[Larisa]

In response to your question – ‘Why do African-American children always have extremely unusual names – names most people have never heard of?’ I would honestly have to say ‘it depends’. My name is Larisa. My parents are black Americans from Texas, but I was born in Brazil while they lived there. My name is Brazilian, and means ‘the smile’. My father named me that because he swears that when he held me for the first time, I opened my eyes and smiled at him. In Russia, however the name ‘Larisa’ means ‘Laura’, and is very common. Although I knew this, I never met another Larisa until I moved to Los Angeles, and shopped in a Russian neighborhood. Everyone there made a point of smiling at me and asking me if I knew I had a Russian name. I would say yes, and also let them know what it meant in Brazilian Portuguese. I have no children myself, but if I had to guess, I would venture to say that some black Americans give their children unusual or ‘African sounding’ names in order to cultivate a sense of identity. Perhaps they have looked the name up in a book, and found that it means something in an African language. Perhaps they strung some syllables together and liked the way they sounded. But just know this – for every ‘Ayesha’, there is a Mary, a Janet and a Francis out there. If you meet someone with an unusual name, ask what it means. If the person dosen’t know, look it up online together and find out. It might mean something beautiful, and give her an additional sense of pride; or at least bring a smile to her face.

User Detail :  

Name : Larisa, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 34, City : Glendale, State : CA, Country : United States, Occupation : Executive, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class,