Stupid "black" names...why?

[Crazedclerkthe2nd]

Let me start off by saying I have nothing against black people and I know bad and stupid names cross all kinds of ethnic and religious boundaries.

But anyone who lives in America (and probably beyond) should have an idea what I'm getting at here.

For example:

Girls

Shaquandra
Lashontay
Shekrisha
Que'shandra
Lushonna

Boys

Deshawntray
Deanthony
Bershawn

And so forth. Of course there are plenty of stupid white names out there too, but these black names, I have to wonder what's the point. Is it to make them sound more ethnic and african? Do some of these mothers consider it an affront to give a black person a white name?

I've met white guys named Carl and black guys named Carl but I don't think you're gonna find many white girls named Shekrisha.

[blas87]

I've really only heard names that obnoxious on the Maury show, and you always gotta wonder the credibility of that show.

[the_std]

Education, descend upon thee!

[AdminAssistant]

There are plenty of ridiculous white trash names, like Treah and Neveah.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

I've really only heard names that obnoxious on the Maury show, and you always gotta wonder the credibility of that show.

Yeah, well. Come down here sometime. You'll be a believer. I'll tell you how bad it's gotten here, I have a friend named Karen, who happens to be black, and people have remarked on how "normal" her name is.

She's actually had this conversation:

Stupid White Girl: Oh, you know, I love how black people name their kids. It's so creative. What's your name?

Karen: Karen.

SWG:

Now, I come from a line of people named things like Armando and Istarina and Savario, but I sort of have an excuse. At least those names are suitably ethnic for my family. And I know two Sunshines (white), a September (white) and a Scheherazade (black) and that's way cool, too, because at least those mean something and show a little creativity.

But the habit of naming kids mouthfuls of meaningless sounds is foolish and crippling to the kid later on in life. I wish I had a nickle for every "Latrina" I've met. Really? Latrina? She wouldn't happen to have a sister named "Toiletta", would she?

And I once saw a "Malice" on the news. He was wanted for murder. No shit, he was wanted for murder, his name was fucking "Malice."

At the risk of sounding racist, I would chalk it up to ignorance and laziness. You want a kid with an "African" name, I applaud that attempt to honor heritage. So get off your ass and find a suitable African name that isnt' going to embarass your kid down the line and is going to mean something. A mouthfull of stupid sounding syllables is not "African" by default. It's ridiculous by default.

Malice. Really.

[Boozy]

Stupid? To you, maybe.

The names you listed aren't my cup of tea, but I'm a white person living in a predominantly white area of Canada. The names sound odd to me simply because I don't hear them much, and the mixture of syllables are unusual to my ears.

Here, in my opinion, is the most relevant part of the_std's article:

They are names emerging from a tradition of linguistic and musical invention much like those that gave us jazz and rap.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, here's the thing: a black woman trying to get white collar job going into the interview with a name like "Karen" will not have to overcome the mountain of preconceived notions that the exact same woman with a name like "Latrina" will. Latrina is at a disadvantage before she even gets out of her car for the interview.

It's not fair, no. But it's the way it is.

[the_std]

Kink, I would say that those kind of preconceptions do not mean the names are stupid, it just means that people are prejudiced. Yeah, that prejudice is gonna be around, but why give up your heritage and the way your family and ancestors name people just because other people are uneducated about where the naming comes from?

[Andara Bledin]

Some people embrace the idea of having a unique name.

Others grow to resent having to spell their name for everything and having to always correct pronunciations.

My name is short (5 letters) and it's been around for centuries, and even I get tired of having to correct people every single time someone tries to spell it. To the point where I don't even bother any more if it's not an official document of some sort.

And RK is correct. It's not right and it's not nice, but having a name that the HR person can pronounce and/or is familiar with is going to put you closer to the interview process than otherwise.

^-.-^

[blas87]

I hated my last name growing up. Nowadays, I want to add a silent P to the beginning of it and if I ever get married, I don't want to lose it.

Nowadays, it's just amusing that almost no one can pronounce it.

[AdminAssistant]

My last name is difficult for people to spell and pronounce. However, I'll be trading it for my fiance's. He shares a rather distinctive last name with a famous comedian. So I get to listen to those jokes for, y'know, the rest of my life. Eh.

Honestly, I prefer She'niqua and Beshawn to the endless chorus of Brayden, Caden, Dreydyn, Haydyn, Jayden, etc.

[HYHYBT]

Worse, to me, are names (belonging to those of any race) that are "normal" except that Mom decided to make a point out of unique spelling. Yes, some have more than one "standard" spelling, but there's a difference between, say, choosing between "Katherine" or "Catherine" and deciding, for no apparent reason other than making things difficult, to go with "Kathiryn."

[blas87]

Or one of my childhood friends who thought it'd be cooler if her name was "Kadi" instead of Katie? Yeah, she had it changed.

Another girl named Katie changed it to Katti. Yeah, that looks like "catty", not KatIE.

[tropicsgoddess]

My last name is difficult for people to spell and pronounce. However, I'll be trading it for my fiance's. He shares a rather distinctive last name with a famous comedian. So I get to listen to those jokes for, y'know, the rest of my life. Eh.

Honestly, I prefer She'niqua and Beshawn to the endless chorus of Brayden, Caden, Dreydyn, Haydyn, Jayden, etc.

The names with the ayden or aydyn suffixes are so played out to me. I get that parents want to give their kids a unique name but a Beshawn, Shen'iqua, LaToya,LaDarrius is not exactly gonna work to the kid's advantage when they apply for a job or for college applications and the like. They'll look at Sharon, Bernard, Darrius, Darren or Laura before they look at Quanisha or Teshawn. Then there's those weird ass names like Pilot Inspector, Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii or worse the parents that name their kids after a brand or product...Lasagna, Lexus, those names are gonna set those kids up for merciless mockery and scar them for the rest of their lives. Just buy a name dictionary or go online and look up a good baby name website and give your kid a normal name, FFS!!!

[KitterCat]

Ugh, worst names I’ve seen given to children, Female and Male, unfortunately on more than one occasion.

Let me explain. My Dad use to work helping people get medical assistance through the government to pay off past medical bills. It wasn’t common, but happened enough that he learned to accepted the fact that some people are dumb. For each case the child’s mother was 1) black, 2)poor and 3)dumb as a sack of bricks for thinking the hospital gave their child a name automatically and liked it.

For names that are foreign and have roots tied to them, I say go for it. Give your kid a unique name for the country your in. Don’t think that they aren’t going to be asked where that name came from. So please be able to give a rational answer besides throwing up letters in your scrabble box and writing down the result.