Are black names weird or are you just racist?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I think this deserves its own thread.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/13/are-blacks-names-weird-or-are-you-just-racist.html

If there is a question worth asking about race and naming, it's not "why do black people use these names?" it's "why do we only focus on black people in these conversations?" Indeed, there's a whole universe of (hacky) jokes premised on the assumed absurdity of so-called "ghetto" names. Derision for these names—and often, the people who have them—is culturally acceptable.

But black children aren't the only ones with unusual names. It's not hard to find white kids with names like Braelyn and Declyn. And while it's tempting to chalk this up to poverty—in the Reddit thread, there was wide agreement that this was a phenomenon of poor blacks and poor whites—the wealthy are no strangers to unique names. The popular Netflix show Orange is the New Black, written by a Jenji Kohan (a white woman), was based on the experiences of a Piper Kerman (also a white woman). And in last year's presidential election, nearly 61 million people voted for a Willard Mitt Romney, at the same time that the current head of the Republican National Committee was (and is) a Reince Priebus.

As a uniquely-named brown-skinned individual, I have always wondered about the double standard that seems so prevalent in our culture, where it is completely acceptable to openly mock distinctively "black" names like Shaniquah or Trayvon, but naming your white child Madison or Quinn or Aidyn goes without commentary.

[Cain]

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[Suu]

Is it odd that I don't think about this? A name is a name, for some people it has meaning, perhaps ethnic or something else. I always figured it was uniquely personal and never questioned.

-Suu
Says the girl with a particularly boring feminine white chick name from a family of particularly boring white people names.

[Suu]

If anything, I try to think linguistically, I mean, Shaniqua for example...that strikes me as something French or Portuguese influenced that may have gone to Africa during the colonial period that may have come to America. Or I'm thinking too hard.

[The Good Reverend Roger]

Repost:

Are they "weird"?  No.  Are they different than "Steve" and "Jennifer" and "Mike"?  Yes.  Is that okay?  Yes.  Is it in fact desirable?  Yes.  How many fucking Mikes do you need?  I have 6 in this plant alone.

If someone is honestly offended by someone else's name, then the location of the actual problem is self-evident.

[Faust]

"Peruses Ebonics name codex through half moon librarian glasses"
It's a matter of the subtler details:

Some of the blander unusual names are contractions, John -> john, Chantelle -> Chantel

Then there is the artistic flair of using y in place of certain vowels which is actually quite pleasing because it fosters growth of language.

There are only a few cases where it just stinky naming: Should your child named after a games console, final fantasy character or fast food chain, they have effectively been made start one square behind other kids on the game of life.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I think that there's ample evidence that the reason they are starting one square behind everyone else is because they are being raised by parents who would willingly name a child after a game console, final fantasy character, or fast food chain, though, rather than it being the effect of the name itself. And of course, that's not a black thing.

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

I like names. I like the spellings of them and the reasons behind picking them. I don't get why people screw around so much.

I knew a chick named Shaqueefa. A cop I used to work with arrested the mother of Lemonjello and Orangejello. My bff's youngest had a kid named Chlamydia in her class. Those are all weird. My brother's girlfriend almost named her daughter Madison. That was weird, to me, give that my family are rednecks and none of them will be able to spell it. She wanted to spell it Madysen, which would have upped the odds . . . but went with the 'normal' spelling. The kid is doomed. I forget what the other kid is named. Kaylee or something. Kylie? Anyway, another screwy name no rednecks will be able to spell.

People want their kids to be speshul snowflakes from the get go and start saddling the baggage on early.

* Shaqueefa changed her name to Chelsea once she went to college.

[Faust]

I think that there's ample evidence that the reason they are starting one square behind everyone else is because they are being raised by parents who would willingly name a child after a game console, final fantasy character, or fast food chain, though, rather than it being the effect of the name itself. And of course, that's not a black thing.

Mister Sony Playstation is white and German.

The only black example I've been able to find other then names that are Anglicised versions of traditional names. The only rubbish ones I can see the ones rappers take for themselves and the white rappers are some of the worst.

The one I can't figure out is Mo'nique, What is that apostrophe doing there, is it because she calls herself mo? or is it because its a contraction of something Most Unique?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I like names. I like the spellings of them and the reasons behind picking them. I don't get why people screw around so much.

I knew a chick named Shaqueefa. A cop I used to work with arrested the mother of Lemonjello and Orangejello. My bff's youngest had a kid named Chlamydia in her class. Those are all weird. My brother's girlfriend almost named her daughter Madison. That was weird, to me, give that my family are rednecks and none of them will be able to spell it. She wanted to spell it Madysen, which would have upped the odds . . . but went with the 'normal' spelling. The kid is doomed. I forget what the other kid is named. Kaylee or something. Kylie? Anyway, another screwy name no rednecks will be able to spell.

People want their kids to be speshul snowflakes from the get go and start saddling the baggage on early.

* Shaqueefa changed her name to Chelsea once she went to college.

I just have to tell you, absolutely everyone on earth "knows someone who knows someone" who had something to do with the legendary Oranjello and Lemonjello. The Chlamydia one gets a lot of play as well. If it was as common as people claim, there would be nothing unusual about those names at all.

http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/advice/urbanlegends.html

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I think that there's ample evidence that the reason they are starting one square behind everyone else is because they are being raised by parents who would willingly name a child after a game console, final fantasy character, or fast food chain, though, rather than it being the effect of the name itself. And of course, that's not a black thing.

Mister Sony Playstation is white and German.

The only black example I've been able to find other then names that are Anglicised versions of traditional names. The only rubbish ones I can see the ones rappers take for themselves and the white rappers are some of the worst.

The one I can't figure out is Mo'nique, What is that apostrophe doing there, is it because she calls herself mo? or is it because its a contraction of something Most Unique?

It quite possibly is.

[Cardinal Pizza Deliverance.]

I like names. I like the spellings of them and the reasons behind picking them. I don't get why people screw around so much.

I knew a chick named Shaqueefa. A cop I used to work with arrested the mother of Lemonjello and Orangejello. My bff's youngest had a kid named Chlamydia in her class. Those are all weird. My brother's girlfriend almost named her daughter Madison. That was weird, to me, give that my family are rednecks and none of them will be able to spell it. She wanted to spell it Madysen, which would have upped the odds . . . but went with the 'normal' spelling. The kid is doomed. I forget what the other kid is named. Kaylee or something. Kylie? Anyway, another screwy name no rednecks will be able to spell.

People want their kids to be speshul snowflakes from the get go and start saddling the baggage on early.

* Shaqueefa changed her name to Chelsea once she went to college.

I just have to tell you, absolutely everyone on earth "knows someone who knows someone" who had something to do with the legendary Oranjello and Lemonjello. The Chlamydia one gets a lot of play as well. If it was as common as people claim, there would be nothing unusual about those names at all.

http://www.namenerds.com/uucn/advice/urbanlegends.html

Really? Interesting. I knew the Chlamydia one was a joke. Which is why it made me sad to see bf's youngest making out valentine cards for the kid with that name. But Lemonjello and Orangejello hmm.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

I think this is a good article that can help explain the underlying racism/classism behind many of these apocryphal stories: http://www.snopes.com/racial/language/names.asp

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

What often happens is people hear what they think is a funny story, and then they recast themselves into the story. It happens all the time. Instead of "my neighbor's sister's friend", they cut out a couple of  the other characters and say "my sister's friend". After all, if it really happened, does it matter specifically who it happened to? And before you know it, absolutely everyone has has a close encounter with Lemonjello and Oranjello and their cousin, Female.

[Suu]

I knew triplets in middle school: Sydney, Adelaide, and Canberra. They had a younger sister named Israel and a brother named Jordan who went to school with my brother and sister in elementary school. Their parents were slight geography nerds. ~_~