# Quvenzhane and made up black people's names **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 12, 2013, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948 "2013-01-12T08:55:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/81 "2013-01-13T01:08:22Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > While I understand that you don’t want to give your child a name that will get them lost in a sea of like-named classmates, that still leaves you plenty of room for familiar names. Take a look at [the top 1000 baby names](http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/#ht=1) for some year, and skip down about 100 places on the list. You’ll see plenty of names that you recognize right away and which everyone knows how to spell, but which are used by less than 0.2% of the male or female population. And just going through my close relatives, I found that my sister, my mother, four of my aunts, one of my uncles, and one of my grandmothers weren’t on the list at all, thus having names shared by less than 0.0304% of the population, while all still being perfectly recognizable and familiar names. Just for shits and laughs, I scrolled down to #100, and gah! Jaden - Terrible name. Jace - What is a Jace? Aidan - Awful. Ryder - Always makes me thing of the moving company Ashton - Enough with this asinine name already. Bryan - I guess this is fine. It’s supposed to be spelled Brian, but whatever. Riley - No. Hudson - I don’t hate this one. Asher - But oh god, how I hate this one. Bryce - This is acceptable, but nothing I would name my child. Miles - The only name on this horrible list that I actually like. Kaleb - Okay, I don’t have the stomach to continue with these terrible names anymore. But no, I’m just being an ass. Your point is well taken, and for what it’s worth, I agree. I have no problem with made up names, and rather like some of them if they sound good, but I’d probably go with something more standard. ---
**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/82 "2013-01-13T01:31:31Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > Thanks! I didn’t realize “zhane” was “juh-nay”. you don’t remember the 90’s band? they made sure to spread the word: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronounced\_Jah-Nay](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pronounced_Jah-Nay) ---
**Author:** ![drew870mitchell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drew870mitchell/32/3946_2.png) [@drew870mitchell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drew870mitchell)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/83 "2013-01-13T02:01:12Z")
I fully endorse the OP. You have the correct opinions, **Nzinga, Seated**. ---
**Author:** ![Rand\_Rover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/db5fbb/32.png) [@Rand\_Rover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rand_Rover)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/84 "2013-01-13T03:56:14Z")
Wait, “Willie” is one of the blackest boy’s names (from the Freakonomics list posted upthread)? Makes me think more of a red-head. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/85 "2013-01-13T04:39:35Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Bryce - This is acceptable, but nothing I would name my child. oh god i can’t handle the disillusionment ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/86 "2013-01-13T05:21:37Z")
> [@nashiitashii](#): > > UMy only real exception to the “made up names are totally okay by me” rule is that I hate the name Nevaeh. Meeting a person with that name or a person who named their kid that is like meeting all those glurge emails wrapped up in a box of stupid with a poorly tied bow. :mad: When I was a punk-ass teenager, I made a study out of upsetting street preachers, and one of my go-to schticks was prowling around them, glaring at them with hands raised in comic-book-villain pose, and chanting the Lord’s Prayer backwards. I still have the damned thing memorized, and the name “Nevaeh” sounds to me like it should be followed with a hissed “ni tra-ooh! rethaf! ROU!” ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/87 "2013-01-13T05:32:38Z")
Made up names are trashy as hell. Among my black friends are LaInger, LaSondraLynn, Shataka, Peaches, and Pumpkin. I have no idea what their mothers were thinking. If you want to be successful in normal society, you need a nice normal white name no matter what your ethnicity. I am sure my nephews Gunner and Montana would agree. Sincerely, Maverick (aka Shagnasty) ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/88 "2013-01-13T05:36:20Z")
My first name is the most common female name from my birth year, and my last name is an extremely common noun. It could not be more simple. And yet I get asked to spell the damn thing out, all the time. Men spell my first name wrong pretty much 50% of the time, and people of both genders for some reason try to read my last name as Spanish. There is no getting away from it. Unless your name is “John Smith”, you will need to spell your name and deal with errors. > [@Chronos](#): > > .You’ll see plenty of names that you recognize right away and which everyone knows how to spell, but which are used by less than 0.2% of the male or female population. And just going through my close relatives, I found that my sister, my mother, four of my aunts, one of my uncles, and one of my grandmothers weren’t on the list at all, thus having names shared by less than 0.0304% of the population, while all still being perfectly recognizable and familiar names. Let me guess- are you a fairly middle class white guy? Is it surprising that you (not “everyone”, as I don’t think you have real insight into what names “everyone” knows how to spell) are able to recognize a list of names from your culture? Is it surprising that your family member’s names would also be on a list that largely reflects your culture? US demographics have changed, and subcultures within the US have changed. Names common among the white middle class have stayed somewhat steady (although if you trace a lot of today’s top 100, many of them won’t turn up on yesterday’s top 1,000 list), but in other parts of America there have been different changes. In any case, normal =/= what Chronos’s particular family or culture tends to do. Normal is what is normal in your family and your community. Many families and communities don’t really care what WASPs are naming their kids, and have no reason to consider these names “normal” or “standard.” ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/89 "2013-01-13T05:46:20Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > My first name is the most common female name from my birth year, and my last name is an extremely common noun. It could not be more simple. And yet I get asked to spell the damn thing out, all the time. Men spell my first name wrong pretty much 50% of the time, and people of both genders for some reason try to read my last name as Spanish. > > There is no getting away from it. Unless your name is “John Smith”, you will need to spell your name and deal with errors. > > Let me guess- are you a fairly middle class white guy? Is it surprising that you (not “everyone”, as I don’t think you have real insight into what names “everyone” knows how to spell) are able to recognize a list of names from your culture? Is it surprising that your family member’s names would also be on a list that largely reflects your culture? > > US demographics have changed, and subcultures within the US have changed. Names common among the white middle class have stayed somewhat steady (although if you trace a lot of today’s top 100, many of them won’t turn up on yesterday’s top 1,000 list), but in other parts of America there have been different changes. > > In any case, normal =/= what Chronos’s particular family or culture tends to do. Normal is what is normal in your family and your community. Many families and communities don’t really care what WASPs are naming their kids, and have no reason to consider these names “normal” or “standard.” I don’t care if your name is Mary Smith, I’ll ask you to spell it because of all the stupid spellings I have seen. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/90 "2013-01-13T05:50:39Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > There is no getting away from it. Unless your name is “John Smith”, you will need to spell your name and deal with errors. My brother-in-law is named basically that (not John, but his first name is perennially in the top-10 list for boys) and occasionally he will be asked semi-jokingly what his _real_ name is. And yes, people do ask him to spell Smith. I guess to make sure it’s not Smythe or whatever, but still, yikes. Oh, and: > [@monstro](#): > > Name teasing is a stupid reason to give someone a common name. Why? Because if it’s not your first name that gets mocked, it’s your last name. Or you catch shit because you’re the tallest/shortest/fattest/skinniest/clumsiness/whatever in the class. I have a “normal” name, but the kids found a way to adulterate it. And I could have been named “Mary” and I still would have gotten harrassed. Seriously. I know people who bent over backwards to make sure they picked a name that absolutely couldn’t be made fun of – wasn’t unusual, wasn’t misspelled, didn’t rhyme with anything terrible, etc. – and I’m like, you people are crazy. If someone wants to make fun of your kid, trust me, they will. And if your kid is popular and a cheerleader (or whatever) then her name could be Cindersmella Fartsmith and nobody would care. This whole “But OMG someone might make fun of your kid’s name!” thing is way overblown in my opinion. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/91 "2013-01-13T06:06:04Z")
On the outside chance you haven’t seen/heard [Key & Peele: Substitute Teacher](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw) it may fit with the theme of the thread. ---
**Author:** ![pbbth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f9ae1b/32.png) [@pbbth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pbbth)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/92 "2013-01-13T06:08:43Z")
> [@MandaJo](#): > > That said, I do think names can be class and race signifiers, and I think the class implications do have the potential to impact how people see your kid. I work with a lady whose name is something like La’Pwecious. It’s not that her name suggests she’s black, it’s that her name suggests that her mom was 16 when she was born. I think that such a name could be a disservice to a person. I think this is very accurate. A made up name isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but if you aren’t careful about it you can really handicap a kid socially. You can have a made up name that isn’t extreme or hideous and I’ve known several people with beautiful names that were obviously made up. You can also have a terrible name that is going to burden you forever. It is one thing to be an Ayisha or a Shaniqua, it is quite another to be Diamond Rolexus or Count Choculicious. IME there are insanely successful people with extreme made up names, Condoleeza and Oprah being the first that come to mind, and then there are people who will never have a hope of being middle class or better with extreme made up names and not much in between. I’ve worked for middle class salaries in several companies across a couple of different states and while there has been the occasional made up name I’ve never seen someone with an extreme name in any of those environments. Barkevious is very lucky to have the athletic talent he does because I don’t think he would be very likely to get hired to sell insurance or as an administrative assistant. If you want to name your daughter Starquasha you had better work to make sure she is the very best of the best in whatever it is she wants to do, otherwise you are just giving her another hurdle to jump over to get a decent paying job. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/93 "2013-01-13T07:44:08Z")
As for common names being boring, some people take it in stride and can even the humor in it. 🙂 [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14571108#post14571108](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=14571108#post14571108) > [@elbows](#): > > But those words only meant that once, then someone turned them into a ‘name’, so while they might not have ‘made up’ a new word, they made up a ‘name’ by turning it into one. Like ‘apple’, it already had a meaning before it became a child’s name, but it’s still a ‘made up’ name, because all names are words someone decided to use for a name. > > Once you go to other cultures and encounter many, many other forms of names, (with various meanings, sometimes apparent to you, some lost on you), you begin to see they are all just reapplied words. Or made up/into names. Is there a language in which “quvenzhane” is a word that was re-applied as a name? In what language is “zhane” pronounced “zhah-NAY”? If your name is an idiosyncratic pronunciation or spelling, DON’T COMPLAIN WHEN PEOPLE DON’T GET IT RIGHT, AND DON’T BE SMUG OR PRICKLY WHEN YOU CORRECT THEM. You think it makes you unique or creative? Yes, a unique and creative way of being a jackass. My last name is only 4 letters, but people rarely pronounce it on the first try the way our family does. Sometimes I tell them I respond to anything within reason, up to and including “Hey, you!” 🙂 I see name #630 at [Popular Baby Names | SSA](http://www.ssa.gov/oact/babynames/#ht=1) is “Semaj”. Really? “James” spelled backward? (Or is it some culture I should be ashamed of not knowing? :rolleyes: ) > [@MeanOldLady](#): > > I don’t have a problem with made up black names, because I’m not some smug white guy named Chad who thinks everyone should speak, act, and name their children they were they it was done in his Connecticut prep school, but the made up name should be something pleasant sounding. I’m sure you’re not a white guy named Chad who thinks everyone’s name or behavior should meet your approval, and I’m sure you didn’t go to a Connecticut prep school. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/94 "2013-01-13T08:30:46Z")
My favorite coworker is an intelligent, thoughtful and hard-working guy who’s actually quite over-educated for the job we have. Every single time we discuss something our kids said or did I inwardly cringe at his children’s names. He has a nice normal name, his lovely wife’s name is a bit more ethnic but perfectly readable and easy to pronounce; they combined the letters of their names to create unique names for all four children. I just don’t get it. They’re smart people, it boggles my mind that they saddled those kids with such atrocities. When he talks about growing up in a ghetto part of town and his pride at buying a home for his family in a solidly middle class area so his children can have a better life, I’m just struck by the disconnect between how he wants to raise them and the horrid names he gave them. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/95 "2013-01-13T08:31:08Z")
One year when my mother was teaching 2nd grade at MLK school, she had three or four girls with the same name, Kiana, Qiana, Keyawna and maybe a fourth spelling. That was in the late 80s, I think that name may be less popular these days. Oh, and imdb spells the name “Quvenzhané”, I guess as a pronunciation clue. Is the accent on the last syllable? ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/96 "2013-01-13T13:45:03Z")
And, I’ll refer to [this post I made](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=15851718&postcount=187) from a while back, which featured two sets of twins with probably unique names. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/97 "2013-01-13T15:33:06Z")
FWIW, our practice (with six kids) was to give them a perfectly respectable first name that would not inconvenience or embarrass them in adulthood, and an unusual middle name they could select to use if they wanted. (All the middle names were standard names, with standard spelling, just very very uncommon.) ---
**Author:** ![Zjestika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/8edcca/32.png) [@Zjestika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zjestika)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/98 "2013-01-13T17:17:32Z")
> [@nashiitashii](#): > > My only real exception to the “made up names are totally okay by me” rule is that I hate the name Nevaeh. Meeting a person with that name or a person who named their kid that is like meeting all those glurge emails wrapped up in a box of stupid with a poorly tied bow. :mad: Oh, god, I was going to mention Nevaeh. And there’s always the “It’s heaven- spelled backwards!” swoon that follows it. Yeah, I know, that’s what makes it the worst. I knew someone who leagally changed the spelling of her name from Katie to Khaiti. Which was her choice to do to herself, so whatevs. ---
**Author:** ![nashiitashii](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7c8e57/32.png) [@nashiitashii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nashiitashii)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/99 "2013-01-13T19:38:16Z")
> [@rowrrbazzle](#): > > If your name is an idiosyncratic pronunciation or spelling, DON’T COMPLAIN WHEN PEOPLE DON’T GET IT RIGHT, AND DON’T BE SMUG OR PRICKLY WHEN YOU CORRECT THEM. Is this for everyone with an unusual name, or just the ones that look/sound made-up to you? I have the most “normal” name out of my siblings (and most of my cousins) to a native English speaker, and it baffles me how much difficulty some people have with relatively simple ethnic names. It’s like y’all don’t fucking listen when someone tells you their name, or don’t ask them to repeat it to make sure you got the pronunciation correct. It’s not rude to ask someone how their name is pronounced if you don’t think you’re going to get even remotely close guessing on your own. Oh, and **Zjestika** : I’m glad I’m not the only person who absolutely despises that name. It’s the only name I’m willing to call stupid regardless of scenario. I might be picky about what I’d choose to name theoretical children, but I don’t judge much when it comes to names of actual people beyond “they’re going to have a hard time with people taking them seriously” if it’s really severe. (Mind you, a lot of my “really severe” stuff is naming boys “little boy” names like Andy, Cody, Tyler, etc. rather than “Oh, that’s not a standard Anglo-American looking name” gripe.) ---
**Author:** ![Blackberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecd19e/32.png) [@Blackberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blackberry)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/100 "2013-01-13T19:49:09Z")
> [@nashiitashii](#): > > Oh, and **Zjestika** : I’m glad I’m not the only person who absolutely despises that name. Oh, you are FAR from the only one who despises that name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948.md?page=6)