Talk:African-American names

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I have high hopes for this article, but researching this topic is tedious and a slow process. Any help improving this article will be greatly appreciated! At this point, I mostly copied and pasted the African American names section from my other article "American names" It's reasonable for there to be some overlap, but I need more info and probably a rewrite to make it into its own article. Thanks! Bali88 (talk) 19:55, 18 February 2014 (UTC)

Janet...
is a "biblical name"? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.101.38.36 (talk) 00:11, 17 May 2014 (UTC)
 * That one surprised me too, but all of the baby name books I looked at listed it as being biblical. I'm assuming Janet is not in the bible directly, but derived from something biblical. I can add a source if y'all think this will be questioned. Bali88 (talk) 00:26, 17 May 2014 (UTC)
 * Biblical or European Biblical. These names are not really "Biblical", because John is supposed to be Biblical and yes it is but European Biblical (adding clarity), because in the Ethiopian Bible it is Yohannas in Hebrew Bible Yôḥānān.--Inayity (talk) 18:28, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I knew janet could not be Hebrew it does not sound Hebrew.--Inayity (talk) 16:52, 16 September 2014 (UTC)

BLATANT mischaracterization of the Levitt study on "ghetto names" under the Prejudice section
As anyone who has read Freakonomics knows, the whole point of the study was not that such names give away the ethnicity of the job applicant, but that the applicant is from an impoverished background! They also point out that there are white "ghetto names" (such as Cody) and that those white applicants meet with similar rejection.

As Shakespeare wrote, "The devil can cite scripture for his purpose." The misrepresentation of such a pertinent study is an obscenity. This is a unilateral racist article. When I get my copy of Freakonomics back (for quotation purposes) I will be back to correct this. --CousinJohn (talk) 16:58, 2 August 2014 (UTC)
 * why do you need your freakonimics book? I didn't cite freakonimics and the study in question is not only cited, but the full text is linked. Why do you need a secondary source to read about a primary source when the primary is available to you. I don't believe anything is mischaracterized, but knock yourself out. The full text is right there.Bali88 (talk) 21:34, 2 August 2014 (UTC)

He's absolutely right, you completely mischaracterized the article. Here's from the article:

"However, when they carefully compared black- and white-named babies who were similar on other factors—like the economic conditions of their hometown or their mother's education level—the effect disappeared. In other words, it wasn't the black names themselves that were causing negative outcomes for African-Americans, it was the fact that minorities with "blacker" names also tended to be among the most socioeconomically disadvantaged."

It makes the exact opposite point you were trying to make. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.139.61.41 (talk) 16:39, 30 August 2015 (UTC)

Tanisha etc are Islamic
Tanisha, Malik..(angel in Arabic), and AAliyah like Rihanna are all Arabic/Islamic. But most of these African American names have Afro-Asiatic roots Sha ne qua. (however it is spelt). La Ti Shah. While some of them are popular in Africa, they are all 100% Islamic Africa. And unlike America there is no cross-religious usage. --Inayity (talk) 17:23, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
 * "Tanisha" is an adaptation of the Russian female name "Tanya / Tatiana". With the onset of the Cold War, many white and black parents in the West began to give their children Russian and Slavic names as solidarity and sympathy for the USSR and the Warsaw Pact countries. 31.40.131.100 (talk) 22:30, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

And Where is Tyrone?
I mean is that not almost exclusively, like Jamal, associated with African Americans?--Inayity (talk) 17:25, 15 September 2014 (UTC)


 * I created the article with the idea that other people would work on it as well. If you see changes that need to be made, Be Bold and make them! Go right ahead and make any changes to the article you see fit. :-) Bali88 (talk) 17:44, 15 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Note: when making these changes you will need to find alternative sources. I sourced everything. If you change the origins of the names, you'll need to change the sourcing. :-) Bali88 (talk) 17:47, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I can source for the Arabic/Islamic root, but I am making a casual observation on Tyrone and hoping someone else will know.--Inayity (talk) 18:00, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
 * The reason Tyrone wasn't mentioned is because it didn't really fit into any of the sections I wrote. In the section where I give origins of names, I list names of African origin or French origin because names of those origins were trends. Tyrone seems to be a little different. Tyrone is largely associated with African American usage at this point, but it's Irish/Gaelic. Irish names aren't really trendy in that demographic. However, there really isn't any reason not to include it. If you can find a way to incorporate Tyrone into the article, it would be a welcome addition! Bali88 (talk) 18:06, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
 * I will have to read article top-bottom. B/c names are Appropriated and this is what happening with Rihanna, as it happened with Lina in Europe (taking from the Muslim influence, they in turn probably took it from India). It will happen with "Obama". Not my area so i cannot off the top of my head find a source, beyond the sources I will add.--Inayity (talk) 18:15, 15 September 2014 (UTC)
 * Tyrone is a American name of Irish origin, named after the Tyrone area 31.40.131.100 (talk) 22:34, 11 January 2022 (UTC)

Owen 'Alik Shahadah
A discussion thread about the reliability and notability of this author and his pages is taking place at Neutral point of view/Noticeboard, please comment there so we can get a final consensus. Rupert Loup (talk) 12:06, 5 October 2015 (UTC)

La + name
There is something that is not explained in this article. Why many African American female names begin with the (French?) prefix "la"? In France, it was used in rural areas (and sometimes it is even a bit pejorative), and not much used nowadays, to use a "la" before the female name. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2A01:E35:8A8D:FE80:486:EE3:25B8:4237 (talk) 16:59, 1 December 2016 (UTC)

"ghetto names"
Whatever people may think about this term, I'm surprised to find no mention of it in the article, but only on this talk page. Surely attitudes to perceived "ghetto names", including Cosby's comments on them, need at least some mention.188.230.240.75 (talk) 18:36, 15 September 2017 (UTC)

"Muslim" names are Arabic
The Arabic names used by some African Americans aren't exclusively Muslim, but they are exclusively Arabic, so it seems misleading to simply call them "Muslim namesQ, as some of them are also used by both Christian African Americans as well as Christian Arabs. FunkMonk (talk) 17:58, 3 January 2018 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress
There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:African-American gospel which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RMCD bot 23:17, 18 February 2019 (UTC)

Origins: Antebellum period or Civil Rights movement era?
There are differing perspectives on when distinctive African-American naming practices started. The body needs to address this. Thenightaway (talk) 22:33, 6 June 2022 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: Contemporary Black Popular Culture
— Assignment last updated by Uzo.Ilo (talk) 15:31, 8 December 2022 (UTC)


 * ALL the "inventive" and Misspelled names should be BANNED and parents who insist on it; charged with child abuse 2806:2F0:3340:2CD3:5E24:6644:53D7:8545 (talk) 17:55, 23 March 2023 (UTC)