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Help[Opinions] African American Names
Behind the Name has a small sampling of names listed as African American and some of them strike me as very dated contemporaries of Linda / Brenda.
Here are the most popular names for African American babies in Virginia, Colorado, Arkansas, Texas, and New York City. This article is from 2018, but it still shows some of the more recent trends.
https://www.babycenter.com/0_popular-african-american-names_10329236.bc
Girl names
Aaliyah/Aliyah
Alexandra
Alexis
Alyssa
Angel
Aniyah
Brianna
Chloe
Destiny
Diamond
Gabrielle
Hailey
Hannah
Imani
Isis
Jada
Jasmine
Jayla
Jordan
Kayla
Kennedy
Kiara
Laila
Madison
Makayla
Nevaeh
Sydney
Taylor
Tiana
Trinity
Baby boy names
Anthony
Brandon
Caleb
Cameron
Christian
Christopher
Daniel
David
Elijah
Ethan
Gabriel
Isaiah
James
Jayden
Jaylen
Jeremiah
Jordan
Joseph
Joshua
Josiah
Justin
Kevin
Malik
Matthew
Michael
Nathan
Tyler
William
Xavier
Zion
Here are the most popular names for African American babies in Virginia, Colorado, Arkansas, Texas, and New York City. This article is from 2018, but it still shows some of the more recent trends.
https://www.babycenter.com/0_popular-african-american-names_10329236.bc
Girl names
Aaliyah/Aliyah
Alexandra
Alexis
Alyssa
Angel
Aniyah
Brianna
Chloe
Destiny
Diamond
Gabrielle
Hailey
Hannah
Imani
Isis
Jada
Jasmine
Jayla
Jordan
Kayla
Kennedy
Kiara
Laila
Madison
Makayla
Nevaeh
Sydney
Taylor
Tiana
Trinity
Baby boy names
Anthony
Brandon
Caleb
Cameron
Christian
Christopher
Daniel
David
Elijah
Ethan
Gabriel
Isaiah
James
Jayden
Jaylen
Jeremiah
Jordan
Joseph
Joshua
Josiah
Justin
Kevin
Malik
Matthew
Michael
Nathan
Tyler
William
Xavier
Zion
This message was edited 7/7/2021, 8:49 AM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
The lists are "the most popular names for African Americans" in a few places in the USA, so the list encompasses names with many different origins.
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The title did not mention "lists"
But oh my... What a GOOD EYE you have!
But oh my... What a GOOD EYE you have!
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A most popular names list with the nonblack babies excluded, and of course they look a lot like the list for everyone.
The NYC "most ethnically specific" name lists (from the analysis I linked Rox to) are mainly interesting because of how they reveal that "race" categories applied to all baby names, are not very useful for divining anything about how non-immigrant Americans use names differentially by race. Every category includes multiple cultural identities.
The NYC "most ethnically specific" name lists (from the analysis I linked Rox to) are mainly interesting because of how they reveal that "race" categories applied to all baby names, are not very useful for divining anything about how non-immigrant Americans use names differentially by race. Every category includes multiple cultural identities.
This message was edited 7/7/2021, 10:59 AM
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I am pretty suspicious of this list's accuracy; since they're in alphabetical rather than order of popularity, it makes me wonder what kind of actual research went into it.
I also see Isis listed. Seeing as how Isis fell very quickly off the top 1000 lists after about 2011, I doubt it could rank as a popular name in 2018.
Lots of those names are or were very popular across the board; others like Diamond and Imani were definitely "black names" but seem to have hit their peak and fallen out of popularity ten or twenty years ago.
I do wish there was an accurate list of popular baby names according to race or ethnicity, but of course gathering and proving people's ethnic background info, and accounting for everybody with multiple ethnic backgrounds, would make that pretty near impossible.
I also see Isis listed. Seeing as how Isis fell very quickly off the top 1000 lists after about 2011, I doubt it could rank as a popular name in 2018.
Lots of those names are or were very popular across the board; others like Diamond and Imani were definitely "black names" but seem to have hit their peak and fallen out of popularity ten or twenty years ago.
I do wish there was an accurate list of popular baby names according to race or ethnicity, but of course gathering and proving people's ethnic background info, and accounting for everybody with multiple ethnic backgrounds, would make that pretty near impossible.
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It comes from local government data, which might not be compiled as quickly as national - and probably includes more than one year's worth, would be my guess.
I think it is accurate, but it's not distinguishing "how black" or "how white" etc the usages are. Lots of popular usages are used by multiple groups. I was looking for that NYC data recently, and the newest available includes births '12-'17. It was broken down by ethnicity, and almost every name that charted for any group, charted for them all. Except for a few that were highly ethnically specific to Hispanic, white and/or Jewish, and black groups - virtually all of which, I think most Americans could guess the ethnicity of easily. There were many that were "more black / more white / more Hispanic" than others but not generally by huge margins.
I agree that categorizing people by race/ethnicity in this way, is a little sketchy though - and probably can't tease out "African-American" names specifically, without someone assuming things based on some experience.
Of the 11 Isises born 2011-13 in NYC, 4 were characterized as black non-Hispanic and the rest as Hispanic.
https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Health/Popular-Baby-Names/25th-nujf
Here's another thingy purporting to analyze the NYC data https://cdn.sisense.com/wp-content/uploads/What-Baby-Names-Tell-Us-About-Ethnic-and-Gender-Trends.pdf
I think it is accurate, but it's not distinguishing "how black" or "how white" etc the usages are. Lots of popular usages are used by multiple groups. I was looking for that NYC data recently, and the newest available includes births '12-'17. It was broken down by ethnicity, and almost every name that charted for any group, charted for them all. Except for a few that were highly ethnically specific to Hispanic, white and/or Jewish, and black groups - virtually all of which, I think most Americans could guess the ethnicity of easily. There were many that were "more black / more white / more Hispanic" than others but not generally by huge margins.
I agree that categorizing people by race/ethnicity in this way, is a little sketchy though - and probably can't tease out "African-American" names specifically, without someone assuming things based on some experience.
Of the 11 Isises born 2011-13 in NYC, 4 were characterized as black non-Hispanic and the rest as Hispanic.
https://data.cityofnewyork.us/Health/Popular-Baby-Names/25th-nujf
Here's another thingy purporting to analyze the NYC data https://cdn.sisense.com/wp-content/uploads/What-Baby-Names-Tell-Us-About-Ethnic-and-Gender-Trends.pdf
This message was edited 7/7/2021, 10:17 AM
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I would have liked it if they included more research on how they compiled the information too.
It would be interesting to see how naming trends vary with different ethnic backgrounds, but I would be wary if the government started sorting information based on ethnicity, and people would probably start lying because they wouldn't see the need to supply the government with even more infomation.
Imani does seem like a fairly common name among African Americans, and it is included as such on BtN. Diamond kind of surprised me because it doesn't strike me as African American; I do associate it with socio-economics though.
It would be interesting to see how naming trends vary with different ethnic backgrounds, but I would be wary if the government started sorting information based on ethnicity, and people would probably start lying because they wouldn't see the need to supply the government with even more infomation.
Imani does seem like a fairly common name among African Americans, and it is included as such on BtN. Diamond kind of surprised me because it doesn't strike me as African American; I do associate it with socio-economics though.
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I like:
Alexis - it is actually really pretty and I think handsome on a guy as well, as long as it doesn't get shortened to Alex.
Alyssa - I like the meaning and it's pretty but I still prefer Alice.
Angel - I love it it makes me think of Victorian England for some reason (but only the good things) like cakes and angel statues.
Chloe - this is so pretty I wish it hadn't been super common.
Hailey - I love it spelled Hayley or Haley. The Hailey spelling doesn't appeal.
Laila - but I prefer Leila.
Jasmine - pretty.
Nevaeh - pretty.
Sydney - but prefer Sidney, I think.
Taylor - I like this, but for a boy.
Elijah
James
I strongly dislike:
Alexandra - I hate the -andra part and the nicknames Alex, Allie, Lex and Lexie and as the name is so long it will get shortened.
Aaliyah, Aliyah - strongly is maybe exaggerated, I just don't really like it because of all the extra letter. I like Alya and Alia is cute too.
Brianna - sort of clumsy to me, but I do like Briana.
Kayla - just really hate the sound.
Jada - it is such a one-person-name to me because of Jada Smith. I dislike these types of names (e.g. Madonna, Jada, Beyoncé, Leona).
Alexis - it is actually really pretty and I think handsome on a guy as well, as long as it doesn't get shortened to Alex.
Alyssa - I like the meaning and it's pretty but I still prefer Alice.
Angel - I love it it makes me think of Victorian England for some reason (but only the good things) like cakes and angel statues.
Chloe - this is so pretty I wish it hadn't been super common.
Hailey - I love it spelled Hayley or Haley. The Hailey spelling doesn't appeal.
Laila - but I prefer Leila.
Jasmine - pretty.
Nevaeh - pretty.
Sydney - but prefer Sidney, I think.
Taylor - I like this, but for a boy.
Elijah
James
I strongly dislike:
Alexandra - I hate the -andra part and the nicknames Alex, Allie, Lex and Lexie and as the name is so long it will get shortened.
Aaliyah, Aliyah - strongly is maybe exaggerated, I just don't really like it because of all the extra letter. I like Alya and Alia is cute too.
Brianna - sort of clumsy to me, but I do like Briana.
Kayla - just really hate the sound.
Jada - it is such a one-person-name to me because of Jada Smith. I dislike these types of names (e.g. Madonna, Jada, Beyoncé, Leona).
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It is interesting that you like Alexis but not Alexandra. They do give off a different vibe though. To me, Alexandra sounds queenly while Alexis is a professional athlete.
I share your feelings about Malik. It makes me think of Maleficent licking something. It's a strange image.
With Zion, I can see the appeal of the idealism of a perfect city, but there is too much drama around it for a kid just coming into the world.
I share your feelings about Malik. It makes me think of Maleficent licking something. It's a strange image.
With Zion, I can see the appeal of the idealism of a perfect city, but there is too much drama around it for a kid just coming into the world.
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