How Unique are African-American Baby Names

Sometimes, culture dictates baby names even before the baby is born. And sometimes, parents have no choice when it comes to working out baby name ideas because their folks and cultures already have a ready name for babies even down to the fourth generation or so. That is how things are before; at present, baby names depend on the parents’ choice.

The interesting culture of African nations give two names for the baby, of which the first is intended for public use whilst the second remains a secret but said to fend off evil. Once the evil spirits plan to harm the baby, they could not do so because the second name is kept secret. What if the baby is born out of two races, African-American that is? What happens with the name of the baby when there is multiracial marriage or sexual communion?

Names for multiracial birthing are difficult because you need to consider both the races where the parents are coming from, except if one of the parents concedes which is nearly impossible. Family genealogy matters in multiracial birthing, and the name has to depend on the folks of the parents and the cultures they uphold.

Most baby name ideas that came from Africa were later on changed to a more Western-sounding name. Some names are even based from biblical texts because Christianity became an important factor of conversion for them. Some names are also based on classical names such as Homer or Plato to identify with classical knowledge.

But since Africa were surrounded by what history calls before as slaves, the slave owners avoided to give their first names to their slave children, so these slave children still use old African names.

For African-American baby names, there are names that came from different languages and used prefix such as La or Le, Da or De. Take for example Tanisha, which means Monday birthing, is an Afircan name from the Hausa language. There are also baby names that are based on their rich history and historical figures such as Amina. Amina was the queen of Nigeria. Her name means ready to battle.

Nevertheless, the contemporary society is now less strict and formal on standards when it comes to deciding baby name ideas. Rather than emphasizing on the surnames, first name is a much more critical element now in identifying the identity and persona of the person. Names that have unusual spellings or rare sounding are now more acceptable in the present society, which have given a new twist in naming babies. More importantly, the modern African-American parents are more aggressive in creating a significant mark and change in their babies’ names.

Giving a name to your baby is as important as finding how to let him live with his own identity. It is not important if your baby’s name is the only name in the whole wide world. What is important is that thru his unique name, he is able to live the life the way he wanted it to be and conquer the world.