say, "all they (white folk) have to do is straighten up and put on a tie and they'll get get a job."  Sorry Sojouner, "because it demonstrates a certain level of courage and self determination", although noble sounding is actually not factual.

I must say that a name is important it sucks that we are often judged throughout life by it. I am a child of the 80's and i must admit i too have a "SHA"-name and it is cool my mother and father used a combo of my grandmother's names i have yet to have proof that it had hindered me in landing my "dream" job. When white's hear my name they seem to always say that it is a "exotic" name LOL well i went to a HBCU and I also worked in the Financial Aid dept. so I did see some "different" names and spelling of "regular" names but the one that takes the cake has to be ASH OL`E (PRONOUNCED ASH-O-LAY)  When I first saw the name i thought it was a typo...it wasn't! can you imagine what it was like to have a name like that? I COULDN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP!! Find employment must have been beyond difficult!!

Think of little Ash ol`e on the first day of school during role call..........what's in a name EVERYTHING! (in this society)  

I must say that a name is important it sucks that we are often judged throughout life by it. I am a child of the 80's and i must admit i too have a "SHA"-name and it is cool my mother and father used a combo of my grandmother's names i have yet to have proof that it had hindered me in landing my "dream" job. When white's hear my name they seem to always say that it is a "exotic" name LOL well i went to a HBCU and I also worked in the Financial Aid dept. so I did see some "different" names and spelling of "regular" names but the one that takes the cake has to be ASH OL`E (PRONOUNCED ASH-O-LAY)  When I first saw the name i thought it was a typo...it wasn't! can you imagine what it was like to have a name like that? I COULDN'T MAKE THIS STUFF UP!! Find employment must have been beyond difficult!!

Think of little Ash ol`e on the first day of school during role call..........what's in a name EVERYTHING! (in this society)  

Really, Jimi, Really?  

With a name like yours, isn't this the pot calling the kettle black?

Marry some of those kids moms and maybe you can talk.

"Who says "Jimi" sounds so great? You sound like your boy Bill Cosby.  Oprah, Condoleeza  and Barack are doing just fine with so-called funny names."

roflmao.  

perhaps I'll get some sleep now.    

Making excuses for little racist shite kids ridiculing their classmates, the kind of behavior they learn from their white supremacist parents, is really wack. It's interesting to me that certain names are OK (i.e., approved by "white folks"), while others are deemed "ghetto." I'm not saying I'd name my kids these allegedly ghetto names, but I'm all about freedom of speech and the right of people to name themselves and their children. I also think kids who've been granted names that white racists ridicule (they'll find every excuse to be intolerant toward black and brown folks) and the black thought-police despise have the right to change them when they're of age. But I think the intolerance in this piece is dangerous--Jimi wants the right to wear earings and sarongs (and to bash black women he doesn't agree with), but he wants to take away the rights of others and feels justified in doing so. Hmmm...

Names mean things. They come from living languages and dead languages. they convey hopes, aspirations and character and in the end the name is given an identity by the person who wears it. But  in the beginning it says more about the parent, usually the mother than it does about the child. crewating a name out of thin air reflects a desire to say something cool while sitting in the lobby of the welfare office or the food stamp line. It stamps the namer as in tune with his or her surroundings but not with much of anything else. Every name given throughout history in

Africa or Eurasia has a meaning. Some are practical and some or noble or inspirational, but they have roots in the world. To name a child after a car or drink or soap opera character or some other faddish notion is to rob that child of an early connection to that which is timeless and eternal. connection to the

"Spaniard, I like how you are ignoring the formative years of a child with a brand name - how much harder is it to -get- to M.I.T. when your teachers are constantly writing you off?"

I like how you are ignoring what I actually wrote.

Examples...

"We experience class and color prejudice because there are assholes in the world.  And those same assholes would exist and operate as normal if every black person named their children Tom, Bill, Sue, or Mary."

"The problem isn't with the names people choose for their children but rather the people having the children are the problem.  The parents are probably piss poor to being with, regardless of their child naming capabilities."

I didn't "ignore" anything.  You also seem to have ignored the eariler postings.  I used the named NIke because someone else used it beforehand.

You teachers can't "write you off" if you are performing exceptionally academically...especially in an engineering field...unless they are already racist.  In which case, you were probably  the start...because they were RACIST.

One thing I will say is that, in my experience, white people put that "racist" nonsense to the side if their is some serious money to be made.

I can certainly understand the defensive responses from other posters here regarding the right of black people to name their children as they choose and have those names respected--after all, white people have been disrespecting and altering black names in the US since slavery...unfortunately, there are numerous social science studies demonstrating that "black-sounding names" influence everything from teachers' expectations of students to employers' likelihood of responding to resumes. If anyone is interested, this is a great article by two economists:

Bertrand, Marianne and Sendhil Mullainathan. 2004. "Are Emily and Greg More Employable than Lakisha and Jamal?: A Field Experiment on Labor Market Discrimination." in "The American Economic Review." 94(4): 991-1013.

I don't know, though, whether research like this means that black parents should alter the names they'd like to give their children, or that they should continue, in a way fighting back against this form of discrimination...

Jimi you are becoming a 3rd rate Black Apologist... That job has already been filled by so many are ready from Armstrong Williams to Sowell..

What is next??.. Your fear of watermelon and chicken eating on front porches....lol,lol,lol

I don't think we can single out black people for silly made up names.  Yes, there are a lot of names with dubious spellings (and misspellings...) but I know for a fact that there are some crazy names that white people come up with as well.  I have a lot of white people in my family, and some of my cousins have made up some crazy names, too.  

It wasn't addressed in the blog, but I think the main reason people make up names is to make their child unique in some way.  A big clue is that there are a lot of identically pronounced names with 5-10 different spellings (yeah, some of them aren't phonetically correct, unless you can make R's and other consonants arbitrarily silent.  

On Ash Ol 'e... I know a nurse who used to work with newborns, and there is a worse spelling than that.. No H, no spaces... just the accent on the e...

I would slap my mom if she named me that.

Sojourner--Speak the truth and shame the devil.  Please continue to be a voice of reason on this board.  Sidenote: I taught a boy name Killer. Sweetest young man ever.  He's in his sophomore year in college and just became a father to a son named King.

Forget the weird or made up names.  What about the erveryday normal names that still can be stereotyped as black.  Leroy, Jerome, Otis...  and let's face it, if you see a female name that has 2 or more syllables and one of them is "isha" or "quita" you know with at least a 95% accuracy that she is african american.  Now how easy would it be to discriminate against this person without even having the opportunity to meet them?

Just watch CNN's special on July 23rd & 24th called "Black In America"  Don't miss it!!!

wasn't nike a goddess? couldn't nike's parents have named her after the goddess? I dream of the day when I get to name my daughter hypatia (hype-a-sha) after the first femal mathemetician and librarian of the great library in alexandria before it was burnt down. but that could be seen as a ghetto name, like nike both with greek roots and heavy historical weight.

Well the Condaleezas & Oprahs didn't do half bad....

Funny and Ghetto are not the same things... Oprah and Condoleeza are strange, yes; ghetto, no. I with Jimi on this one. We need to stop acting like we can just name our kids all willy nilly and then get  upset when people start tripping. However, if a sistah's name is A'LaNita, people need to publicly respect her until she makes the wise decision to change that bad boy.

"LeQuinta" "Lexxus," Maxima"  "Versachi" "DaQuan", "DiAsha"...as respects how far they can go depends on the environment they grow up in.  Granted, the names may hinder them somewhat, due to the racist society they'll grow up in (and institutionalized racism ain't going nowhere no time soon, folks!).  If education is stressed, if learning starts early (early introduction to books/reading), the LeQuintas of the world can go quite far.  As racist as people are, there will always be those for whom talent, intelligence and potential will be a priority over race.  Talented, intelligent people who are experts in their chosen field, love nothing more than to teach, lead and mentor young people who possess that raw talent, intelligence and potential.  

Oops, forgot to mention that my sons, ages two and four, have African names....Amil (In Arabic meaning  Intelligent, thoughtful) and Akir (In Swahili means Prince).  I wanted them to have "unusual" sounding names, but at the same time, names that meant something, that had an origin, something that expressed pride in their African heritage.  Both my husband and I fell completely in love with those names.  BTW...my husband's name is Sekou Dakari.  I think I fell in love with his name before I fell in love with him!

umm i just wanted to add something to these comments:

@ kinsmankid: jimi to you might seem funny, but in yoruba it eans God has forgive me

i am an african curently living in the States and I have come across some truly weird names. I know i'll probably be jumped on, but seriously black americans have names that i think are truly weird. a lot of you say that u are rebelling against the "slave names" given in the olden days. but i dont see that many americans bearing truly african names. and those who actually do have no idea the meaning of the names.

a lot of pple say whats in a name, but in africa, names mean something. when someone hears your name they can tell your origin etc. i was highly offended when newsweek listed Chikezie as a "weird" name. it means God has spoken (or something like that, i'm not ibo...)

I was almost names Hassaruzaus, a badly spelled Hebrew version of Ester. Thankfully my Grandmother stepped in and named me Charity while my mother was still drugged up. Makes for a great story, and BTW i no longer speak to my mother because bad naming choices was only the tip of the iceberg. Though Charity gets the constant :Do you have sisters? Faith and Hope" gaffaws, i have found that the quip, "No they had the greatest of all why would they want more" shuts people up pretty fast.

RE: knows2much

OOOH Jimi! You got BURNED!

I was thinking the same thing, typical "strong, proud, black brotha" who can't put a ring on a womans finger before he knocks her up and moves on. If she had wanted to call her kids "I hate yo no good daddy Jimi" you don't really get a vote.

Using Oprah or Barack as examples of folks with ghetto names making it is specious.  Oprah's mother misspelled her name by accident.  Barack just isn't common here.  Ms. Rice, well, she's on her own.  Mothers who give their kids 'clever' names are just making sure the kid walks through life with a social limp.  You spend your whole life having to say "No, Lexxus with TWO Xes."  Now that mothers can't take their babies home till they name them (have to have their ten digit number before the hospital can release them so the government can track 'em) you wind up with a really tired, really doped, completely zone young woman who will spend most of her life going "Fuquan?  Okay, so I did at prom but name the kid that???!!!"  

And, yes, white folks do it with the middle names that are really their mother's maiden name or first names with two words (I bear up under that one) or interesting spellings (Caryle, Sherin) or the old Frances/Francis-Carroll/ Carol or old-timey names like Cletus and Fester or men named Leslie.  What lets folks with odd names succeed is parents who push responsibility, work, effort and accountability.  What lets folks with odd names fail is folks with odd names who use them as excuses for never trying.    

Names are how we define our relationship to our families and our cultures.  Barack's mother wanted him to have his father's name, Oprah's mother wanted a Biblical name to reflect her faith and Shaliqua's mother wanted the world to know her daughter was an African American.  She didn't fish up some Swahili name, she gave her daughter a name that identified the culture in which she would be raised.  If that culture is directed more toward self-delusion than personal success, change the culture.  Changing the name fixes nothing.

Names reflect a number of things, individual likes and dislikes, culture and to some extent openess and exposure. While many mothers and fathers seek a different name to create a "uniqueness' about their children, the reality is that most folks do not stray too far from their comfort zone.  It is unusual to find Hispanic Americans giving their children Chinese names, or Haitian Americans Jewish names.

For African Americans, our's is a disjointed connection to culture and history which is reflected in how we name our children.  We often bestow names in honor of biblical characters, successful cultural icons, or create ones that simply sound strong in hopes of giving our children a chance to succeed-much in the same way the person that we  choose to honor has done. Or for those of us who select African or Arabic names, it is the meaning that draws us, rarely is there a ancestorial connection that is being honored.

There is a definete prejudice in this country surrounding names, any and all names that deviate from the mainstream "read -middle class Chrisitan white" standard are suspect. But where we are truly disadvantaged is that the names that are deemed "ghetto" or made up, are often created or arrived at by African Amercans who do not have wide circles of friends nor access to the broader community so instead of becoming a positive identifier, the name can be a hinderance...the child may be placed on the defensive about their name, or in worst cases ignored because it is "too dificult" to pronounce or spell. Additionally there is a cultural stigma about class that surrounds names that an African American child may also have to bear... certain names often include sounds that have been culturally assigned to African Americans -de, la, qui, as in De Andre, Latisha, Marquita and others.  Unfortunately unlike Hawaiian, Spanish or Japanese names, there are no grammar rules or historical context in which to place these names.

Names can be powerful...

Perm3800: I must respectfully disagree, regarding not being able to leave the hospital without a name and number for one's infant. I had to fill out a form asking the hospital to apply for a Social Security number for my son, now five months old. No one came around to ask me if I had filled out the paperwork; it was entirely up to me. And although my mate and I had chosen a name long before the birth, our child was still "Baby Boy Writerbird" on everything.

This was a large hospital in Northern Virginia.

On topic, though, you are quite right - names are a reflection of our families and our communities. My son has a "funny" name - he is named for his two grandfathers. Family men that married happily and kept their vows. His name is old fashioned, but it stands for hard work, courage, humor, and fidelity.

Hey, even middle-class-Christian-white names don't hack it... seen any American Nigels?  The mayor of London is Boris?  Folks of all kinds handicap their children with odd names, and the only ones who survive have very strong character and very thick skin, or very fat wallets.

I was almost named after a variation of the family dog's name! Glad my mom put her foot down. Instead, I ended up with the most common name for men in the US today. Oh, well.

As others have mentioned above, I think names become another means of categorizing those we don't know. In and of themselves, they are almost always meaningless. How many of us hear a name and think of that name's Latin/Swahili/Italian root meaning? We are much more likely to see facial structure/skin color/hairstyle/body type and make our assumptions based on our own prejudices. A name MIGHT affirm your preconceived notions about the individual. But then again...

My problem is with the posters that refer to Whites with "different/unique" names. WHY, WHY, WHY do we KEEP comparing ourselves to Whites as the standard?!?

Can we please get away from that?! If we could stop looking to them for what we SHOULD be doing, I think we'd be much better off. Who cares if a white person gives their kid a silly name? Does that mean that I should name my next child Lexus?? NO! A name is NOT just a name. It defines you in a sense.

I had this convo with my sister when a news article discussed a young girl named Clitoria seeking a name change. This kid had no real issues until high school when of course, older kids who are more "aware" swapped out that 'a' for an 's' and gave her a hard time. Now, you tell me WHY her mother would do that to her?! We should stop making up things to call our children. Why take a nice name and add 3 extra letters to it to make it sound "unique"? That's ridiculous. I knew a girl that named her son Amanual. She pronounced it Emmanuel but it was spelled like "a manual". Another little girl named Avery Precious **** (last name ommitted). Another little girl named MyLove. Seriously. And the automobiles, shoes, (Denim??).

A name that is different? Great. No one wants to be put in cookie-cutter mode. But like many others have stated, something with meaning, something with sustenance, if it doesn't roll of the tongue as easily, they just have to teach others the correct way.

As for odd or ridiculous names being limited to the "ghetto" or Hollywood, I can assure you that in a county 25 minutes outside a midwestern state capitol, there are PLENTY of, um, innovative names and spellings among the little darlings on the little league diamonds and hardwood.

The name matters...regardless of color...I once interviewed a young black man named Major Battle......I'll bet a lot of things were - battle.  Then there was the white guy with the very same first and last name....Michael Michael.  What where there mothers thinking?  

And, how about Lemangelo and Orangelo?  Yup....named after lemon jello and orange jello...sad.....

Life has enough challenges for all of us...why create them with ridiculous names?

My mother's name is Umfooqua. But she is from Finland, so it's OK. Barack is half white and half black, so what side does that fall on?