# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/121 "2013-01-14T11:18:32Z")
My name is just four letters long and it is a fairly common nickname. A fictional character in 60s television used to go by it. And without fail, everyday someone fucks it up. I have learned to answer to every permutation of it just so I don’t go crazy. Sometimes I wish I had a different name. But it’s not a bad name just because people can’t get it right. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/122 "2013-01-14T11:40:59Z")
Chip? ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/123 "2013-01-14T14:11:07Z")
> [@Tamex](#): > > According to my daughter, who is in high school, you’d have to have a very unusual name indeed to be teased for it. Something that is easily mocked like “Gaylord” would certainly qualify. A name that is just an unusual spelling or “made-up”? You’d end up teasing half the class! Not only that, but half the time kids are _assigned_ nicknames, when teasing each other. A first name just doesn’t work, as a line of defense, whether its common or not. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/124 "2013-01-14T14:22:08Z")
> [@Love\_Rhombus](#): > > I don’t mind “made-up names” as long as they have some forethought. For example: Gaylord. If you name your child this, it will be hard for them. Or Rayon. I’ve met a Rayon, he seems like a nice kid, but really? You have the right to name your kid what you please, just don’t be a fucking moron about it. I’m sure there’s some poor kid named “Olestra”. I recently saw an obituary from a small-town paper, I don’t remember the lady’s age but she was probably in her 70’s. Her name was “Chlorene.” A little checking revealed that around the time she would have been born, chlorination of public drinking water was becoming common. Guess her parents were pretty excited about it! I joked to a co-worker that her younger sisters name was “Phlouride.” > [@Jragon](#): > > IME (and yes, I really have met a couple Nzingas), the N in Nzinga is silent, it’s just pronounced Zinga. But [Nzinga](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nzinga) is a forrealz historical African name, not a modern African-American one. I don’t know any in person, but when I’m reading it I always pronounce a soft ‘N’. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/125 "2013-01-14T14:28:09Z")
It’s not just a lack thing. Utah Mormons are known for their “creative” naming It’s rather embarrassing [http://wesclark.com/ubn/faves.html](http://wesclark.com/ubn/faves.html) ---
**Author:** ![Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aji_de_gallina/32/260_2.png) [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aji_de_Gallina)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/126 "2013-01-14T14:45:53Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Everybody bashes the name \*Shaniqua _as the archetypal made-up name that sounds stupid and heralds the decline of western civilization, etc. Reality check: It is not made up! It’s an established real name. Chenequa, Wisconsin is pronounced the same as Shaniqua, albeit given a different spelling, and it derives from the word for ‘white pine’ in the Potawatomi language. [Cite.](http://www.chenequa.org/History.html) [Another cite.](http://www.ebooksread.com/authors-eng/wisconsin-natural-history-society-archeological-s/the-wisconsin-archeologist-volume-32-34-hci/page-9-the-wisconsin-archeologist-volume-32-34-hci.shtml)_ I think it’s a pretty name, with a lovely meaning, and I don’t understand all the hate. Also, the bile so commonly spewed against the name for being stereotypically black really makes me wonder if hating on the name isn’t a stalking horse for not-so-subtle racism. > > \*There are other theories, examined in the second cite above, such as maybe it’s derived from the Ojibway language (closely related to Potawatomi) _Anishinaabe_ meaning ‘original people’ (the ethnic name for the Indian tribes of the region around Lake Superior) and _kwe_ ‘woman’. Still makes for a perfectly cromulent name IMHO, and one that deserves respect. The Village of Chenequa hedges their bets by depicting pine trees _and_ an Indian woman on their town seal. But if the “black” name Shaniqua is actually derived from Chenequa it makes no sense as a name trying to connect with black cultural past. It would also be a hell of a journey for a name from Lake Superior to black areas. I’m not convinced. ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/127 "2013-01-14T15:01:21Z")
here is the Utah names website. It’s a hilarious read [http://wesclark.com/ubn/](http://wesclark.com/ubn/) ---
**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 14, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/128 "2013-01-14T15:09:05Z")
> [@Aji\_de\_Gallina](#): > > But if the “black” name Shaniqua is actually derived from Chenequa it makes no sense as a name trying to connect with black cultural past. It would also be a hell of a journey for a name from Lake Superior to black areas. > I’m not convinced. I’m not sure what she meant, but I didn’t take that she was implying that “Shaniqua” was derived from “Chenequa,” just that that (homophonic) name had been around a long time. FWIW, I didn’t find any hits for “Shaniqua” in Google News Archives before 1980. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/129 "2013-01-14T15:09:30Z")
> [@Zjestika](#): > > I prefer made-up names over clever mispellings. Either way it’s embarassing to have to ask for someone to have to re-pronounce or spell their name. Creating socially uncomfortable moments should be avoided if at all possible in my world. Also, be prepared for your child to be asked whether it’s a real name. My husband has an unusual nickname, and the first thing _everyone_ says when they hear it is “Is that his REAL name?” > > However, before you name your child for god’s sake look up the social security top 100 and avoid the top 25 at least. Does the world need another Olivia or Isabella or Lily? (I have like the most common girls name ever so I’m a little bitter.) And google the name combination once you’ve landed on something. You might have a seriel killer or a junior congressperson there, and wouldn’t you at least like to know? Hi, Jennifer! ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/130 "2013-01-14T15:21:03Z")
I once went to camp with three girls named Megan, but they each pronounced it differently, as Mee-g’n, Meh-g’n, and May-g’n. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/131 "2013-01-14T15:23:34Z")
I think Quvenzhane is lovely. But when we had a different computer setup here at the library on busy Sundays I’d have to stand by our queue monitor and shout out people’s names when their computers came available, and all I ask is that you be patient with me if I pronounce it. I am seriously trying my best! ---
**Author:** ![grude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47774/32.png) [@grude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grude)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/132 "2013-01-14T15:23:50Z")
My father’s first named is Johnny, and he absolutely hated his whole life and insisted his first name is John. He thinks Johnny is a little boy name. He has even had to have forms redone when people realize his name is not John, like at a hospital. So I mean anything you name your kid can go wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/133 "2013-01-14T16:11:10Z")
Why couldn’t Shaniqua be a respelling of Chenequa? Not all black American names are necessarily a reference to African heritage. Some are given just because the parents like the sound. Newsflash: There are black people in Wisconsin. Even if there weren’t, though the U.S. may be big and diverse, it’s still one nation, and people do get around. Moreover, a large number of black Americans have American Indian heritage in the mix too. (See _Black Indians_ by William Loren Katz.) All it takes is for one parent to hear Chenequa pronounced, to like the sound of it, and respell it more phonetically, and when others hear it and like it, it can catch on and spread across the continent. It’s by no means impossible that Shaniqua is Chenequa respelled, and I don’t think it’s even improbable. The name _Winona_ is from the Lakota language, and long ago spread among non-Indians across the continent from its place of origin in the northern Great Plains. Sister Winona Carr (born in Cleveland, Ohio in 1924) was an African-American singer-songwriter. I think it’s more improbable that [ʃəˈniːkwə] would have been invented out of thin air when it already existed in America. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/134 "2013-01-14T16:15:24Z")
> [@Johanna](#): > > Newsflash: There are black people in Wisconsin. The devil you say! _clutches pearls_ 😉 ---
**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 14, 2013, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/135 "2013-01-14T16:24:04Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > How would you have been very unhappy? Juh? For the same reason all kids are unhappy when they can’t have what’s in/popular. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/136 "2013-01-14T19:00:51Z")
> [@gms453](#): > > FWIW: I deliberately gave my children simple well known names so they wouldn’t have to go through life telling people how to spell and pronounce their names. Why burden children with that lifelong irritant. They aren’t pets, they’re people. I’ve had to go through life telling people how to spell and pronounce my ethnic last name. There’s not much that could have been done about it, unless I went to the extraodinary step of changing it. I managed. It wouldn’t be any worse for someone to do the same for a first name, if the name was otherwise a good one. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/137 "2013-01-14T19:09:49Z")
> [@Tamex](#): > > According to my daughter, who is in high school, you’d have to have a very unusual name indeed to be teased for it. Something that is easily mocked like “Gaylord” would certainly qualify. A name that is just an unusual spelling or “made-up”? You’d end up teasing half the class! > > It’s a different world, where not everyone is named Mike or Dave or Heather or Jennifer. Even the “popular” names are not as concentrated as they were way back when. That’s what I was thinking. My wife is an elementary school teacher, and at least half her class has names that would be considered unusual. Many children of Asian descent in her class with interesting Indian, Chinese and Vietnamese, names, for instance, as well as some African-American names. Of course, this is in the San Francisco Bay Area, which has tremendous ethinc diversity. Also, along the same lines, I think in these threads one can emphasize too much the importance of giving a name to the child that minimizes the possibility of teasing in school. In the long run, the child will be in K-12 school for only a small part of his life. Only 13 years out of hopefully 70 or 80. I mean, even I was teased for a few years about my name, and I have a pretty common first name. But that was more than 40 years ago so it doesn’t affect me at all. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/138 "2013-01-14T19:21:21Z")
My niece is going to have this issue. Her mother pronounces her name the Russian way which is different than the American way. Her mom (and so my niece is learning from her) gets upset when when anyone pronounces it “wrong” but uses the American version for her pet name for her daughter. Think of it this way. If her name is Trishia but pronounced Trish-ee-ya. He mom gets upset if anyone calls her Trish-u (short u) but she calls her shu (short u) as a nickname. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/139 "2013-01-14T19:24:01Z")
Generally, you don’t want to name your kid something that you feel will hinder him throughout life or make him a laughingstock. But some ethnic or ethnic-sounding names can’t help that, so you compromise. Everyone’s standard of ridiculousness is different though, you just have to hope that the truly dimwitted parents are rare and don’t have much kids. Then again, I want to seriously name my kid Gilgamesh, so what do I know? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2013, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948/140 "2013-01-14T19:49:38Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > > [@Johanna](#): > > > > Newsflash: There are black people in Wisconsin. > > The devil you say! _clutches pearls_ > > 😉 More on Wisconsin demographics[:](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin#Demographics) "African Americans came to Milwaukee, especially from 1940 on. Menominee County is the only county in the eastern United States with an American Indian majority. 86% of Wisconsin’s African-American population live in four cities: Milwaukee, Racine, Beloit, Kenosha, with Milwaukee home to nearly three-fourths of the state’s black Americans. In the Great Lakes region, only Detroit and Cleveland have a higher percentage of African-American residents." Chenequa is less than 30 miles from central Milwaukee. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/quvenzhane-and-made-up-black-peoples-names/646948.md?page=8)