At one time, Leroy was a common (or at least stereotypical) name for black Americans, but it may have been lost that it came from le roi, French for “the king.” But I never quite got where names like L’Tanya came from (someone I knew years ago). It’s pseudo-French looking but the French don’t use the apostrophe like that.
Are you considering this as a phenomenon amongst all people with unique names, or just black people with unique names?
I see where you’re coming from…but I have a counter-anecdote 
I went to school with an African-American named Shaunita, whose dad’s name is David. But I also went to school with white girls named Jeanette (dad’s named John) and Paulette (dad’s named Paul). There was another girl in a different grade (white) who had the same name as her mom. That always seemed weird to me…
My wife’s family has four generations of daughters with the same name as their mothers. Every other one used a nickname to avoid confusion.
Or (even worse) “Madissyn”. shudder
The black power movement of the 60s and 70s really emphasized the use of non-White names. That has led into a hodgepodge of naming conventions. I doubt there’s any formula. Names are really being made-up, but usually traditional European/Biblical or Muslim names with creative spellings.
I think Freakonomics touches on a bit on this, but I think more on how names might cause bias instead of origins. The part about “name economies” is interesting too.
Thanks to folks with real answers, as opposed to pulled-from-their-ass speculations! The Freakonomics article is especially helpful.
Argent Towers, I hope some of the answers in this thread have shown why it’s a touchy subject.
FWIW, I find white naming traditions equally interesting–but I feel like I have more insight into these traditions.
Zipper JJ, actually, I was merely reflecting that someone pointed out something to me that I hadn’t even thought about before. I realize in can be done in other cultures with other names, I was just giving an anecdote about my own experience in order to see in anyone else had not made a connection. And again, I don’t think there are any hard and fast rules to any culture’s naming traditions, heck, I think if somebody likes a name they should be able to name their children anything they want. I work in a predominantly African-American elementary school (95 percent). At one point, I had about 15 girls in my class with the -isha suffix and I was wondering why it was so popular. An African-American coworker of mine told me about the parent connection and it was like a light-bulb went off in my head and I thought “oh duh!, I should’ve figured that out.”
I dig. It just wasn’t clear from your post about noticing the trend in black students or just “hey, I noticed some people name their female children after their dads.”
Along similar lines, I once met an African-American woman named “Shekhinah.” (“Dwelling place of God” in Hebrew).
“My name is Earl.”
For some reason, this made me think of George Foreman naming all of his kids, sons and daughters, “George.”
I’ve always thought about naming a daughter “Rhode Island.” We could affectionately call her “Little Rhody.”
I’ve always thought it a bit funny that Leroy is such a stereotypically “black” name, but the three Leroys I’ve known in my life were all white.
I had a student once who was named I’Money. Pronounced Eye mow nee. Any thoughts on where that name might have come from? It baffled me.
I’m pretty sure it has to do with a more Afro-centric identity that started during the 1950 and 1960s. Look or think of the names of famous blacks born before the 1960s and you’ll more than likely see names of prominent historical figures. For example, Martin Luther King, George Washington Carver, Julius Caesar Watts, Cornelius Johnson, Augustus Jackson, just to name a few.
(Aside) As for the name children being named after the city of Madison, it could be just as likely they are being named after people, similar to the names Jackson, Lincoln, Grant…
Here’s an anecdote, from a Black guy who went to school with a lot of Black people, then taught in an inner-city Black neighborhood…
A lot of girls I knew had names selected really early, like middle school. (Because a lot of them got pregnant a year or two later.) Usually the names “sounded pretty” and were “unique.” Occasionally the names I heard implied class and sophistication, so you might add the name of a liquor (Alize) or a luxury car (Lexus).
The La- prefix, -shaun suffix are just very culturally linked to Black folks. Though I did know a Latoya Jackson that was White, and a Leroy Wong who was Asian.
Not the city of Madison. Madison Avenue. Girls were not named “Madison” (in any statistically significant number) until the move Splash came out.
This is an example of life imitating a joke in a movie.
So what do do with a 2nd generation name?. Would it be hippyishaisha?
That would be me. It’s a special kind of torture to name your kid the exact same name as the parent. And in all fairness, my name isn’t exactly the same as my mother’s… no, they decided to give it a slightly different spelling, something that doesn’t at all come through when spoken, just different enough so that every single time I have to tell someone my name I have to spell it for them. And then point out that it’s not a common spelling. And then spell it for them again. And then tell them “yeah, it’s missing a letter.” And then spell it again.
After moving back to my very-small hometown, it was even more torturous. Every time I made a doctor or dentist or haircut appointment, I had to say “I’m the younger one, not my mother.” I get calls for my mother all the time. Now it’s humorous; when I was a teenager and getting calls from (gasp!) boys, more than one sat and talked to my mother for a long time before they realized it wasn’t me, and were horribly embarrassed.
When me and Mr. Athena finally tied the knot, changing my last name to his was one of the major benefits of marriage. Now I’m only mistaken for my mother half the time, instead of all the time, because no matter what you do there’s always something (medical records, old phone books, etc) that still have your maiden name in them.
So I guess what I’m saying is, resist the urge to name your kids after you or your spouse. It sucks.
Smarter people than I have commented upon this. I thank them all.
But do not forget that strange names are the province of Black Americans. They are common amongst all Southerners.
Newt Gingrich
Elvis Presley
Lyndon Johnson
Michael Eric Dyson’s book Is Bill Cosby Right? has a chapter on this subject. Very informative. But let’s face it. Black people are trying to out-cute each other. I overheard a mother calling her child Sincere. I thought it was cute until I turned around and saw it was a boy.
As far as asking blacks to name their son John or Jeff , that would only get past the resume stage. You still have to go in for an interview…
BM BTW
I think it’s also a maturity issue. Young parents tend to pick crap names. I imagine a large percentage of Nevaehs, Destinys, and Craphonsos are born to young moms.
In my circle of Black professional (professors) friends, we’ve have a number of kids born in the last two years. The names: Nia, Karl, and Asa. The latter two are named after family members.
Magiver, not sure what you’re asking. I was just sharing that those beginnings and endings of names are really common in Black communities. I have no idea why. I think people like the sound of them.
If I shared the name “Treemonisha,” I’m sure most people would figure it was a made-up name by a young mom, but in fact, it has a significant cultural meaning: Treemonisha - Wikipedia
I know a family with three generations of the same name. The oldest is “John”, his son is “John, Jr.”, and the youngest is called by his first and middle names, “John Thomas”. I pray they never visit England 
You want embarrassed? Try being an adolescent boy whose voice is in the middle of changing, and every time you answer the phone the caller mistakes you for your mother! 