# What is up with African American names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 13, 2002, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402 "2002-12-13T02:30:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TheRochester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/13edae/32.png) [@TheRochester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheRochester)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/41 "2002-12-13T16:04:18Z")
Houseplant or Black Baby Name: Round One Tanishia Neanthebella Schefflera Charleetah Dostianna The answers to come later… ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/42 "2002-12-13T16:10:32Z")
Golly, how to chime in on this thread without sounding racist? Oh, this way: Mothers, whatever your race, ethnicity or color, please do not name your child “Latrina.” Just don’t, OK? ---
**Author:** ![tarpal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@tarpal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarpal)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/43 "2002-12-13T16:14:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dorkusmalorkusmafia \* > **Another thing to throw out there. One of my coworkers names her children (4 of them) kinda after her family (herself, husband, and both sets of their parents). There is Kisean (there youngest)… half Kisha and half Sean. There is Laquequaquan (not sure of the spelling) Which is Lavita (her mother), Quenten (one of their fathers) and something else thrown in at the end. Her name, Laquequaquan, always throws me off. It is pronounced Lah-kwee kwuh-kwahn.** What a gawdawful name. Did the parents give even a moment’s thought to the fact that this poor kid is gonna sit in school squirming with embarrassment every time a new teacher attempts to pronouce her name? And just wait until she gets into the job market, oh jeez. …“Let’s see, I have two applications here, one from Carol Mitchell and one from…what? La-what? Quequequa…huh?”. “Hello, may I please speak with Carol? Yes, we’re pleased to offer you the position of…” ---
**Author:** ![vibrotronica](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a9a28c/32.png) [@vibrotronica](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vibrotronica)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/44 "2002-12-13T16:15:01Z")
An anecdote: I was working in Memphis restaurant once whose staff was more than half African American. I asked a coworker the “Why do black people give their kids funny names?” question, like all naive country white people who can get over their fear of the dark man eventually do. Her answer? “Because they sound pretty.” ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/45 "2002-12-13T16:16:35Z")
Prince John: Such an unusual name, “Latrine.” How did your family come by it? Latrine: We changed it in the 9th century. Prince John: You mean you changed it TO “Latrine”? Latrine: Yeah. Used to be “Shithouse.” - Robin Hood: Men In Tights ---
**Author:** ![Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raymond_luxury_yacht/32/4099_2.png) [@Raymond\_Luxury\_Yacht](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raymond_Luxury_Yacht)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/46 "2002-12-13T16:17:17Z")
I would formally like to invite all of you witty posters to the Pit, particularly **The Rochester** and **Tarpal** , for a further discussion. ---
**Author:** ![tarpal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@tarpal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarpal)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/47 "2002-12-13T16:20:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*Mothers, whatever your race, ethnicity or color, please do not name your child “Latrina.” Just don’t, OK? \*\* I recall a few years back reading about a black mother who’d just given birth. The nurses begged her to no avail not to name her daughter…“Vagina”. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/48 "2002-12-13T16:22:05Z")
> [@](#): > > **Do black Europeans have similar, unusual names? Do non-traditional names pop up more among them than whites, like in the U.S.?** I dunno about black Britains having ‘funny’ sounding names, but the natives have been at it for years… > [@](#): > > **Lyonulph Cospatrick Bruce Berkeley Jermyn Tullibardine Petersham de Orellana Dysart Plantaganet Tollemache-Tollemache** was Headmaster of Wellingborough School for just five terms [1933-1935]. His name was longer than his tenure. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tiny\_ham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a183cd/32.png) [@tiny\_ham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tiny_ham)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/49 "2002-12-13T16:22:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tarpal \* > \*\* > > I am the human resources manager for a large company. My job is to find and hire the best-educated, best-qualified people who have a team-player attitude and can get along with others. My experience has been that, in general, when I see a name like Queshonda or Labwiesha, I will probably be dealing with a _lower-class type_, one who quite often has an “attitude”. The name is a big red flag, and **usually these applications just get tossed or buried**. > > \*\* :eek: Holy moley. Tell me you’re kidding, please! I’m fairly confident that if it got around to some people that you were concluding who is qualified for a job based on their name alone that you’d be in quite a bit of hot water. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/50 "2002-12-13T16:28:59Z")
Pit thread link. Tarpal, you’re the star, so come on down! [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=150125](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=150125) ---
**Author:** ![TwistofFate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@TwistofFate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TwistofFate)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/51 "2002-12-13T16:38:01Z")
Entymology of Donell It could come of two variations, both Irish 🙂 Donnell, or Donal. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/52 "2002-12-13T16:40:23Z")
Well, apropos of nothing, I really love the name Nnenna. I think it’s Nigerian, but I’m not sure. And I’m a white cracker! Yehaw! ---
**Author:** ![tarpal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@tarpal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tarpal)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/53 "2002-12-13T16:41:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by jarbabyj \* > \*\*:eek: Holy moley. Tell me you’re kidding, please! \*\* Nope. > [@](#): > > \*\*I’m fairly confident that if it got around to some people that you were concluding who is qualified for a job based on their name alone that you’d be in quite a bit of hot water. \*\* “got around to some people”? “hot water”? How silly. My job is to find the best qualified people for our firm. I’m damn good at it and that’s all the company cares about. And BTW, yes it’s common knowledge w/management that I have a system for screening out any Laquaquanda’s “wit attidood”. They are grateful for it and my salary reflects that. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/54 "2002-12-13T16:41:36Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tarpal \* > \*\*I recall a few years back reading about a black mother who’d just given birth. The nurses begged her to no avail not to name her daughter…“Vagina”. \*\* Urban legend. Check it out on Snopes. ---
**Author:** ![TheRochester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/13edae/32.png) [@TheRochester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheRochester)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/55 "2002-12-13T16:43:08Z")
Here are the answers for Round One: Tanishia - Black Baby Name Neanthebella - Houseplant Schefflera - HP Charleetah - BBN Dostianna - BBN ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/56 "2002-12-13T16:54:06Z")
> [@](#): > > I am the human resources manager for a large company. My job is to find and hire the best-educated, best-qualified people who have a team-player attitude and can get along with others. My experience has been that, in general, when I see a name like Queshonda or Labwiesha, I will probably be dealing with a lower-class type, one who quite often has an “attitude”. The name is a big red flag, and usually these applications just get tossed or buried. From: [http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/12/business/12SCEN.html](http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/12/business/12SCEN.html) > [@](#): > > To test whether employers discriminate against black job applicants, Marianne Bertrand of the University of Chicago and Sendhil Mullainathan of M.I.T. conducted an unusual experiment. They selected 1,300 help-wanted ads from newspapers in Boston and Chicago and submitted multiple résumés from phantom job seekers. The researchers randomly assigned the first names on the résumés, choosing from one set that is particularly common among blacks and from another that is common among whites… > > The results are disturbing. Applicants with white-sounding names were 50 percent more likely to be called for interviews than were those with black-sounding names. Interviews were requested for 10.1 percent of applicants with white-sounding names and only 6.7 percent of those with black-sounding names. Judging people based on their names is just as horrible, bigotted, and mean-spirited as judging people on their race or weight-size or gender. You should be ashamed of yourself, **tarpal**! ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/57 "2002-12-13T16:58:45Z")
Anyone else struck by the … how shall I phrase this … more prejudiced comments in this thread will be interested in joining [the Pit discussion](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=150125). ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/58 "2002-12-13T16:59:09Z")
Wow… I would hope nobody basis hiring decisions soley on the name of the prospective applicant… it’s tremendously unfair. I will say that I’ve had a few conversations with black friends and acquaintances and there is alot of puzzlement over this phenomenon even within the african american community. One group of guys I hung around with called other black people with these types of names “Shenehnehs” after the character on the TV show Martin, not very flattering. I believe they also felt that names such as these were telling of socio-economic background as well as race. Others I’ve talked to were of the opinion that it is more or less a fad and will probably go away with some of the more common names keeping on and gaining a certain more general acceptance. I myself just wonder why more authentic african names weren’t used instead of the more creatively ‘made up’ names you more often find. Names should mean something IMO, have a history… and a background, if for no other reason than as a general conversation item. ;\> My pet peeve is people who take a pretty ordinary name and try to make it unique by spelling it oddly… or adding an extra couple of letters. ;\> ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/59 "2002-12-13T17:00:19Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by tarpal \* > \*\*And BTW, yes it’s common knowledge w/management that I have a system for screening out any Laquaquanda’s “wit attidood”. \*\* Well, but how do you know Laquaquanda has a bad attitude? She might have a super attitude, be willing to work nights and weekends, know how to do the job well, etc. Of course, she might not, but how can you judge that based on her name? Like someone had asked earlier, what if an applicant named Condoleezza had a resume on your desk? What personality does a Condoleezza have? ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2002, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402/60 "2002-12-13T17:02:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sleeping \* > \*\*Correction: not very few, but more like a rising trend. This is not exclusive to blacks, however. Many people are trying to reconnect to their “homeland,” something I find annoying. I wasn’t born in the U.S., but I think that people should only support the country in which they are documented citizens, and no other. (I’m not a nationalist; I believe that nationalism is stupid. Nevertheless, people should serve their country simply because it benefits them [by ensuring the continuation of the conditions they currently enjoy].) \*\* :smack: I have seen the errors of my ways! No longer will use my father’s surname. His side has been in the U.S since the 1730s, but it is _wrong_ not to use his surname because it’s _German_ :eek: And this annoys **sleeping**. My first name is no good because my parent’s found it in a Shakespeare play – nope, not a North American name at all and that must annoy **sleeping**. I can’t use any names from my mom’s side. They settled in the U.S. back in 1531 – but they all have Spanish names, no not “American” names. So that’s out because it would annoy **sleeping**. I am a citizen of Canada now, so henceforth to “ensure the continuation” of this great nation that I currently enjoy, I shall be known as **Kejimkujik**. Oh, I’m sorry. Does that sound too strange? What am I to do? It’s a word used by the Mi’kmaq people and they were here long before the Jennifers and Williams arrived… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-up-with-african-american-names/142402.md?page=4)