# Who was the first Shaniqua? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 3, 2007, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660 "2007-05-03T20:11:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/81 "2007-06-21T21:19:32Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Then there’s always 4real: [http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/06/21/name.child.ap/index.html](http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/06/21/name.child.ap/index.html) [/QUOTE] Wouldn’t it be simplier just to name their kid, “Beatme”? 'Cause _that’s_ what his future holds for him if his parents succeed in calling him 4real. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/82 "2007-06-22T00:50:15Z")
[QUOTE=melvin coznowski] In a (fictional) related development to Elendil’s Heir cite about ‘4real’, Charles Schultz introduced the character of ‘5’ in Peanuts. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5\_(Peanuts)](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/5_(Peanuts)) I named my children normal Anglo names for the very reasons outlined in this thread: why should someone be saddled with a name that might be cute in childhood, but is horrible by adult standards? (Or vice-versa? Names like Bertha and Gladys are old women’s names, IMO. I can’t imagine a 6-year old girl named ‘Bertha’.) [/QUOTE] Julia Roberts has 2-year-old twins: Hazel and Phinnaeus. How in the hell could she have put two “n’s” in Phinnaeus? What was she thinking? And “Apple Blythe Alison Martin” (Gwyneth’s git) speaks for itself. (Sorry, Elmwood) **Walloon:** Shaniqua J. Gable, 73, Cove, Texas Shaniqua J. Collins, 72, Richmond, Virginia Shaniqua Williams, 71, Brooklyn, New York Shaniqua D. Alston, 66, Henderson, North Carolina Shaniqua L. Lewis, 67, Corsicana, Texas Shaniqua L. Oliver, 67, Washington, District of Columbia Shaniqua Nikita McElroy, 65, Houston, Texas Shaniqua Rasberry, 66, Houston, Texas Shaniqua M. Jackson, 65, Dallas, Texas Shaniqua R. Panton, 64, Deltona, Florida Shaniqua S. Poole, 65, Brooklyn, New York Shaniqua N. Tuck, 65, Houston, Texas Shaniqua Dansbury, 64, Baltimore, Maryland Shaniqua Gresham, 64, Atlanta, Georgia Shaniqua Hammond, 64, Barnwell, South Carolina Shaniqua Lampton, 64, Hewitt, Texas Shaniqua Turner, 64, Waco, Texas ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/83 "2007-06-22T06:24:26Z")
I don’t know why you reprinted my list from post #35 above, but I have been thinking about the list. Two theories: either (1) the ages are typos, and the women are in fact much younger; or (2) the women changed their original names to Shaniqua sometime after the 1960s. I say that because I have not been able to find corroborating evidence for women that old being given the name Shaniqua at birth. For instance: • the California Birth Index 1905–1995 has no Shaniqua before the 1970s. • the Alabama Marriage Index, 1936–1969, has no Shaniqua. • the Florida Marriage Index, 1927–2001, has no Shaniqua before 1995. • the Minnesota Marriage Index, 1958–2001, has no Shaniqua. • the Nevada Marriage Index, 1966–2005, has no Shaniqua before 1999. • the North Carolina Birth Index has no Shaniqua before 1976. • the Texas Birth Index, 1903–1997, has no Shaniqua before 1966. And so on. ---
**Author:** ![lalenin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3da27b/32.png) [@lalenin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lalenin)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/84 "2007-06-22T13:10:51Z")
[QUOTE=Themenin] I don’t know that I’d call it ‘made up’. It’s a somewhat common name in France (goes back to the middle-ages), though more common in the feminine Eliane. I always think it sounds too much like ‘alien’, but that’s another story. We had a wave of American ‘soap-opera names’ over here a few years back - French kids called Brandon and Tiffany (US spelling) and so forth. There’s a French comic, Elie Semoun who does a routine with a girl called Kevina. [/QUOTE] It maybe matches a french name, but it was completely made up in Cuba. According to Elian’s father they took the mother’s name, Elizabeth and the father’s name, Juan, and mashed them up Eli-An to come up with the name. ---
**Author:** ![Spit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/76d3ee/32.png) [@Spit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spit)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/85 "2007-06-22T19:46:02Z")
[QUOTE=Dr. Drake] I had the same thought, but the Oxford Dictionary of First Names, which is fairly good about this sort of thing, credits Barrie. Apparently it’s a derivative of “friend” — via baby talk and reduplication (friend \> fwiend \> fwendy-wendy \> Wendy). The resemblance to “Gwendolen” is coincidental. (Oddly, they don’t have an entry for “Shaniqua.”) Jonathan Swift invented “Vanessa,” but as a nickname; I don’t know who bore it first as a given name. [/QUOTE] I always assumed this was one of the reasons these names came about. The other being that when words are spoken with a certain dialect, they tend to change. I.e.; We suthnuhs tendasay “y’all” in place o’ y’all. That second “y’all” would be “you all” I would assume names are the same way. Particularly after being “Americanized”: Jaime (Hy-me) in spanish becomes Jamie (Jay-me) in english. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/86 "2007-06-22T22:13:32Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] I don’t know why you reprinted my list from post #35 above, . . . . [/QUOTE] My mistake; I was tired, trying to leave work, gremlins invaded, etc. I missed that it was you who had originally posted the list, missed what you were responded _to_ in the post I responded to, and mistakenly thought you didn’t know that it had been posted there were older Shaniquas. Lesson learned: don’t post while harried. ---
**Author:** ![Freezair\_SilverEye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b2d939/32.png) [@Freezair\_SilverEye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freezair_SilverEye)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/87 "2007-06-23T01:54:24Z")
[QUOTE=carterba] I went to school with a girl named Unique. Her parents must’ve started with that sentiment, then literalized it. [/QUOTE] As did I! My mom always thought her name was “weird,” but it seemed perfectly normal to me as a child–besides, we always just called her Nicki. I must admit it, if I ever have offspring, they will probably be named as if they had been born in a musty English manor. Among my favorite names are Mordecai, Nicodemus, Balthazar and other stuffy-sounding things. With 7 billion people to compete with, it doesn’t surprise me that parents want their kids to stick out somehow. Although I’m surprised to hear that Elian is a made-up name. It sounded perfectly normal to me when I first heard it! :eek: ---
**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:** [June 23, 2007, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/88 "2007-06-23T14:47:31Z")
[QUOTE=CaerieD] _If_ Chenequa and Shaniqua are related then the name may very well have been around for a long time. From the official [Chenequa, WI](http://www.chenequa.wi.us/) website, backed up by various other sites if you run a search on Chenequa and Potawatomi. It seems possible to me that the name could have been borrowed from Native Americans. Maybe not because of a fondness of pine, but simply because it’s a pleasing and–until recently–fairly unusual name. [/QUOTE] **CaerieD** clearly wins the thread. Thanks, **CaerieD**! This serves as a reminder that before we make fun of unusual-sounding names for being made up in the African-American tradition (or any ethnic group), first consider they may have a venerable origin in a real language and are not just made up. I used to work with a woman from Lebanon named Eliane. We worked on Arabic stuff together but we spoke French _entre nous_. I never asked her though, what she thought of Elián González and the possibly accidental coincidence of a real name and a made-up name. It’s also possible that the late Sra. González deliberately contrived her son’s name to resemble an already-existing name. I guess Eliane could have been derived from the Biblical name Eli with an adjectival suffix, like Mariano from Maria or Giuliani from Julius, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2007, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/89 "2007-06-23T17:05:04Z")
I don’t think there is any connection between Chenequa and Shaniqua. The first Shaniquas pop up all the way across to the other side of the country. Or as the etymologists say, false cognate. P.S. I’ve been to Chenequa several times. It’s in the Milwaukee-Waukesha area. ---
**Author:** ![lavenderviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/cdc98d/32.png) [@lavenderviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lavenderviolet)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/90 "2007-07-13T14:59:18Z")
[QUOTE=Walloon] (2) the women changed their original names to Shaniqua sometime after the 1960s. [/QUOTE] Excellent point. It seems more plausible to me that the older Shaniquas are cases of women who decided to rename themselves that and get rid of their “slave name” during the Black Power movement than cases of people who just randomly came up with teh name for their baby out of nowhere. Perhaps the question of Shaniqua’s origins should be posed to someone who is an historian of that era’s cultural movements… ---
**Author:** ![Great\_Dave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/46a35a/32.png) [@Great\_Dave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Dave)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/91 "2007-07-13T15:31:42Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] Some other odd names: Abcde and Shi-thead. [/QUOTE] How does one pronounce Abcde? ---
**Author:** ![Sapo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ec9cab/32.png) [@Sapo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sapo)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/92 "2007-07-13T16:48:56Z")
This thread is like a wallet from the 70’s. It just keeps coming up. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2007, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/93 "2007-07-14T08:09:35Z")
[QUOTE=Great Dave] How does one pronounce Abcde? [/QUOTE] Abseday. ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2007, 8:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/94 "2007-07-14T08:52:22Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] White families in the south have been known to do it. Different cultural memes therefore not _quite_ the same “sound” or “ring” to them as the black neo-names, but aside from that, similar-enough process. I have a cousin Veerellen, a niece Keela, have had as classmates people named Sharilee, Anshela, Jovaunn, Suzelle, Jebbert, …and while no longer considered unusual because they caught on, I suspect the first Jerome (pronounced Juh-ROME) and Jared (JAR-edd) might not predate the first Shaniqua (although if someone comes along with a reference to Jared Smith of 1703, I’ll accept that). [/QUOTE] Jerome K. Jerome? ([Wiki]]([www.reallylinux.com - Website for Linux Beginners      ](http://www.reallylinux.com/docs/basic.shtml))) ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2007, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/95 "2007-07-14T09:42:21Z")
[QUOTE=AHunter3] (although if someone comes along with a reference to Jared Smith of 1703, I’ll accept that). [/QUOTE] Jared is an old name! Just a sample from the International Genealogical Index, the world’s largest vital records index: • JARRET SMITH - Christening: 1 SEP 1598 Saint Ann Blackfriars, London, London, England • JARRET SMITH - Christening: 13 NOV 1617 Badsey, Worcester, England • Jarret Smith - Marriage: 10 SEP 1688 Weston Subedge, Gloucester, England • JARRED SMITH - Christening: 30 MAR 1728 Hartburn, Northumberland, England • JARRITT SMITH - Marriage: 2 DEC 1770 Saint Botolph Without Aldersgate, London, London, England • JARED SMITH - Birth: 10 AUG 1842 Manchester, Lancashire, England ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2007, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/96 "2007-07-14T15:29:48Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Bertie Wooster warned about getting involved with girls who spelled their names “Gwladys or Ysobel or Ethyl or Mabelle or Kathryn” instead of Gladys, Isabel, Ethel, Mabel, or Catherine. And several of these spellings, which Wodehouse apparently considered goofy, are now unremarkable. [/QUOTE] My mother was a Gwladys She was Welsh and that is apparently the common Welsh spelling of the name. According to her anyway. ---
**Author:** ![JillGat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9fc29f/32.png) [@JillGat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JillGat)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2007, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/97 "2007-07-15T00:25:37Z")
[QUOTE=Omega Glory] I read somewhere, that Elian’s name was a combo name. His mom took the first half of her name (Elizabeth) and the last half of his father’s name (Juan) and put them together to make Elian. [/QUOTE] I know several African Americans with names made up from a combination of their mother’s and father’s names. This also happens in the Caribbean. I’ve seen a book of [African American Baby Names](http://www.amazon.com/African-American-Baby-Name-Teresa-Norman/dp/0425159396/ref=sr_1_1/102-2684259-2741745?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1184458767&sr=1-1) (I’m not sure that’s exactly the one I saw) that lists a lot of the “Kaneesha” type names - and alternate spellings - one sees in the African American community. ---
**Author:** ![Capbossdiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Capbossdiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capbossdiva)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/98 "2021-10-01T20:18:50Z")
_I have been trying to figure out if I’m the first/oldest person named Shaniqua lol_ ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/99 "2021-10-01T20:43:57Z")
Well, how old are you? ---
**Author:** ![Capbossdiva](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Capbossdiva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capbossdiva)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2021, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660/100 "2021-10-01T20:47:51Z")
I’m 47 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-was-the-first-shaniqua/402660.md?page=6)