There has been a Chenequa, Wisconsin (pronounced the same) since 1928.
Oh God I know I’m going to get slammed for this but: do other groups create unique names? African Americans have the aforementioned Shaniqua (with it’s variant spellings like Fear Itself mentioned) and WASPs seem to have Britney/Brittenee, Katelyn/Katelynne/Caitlin. And don’t even get me started on Hollywood names.
But do traditionally Hispanic names such as Miguel get modified? Are there British children name Rejineld? Little boys in Toronto named Peeyair? Is a couple in Munich planning on naming their son Hanzz?
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).
From a tombstone in Lincoln, Maine
Sacred to the memory of Jared Bates,
Who died Aug. the 6th, 1800.
His widow, aged 24, lives at 7 Elm Street,
Has every qualification for a good wife,
And longs to be comforted.
I don’t know if I am totally misreading the meaning of the above paragraph, but Jerome and Jared both date from ancient times.
A net search easily turned up these references. Just because a name is popular among the rural or undereducated doesn’t mean it’s a recent fabrication.
Hmm, there’s a Jared in the Book of Genesis, Chapter 5. That doesn’t prove that it was used as a name in English-speaking countries until recently, but I’m guessing there must have been a few.
I’d also guess that a fair number of people have been named after Saint Jerome over the years.
My grandmother, an Irish-Canadian born 1915 in Saskatchewan, is named Wonnitta. I do not know if her parents were unable to spell Juanita, if they wanted to be creative, if they wanted something other English-speakers could pronounce, or what.
Here’s a fairly well know Jerome born in 1903…nyuk-nyuk-nyuk!
Remember the whole Elian Gonzalez thing? He had a sister (or was it a cousin) named Marisleysis, which I’ve been told is a “made-up” name gaining some popularity among Hispanics.
I got one better… growing up here in the rural south I knew a girl named Juanita and her parents insisted on pronouncing it “Jooa Nita”.
Then there was that Mexican-American comic from about 15 years ago whose last name was Martinez and he prounounced it simply “Martin Ez.” He said he had people telling him all the time that he’s saying his name wrong.
Yep. That’s the earliest I could find. And she had to be probably about 20 or so at that point.
Interestingly, on the same page, was the obituary of “infant daughter” death of Sharesa Nicole Riley.
Like I said, I don’t want his to become a “strange black names” thread.
As posted earlier, another group that gives their children unique names are Mormons. They’re about as whitebread as they come.
Really, it’s not the middle-class WASPs I’m finding naming their kids Brittenee and Katelynne, but rather those of a working-class exurban and rural Confederate cultural orientation, whose skin in the area between their heads and shoulders reflect light in the in the wavelength range of about 625 to 750 nanometers.
The book Freakonomics explains this phenomona. A name gains popularity with the rich and middle class strata (say, Britney or Ansley) and then a few years later, those same names are adopted by poorer folks, usually with modified spellings.
Drifting off topic but is anybody else noticing a rash of little Reagans over the past few years, as a girl’s name? That seems like such a cruel thing to do to a child.
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
Source Information:
Ancestry.com. U.S. Public Records Index [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2007.
Would that be Jérôme the common French name ? as in Saint Jérôme, feast day 30th Sept ? or a new strain varaiant ? 
IOW, come on over and hit it.
OK, let’s include a white Scotsman. JM Barrie invented the now pretty common Wendy back in 1904.
Slight hijack:
Here is some research on the origins of distinctly black American names.
http://ideas.repec.org/a/tpr/qjecon/v119y2004i3p767-805.html
This was linked from a related article in Slate:
Amazing. I didn’t know the name would be that old. To be honest, I thought the oldest would be in their 30s; maybe the early 40s at the oldest. Considering the newspaper reference and this list, it looks like the name has its origins in eastern Texas. I wonder who Shaniqua Gable’s parents were; if she’s the first, I’d be curious to know how they came up with the name.