I think that because most of us don't have any idea where we come from in Africa, we piece together that which we do know with creativity. We sometimes choose names that are unique, exotic and/or of our own creation. Also, our roots in this country are in the South, and Southerners are known for choosing very interesting names, white or black. ______________________
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Name : Jennifer R., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Humanist, Age : 29, City : Saint Paul, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Writer/Student, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I think those 'made-up' names started off being a form of rebellion against the establishment (i.e. white society) during the 1960s. Notice that most people with names like the ones you mentioned are usually young; you will rarely see someone named 'Keisha' who is older than 35. In the beginning, authentic African/Islamic names were chosen, such as 'Aisha,' 'Ayanna' and 'Jamal.' Eventually, unique naming drifted from African roots as the lesser-educated and less politically-aware started doing it, and many names names were 'invented' or altered (i.e. 'Anfernee = Anthony') to maintain a distinction from the mainstream. Again, notice that black people with very elaborate names are usually from low-income backgrounds.
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Name : Tish24632, Gender : F, City : Newark, State : NJ Country : United States, Occupation : Ph.D student, I hope the following question does not offend anyone: Why do African-American people make up first names like Keisha or Towanda? I know of a little girl in school named Clinique - the name of the company that manufactures my cosmetics. Often, a 'normal' name like Tonya will be prefaced with a 'La' to make it African-American suitable - i.e. 'LaTonya.' Men are much the same - Darnell, Latrell, Anfernee. I don't get it. Again, no offense intended.
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Name : Beth, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Mexican/Eastern European Ashkenazic, Religion : Jewish, Age : 33, City : Buffalo, State : NY Country : United States, Occupation : Advertising Agency Manager, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, The reason Africans 'create' names such as those you mentioned is probably due to reasons of cultural expression. If you have looked beyond your Jewish ancestry and what you perceive as'normal,' you will find that people from different ethnic/racial backgrounds have varying names. As far as offending someone, if you reverse the question you asked, I think you'd find it less offensive but rather just close-minded. Do you question why Jewish people feel the need to create names like 'Goldstein' or 'Schomberg'? Why not have 'normal' names like 'Smith' or 'Jones'? Diversity in names is just as beautiful as diversity of skin color and culture. I hope all Africans with names like 'LaTonya' are as proud of their heritage and cultural preferences as much as all Jews named 'Goldstein' are. I for one wish I had a more interesting name than the one I was given.
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Name : Joanne30571, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 24, City : New York, State : NY Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, First of all, whites fail to realize how our culture and history were ripped from us. We virtaully know nothing of our original names and we often reject European names for our young. This forces us to be more creative when naming our children. This also brings about the fact that what is normal for you may not be normal for us. I don't think that naming your child Becky or Biff or Beth, for that matter is normal, at least not by the standards of our culture. Back in Africa, a child would not be named for several days. There would be ceremony to name the child and s/he would be named by the village elders. The name had a meaning and was based on the child's main characterisic. In America, we don't have that. I believe when we name our children something other than what whites consider normal, we are subconsciously rejecting European names which are inappropriate for us and also we create names because alot of us are unaware of African names and tradition. You may say that we are all Americans and we need to have American names, but white South Africans don't name their young Motumbo or Soraya (African names). They are given European names. I say because of the fact that our culture has been taken away from us, we should be able to name our kids whatever we want and other races and cultures should be respectful of that.
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Name : Dwan W., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Age : 27, City : Tallahassee, State : FL Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, I hate to say it's race or class, but it's mostly a combination, and both perpetuate and are perpetuated by the name thing. From what I've observed, many low-income blacks (i.e. 'more than likely of West African ethnic makeup') seem to think that names like LaTonya and Kwaneesha are 'ethnic' or 'African,' when in reality the names just sound and look incredibly stupid/fabricated, not African. I rarely hear educated/mid-/upper-class black people naming kids bizarre, made-up names, and I'd be willing to bet you never hear of Latino, Japanese or black British children with names like Kwaneesha, no matter their economic level. I'm all for giving kids ethnic names, especially when it shows the child's ethnicity. I think it's very nice and a great way to honor their past. For example, I'm part Bavarian, English, Croatian, Osage and Irish. I am proud of my ancestry and I appreciate (and someday might even give to my kids) names from those languages - i.e. Rynleah, Eostre, Níall, Níçka, Zaba. But there's a point, beyond personal/social preference, when a person has to ask themselves, 'Is this child abuse? Would anyone take my child/eventual adult seriously? Would they be respected as they should?' You mentioned Keisha, an Americanized form of Kiswahili (an East African language), words for 'cassia juice,' 'cinnamon, and/or 'night vigil.' Also, something I don't understand is when black Americans use Arabic names in order to show African ethnicity, so to speak. Such as with the lovely name Latifah. Or when they adopt French names like Andre and call them 'their own.' (I believe all names belong to the whole of humanity, but I don't see why names are appropriated from one culture and claimed by another in this way.) It makes me wonder if people who name their children these things know the history of the names, or if they can have 'proper' appreciation of the names. Relating this to my name: in Europe and North America, Lisa is mainly used as a short form of Elizabeth. For a West African tribe, it's their sun god, and in another, it's their chameleon goddess. Lisa is full of culture, meaning and pleasant sound. Why don't more people of West African descent use this? Is it just that they don't know/care about their culture? As I mentioned to begin with, there's even more to it than that. (By the way, I don't believe in hyphenated names. Either someone is American or they're not; it does not matter where their ancestors came from. If they think they aren't Americans, they should pack their bags and move to wherever they think 'home' is.)
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Name : Lisa, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Age : 19, City : Raytown, State : MO Country : United States, Occupation : college student, My uneducated answer to this question has always been, "because they are not 'plain, ordinary, white' names." I believe this phenomenon is primarily a hallmark of the lower socioeconomic classes. It would seem to be a way to stand out or be noticed in a society that does not 'see' this group of people. If you give your child a name that is atypical in larger society, it attracts 'special' attention - maybe the only attention members of the larger society will ever pay to the child/person.
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Name : Barbara, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 44, City : Atlanta, State : GA Country : United States, Occupation : academician, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, I am not offended by Beth's comment. I do, however, have a problem with Lisa's comment. First, how does she know why we do the things we do? She can't speak about a culture she can't even relate to. Furthermore, she couldn' be further from the truth in stating we 'don' care' about our culture. When we pick a name for a child, it's because we like the name. It doesn't necessarily mean we're doing it to represent some cultural belief. It just so happens that we don't like common names. We choose unique names for our children. We choose names we feel will allow our children to stand out. It's just that simple.
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Name : J.W., Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Methodist, Age : 25, City : Springfield, State : OH Country : United States, Occupation : Customer Support Administrator, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, It seems odd to me, as well. I grew up in a fairly middle-class area, and went to school with girls named Passhun, Cinnamon, etc. These were beautiful, intelligent girls, but they didn't have the opportunity to share that side of themselves with a lot of people once they graduated from high school. I understand the idea of wanting to give one's child a unique name; I want to give my kids unique names. But to give your child a name that won't allow them to get past leaving their resume at an office, never to receive a return call from the white, upper-middle class manager because he thinks they are going to be low-class people, isn't right. And no, it isn't right that that bias exists, but it does, and why bring any hardship onto your children that isn't necessary?
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Name : Sarah, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 23, City : Cape Coral, State : FL Country : United States, Occupation : Office Assistant, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, Why do little white girls have names like Ashley and Jessica and Amy? These names aren't any more 'normal' than the popular African-American names you listed - they're just more 'white.' White people sometimes are accustomed to thinking what we do is the 'norm,' and that names like Ashley and Brittany and Brooke are culture-neutral, while names like Yolanda or Juanita or Fatima are culturally specific and 'abnormal.' Just as white people often choose common 'white' names, people who are not white often choose names that are popular in their own communities and reflect their own traditions. Oh, and it's my understanding that Keisha and Towanda are fairly common African-American names, so they're not the least bit 'made-up.'
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Name : Rhiannon, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Jewish, Age : 29, City : Eden Prairie, State : MN Country : United States, Occupation : Professor, Social class : Middle class, The name Keshia is a variation of the Biblical name Keziah. Names like Towanda, Tameka, etc., are given in an attempt to be unique, although they aren't too unique now. I even know of a child named Jodeci. The 'La' prefix goes back to the French Creoles. I forget exactly why, but it was an accepted practice. See the baby name book Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Madison and Montana: What to name your baby now. It goes a bit more into detail.
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Name : Senetra, Gender : F, Race : Black/African American, Age : 26, City : Anderson, State : IN Country : United States, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, I wasn't going to answer this question until I started anwsering another question and brought up JonBenet Ramsey. I had no choice but to realize the absurdity of attributing 'invented names' to African Americans. JonBenet? Come on; it doesn't get much better than that. I was reminded of an episode of 'Designing Women' when Anthony (the lone black male in a business with white women) was talking about old TV shows and then said '...Opy, Beaver? Where do you white people get these names for your kids?' Anyone who thinks about it will realize that 'unique names' come from everywhere. Furthermore, all 'normal names' were 'unique' at one time. How many women over 50 do you know named 'Heather' or 'Tonya'? Some people do get ridiculous, but if no name ever got created, we'd all be named 'Eunice' or 'Ethel'(no offense intended for anyone with those names).
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Name : Mandi, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Black/African American, Religion : Baptist, Age : 21, City : Boston, State : MA Country : United States, Occupation : student, Education level : 2 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, The birth of a child is a very intimate and personal occurrence. In this respect, black people are no different from others. However, I am sensitive to the question and intrigued by some of the responses. My personal experience has been that pregnant women/couples do a great deal of exploring and testing to determine what to name their child. In fact, this process usually has nothing to do with a collective black group-think, nor does it have a thing to do with a quest for African roots. What usually happens is people simply want a name that sounds unique, rhythmic, strong and fluid. As well, in some cases the mother and father derive the name from combining their own names e.g. Larry (father) and Deneice (mother) becomes LaNeice (child). So, in most cases, there's nothing political or scientific about it. While Lisa had a problem with people hyphenating names and suggested that we 'go back' to wherever, my concern about that is that the real issue has nothing to do with 'names' at all. In fact, I am African-American or black not by name but by experience. My hope is that my experiences will take me all over this world, including Africa, and that I will always have the sensitivity to know who I am regardless of the geography.
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Name : Dee, City : Cleveland, State : OH Country : United States, Many of the names that sound odd to those of us used to European-sounding words may actually have African origin. A very good and reputable book 'Black names in America: origins and usage' by Newbell Puckett [1975] traces the origins of common proper and surnames among African-Americans. I've known two Black men with the name 'Mookie' and always thought it was a very odd name until I read this book--the author traces it to (if I remember correctly) a Yoruban men's name, 'M'buki.' I'm sure that some names, like 'Clinique' and the name of one of my former supervisors, 'Carterletta' (her father was named Carter) are acts of creation, but we must keep in mind that many African-American names have a long heritage. Just smile and politely ask the person to spell their name for you, and then say it correctly. It's what polite, non-judgmental people do all the time with my almost unpronouncible German surname.
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Name : Lisa22813, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, City : Chicago, State : IL Country : United States, Social class : Middle class, Being of Latino-Caribbean background, I believe some of the choices surrounding naming are rooted in historical/linguistic patterns. The faux-Swahili names that became popular in the 1970s among African-American parents were the result of cultural resistance to the imposition of Anglo-Saxon names that blacks received from white slavemasters. All blacks in the Americas with English, Dutch, French and Portuguese names had some ancestor who was named by his or her slavemaster. The names and language from their tribal heritage were forever lost. In the '60s and '70s, blacks tried to reclaim their humanity by recovering what was lost in enslavement: their identity. For me, I think a false idea of 'blackness' is a chimera. We need pride in our resistance to racist domination and discrimination, and we need self-love and a healthy sense of common humanity with others. But we black folks should not engage in a fantasy world of the African past. We do have religious and linguistic survivors in popular culture in the Americas, but what does that mean for the 21st Century? Does it liberate us? Or does it submerge us into fantasy?
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Name : Mel P., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Religion : Agnostic, Age : 41, City : San Francisco, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Labor Union Representative, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Lower middle class, 
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