This is going to be a rather sticky topic to cover, as many people who are guilty of issuing their children “ghetto baby names” may be offended. But in light of recent events, I felt it my civic duty to address the topic of giving children names which are three degrees past extraordinary:
A friend of mine recently allowed me a peek into his high school yearbook. Perusing the pages, I was astounded at some of the names I saw. Many of them required me to spend several seconds sounding out the syllables. And after doing so, I actually felt silly and slightly embarassed. It made me wonder what the parents of these children were thinking when they filled out their offsprings’ birth certificates.
Why the Weird Name?
There are some theories floating around as to why particularly African American parents feel the need to ascribe extraordinary first names to their offspring. During the Civil Rights Movement and shortly after, there was a huge surge in what is known as “Black Pride” (Remember James Brown’s motto: Say It Loud, I’m Black and I’m Proud). People in African American communities across the country were getting in touch with their African roots. Many mothers and fathers during this time felt the need to express pride in their heritage by passing down African names (and derivatives of those names) to their children. As a result, this is why I was given the name I have, Ayanna, which means “beautiful flower” in the Swahili language. My mother actually chose to augment the name with an additional “n” in the middle, as the original name is spelled A-y-a-n-a. Over the years, this name and its alternate spelling have caught on. Where I was once the only Ayanna for miles, there are now tons of them in all walks of life, in seemingly every zip code.
But during the 1980’s and 1990’s—all the way until today, something happened. Those derivatives of the regal names reached farther and farther away from their origin. Black mothers began adding strange syllables and assigning alternate spellings to the simplest of names, until things got completely out of hand. Suddenly, multi-syllabled versions of names that end in ‘ika’, ‘ante’, ‘avious’, and ‘quisha’, were popping up on birth certificates everywhere. In an effort to be different, parents were actually making things worse by concocting names that ultimately sounded like diseases.
The “Ghetto Baby Name”: Cause and Effect
If you think that there are no repercussions to having a five syllable name with six vowels, think again. In fact, ask the polysyllabic job applicant who has just received her fifth turn-down letter in a week. As unfair as it is, ascribing these kinds of names can make it extremely difficult for children later on down the line. While in school, people may find the name amusing or coquettish. But unfortunately, in the real world, hiring managers and other persons in positions of authority may attach a negative stigma to these names, deciding to pass these applications over in favor of someone who seems a bit more normal (and perhaps less “black”). Even one of the most powerful women in the world, Condoleezza Rice (whose name is actually a derivative of the Italian phrase meaning “with sweetness”) has undergone public flack for having amongst all things an unusual and awkward sounding name.
People all over the world choose to assign their children unconventional names for the sake of providing a sense of identity. But when parents (of any ethnicity) go too far, there are usually repercussions. Regrettably, we still live in a society that places much emphasis on the exterior. In the issuing of “ghetto baby names”, parents do not realize that they are making it easier for their children to be discriminated against even before being seen. We live in a free country, and there is certainly nothing wrong with choosing to utilize a bit of creativity in the naming of one’s child. However, it might help the parents just a bit, if they would consider what it will sound like to call an 85 year old woman, “LaMonicanikita Renee-Nicole Jackson.
