African-American Name for White Child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:my son's middle name is Jaron (it rymes with Baron). He is white and Jewish.....my DH's family is always pronoucing it Jerron - which to me is more a African Americon name. Jaron is like the hebrew name Yaron. It jugs me when they get it/ prnouce it wrong. I don't really care what the wrong name they think it is, but I just dont get why they can't get it right.

Not seeing a pronunciation difference between Jaron and Jerron. Do you pronounce Mary and Merry differently too?

Um, Mary and Merry ARE pronounced differently. Certain regional dialects will pronounce them the same but otherwise they do have different pronunciations. Just like Jaron and Jerron.

I understand that (which is why I asked), but here, they are pronounced the same.

[Anonymous]

Merry and Mary sound a lot more similar than Jaron and Jerron as described by the PP.

Jaron = rhymes with Baron = JAIRon.

Jerron = JuhRON

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a bar/restuarant Friday night. I walked in and went up the bar to order a drink. A guy standing there looked at me and says "You voted for Obama didn't you?" I side step the question as there is no way I'm having that conversation with a drunk guy in Old Town. Then he asks my name. After I told him he says "Oh. I thought you were going to say Obamaniqua or something!" I was pretty pissed but not surprised as so many people on this thread have shown they subscribe to the same generalizations and stereotypes as this guy. He was just kind enough to say it to my face.

Sorry, that really sucks.

I, too, think this sucks. But your use of "sorry" seems slightly off kilter. Are you apologizing because you were the person making the offensive statement (now presumably sober), because you are the designated representative of the white race, or is this just a knee-jerk, wear it on your sleeve, liberal response?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I am white and Jewish. Have always loved the name "Keisha." Would that work with a fairly common Jewish last name? (Think, Katz, Fried, Edelstein).

Actually, Keisha Katz sounds really nice!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a bar/restuarant Friday night. I walked in and went up the bar to order a drink. A guy standing there looked at me and says "You voted for Obama didn't you?" I side step the question as there is no way I'm having that conversation with a drunk guy in Old Town. Then he asks my name. After I told him he says "Oh. I thought you were going to say Obamaniqua or something!" I was pretty pissed but not surprised as so many people on this thread have shown they subscribe to the same generalizations and stereotypes as this guy. He was just kind enough to say it to my face.

Sorry, that really sucks.

I, too, think this sucks. But your use of "sorry" seems slightly off kilter. Are you apologizing because you were the person making the offensive statement (now presumably sober), because you are the designated representative of the white race, or is this just a knee-jerk, wear it on your sleeve, liberal response?

It's called sympathy. You should try it sometime. It DOES suck how the PP was treated.

Why does the reason for sympathizing matter? (I'm not the poster you're responding to, btw.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I went to a bar/restuarant Friday night. I walked in and went up the bar to order a drink. A guy standing there looked at me and says "You voted for Obama didn't you?" I side step the question as there is no way I'm having that conversation with a drunk guy in Old Town. Then he asks my name. After I told him he says "Oh. I thought you were going to say Obamaniqua or something!" I was pretty pissed but not surprised as so many people on this thread have shown they subscribe to the same generalizations and stereotypes as this guy. He was just kind enough to say it to my face.

Sorry, that really sucks.

I, too, think this sucks. But your use of "sorry" seems slightly off kilter. Are you apologizing because you were the person making the offensive statement (now presumably sober), because you are the designated representative of the white race, or is this just a knee-jerk, wear it on your sleeve, liberal response?

Wow, is that what you are teaching your child, to only express sympathy if s/he was the cause of someone's pain? You need to evolve a little bit.

[Anonymous]

I named my daughter for a friend. Since I grew up in an virtually all white region of northern New Hampshire, it was years slater when I moved to DC that I discovered it was a name often associated with the black community. Years later when we sent a letter of inquiry about her possible attendance at a prestigious New England boarding school, we received all sorts of odd mailings back from them almost exclusively about diversity, commitment to minorities, minority scholarships, etc. Apparently since we also have a rather simple non-ethnic last name, and given her home town, the school assumed she was black. It's a beautiful name!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I named my daughter for a friend. Since I grew up in an virtually all white region of northern New Hampshire, it was years slater when I moved to DC that I discovered it was a name often associated with the black community. Years later when we sent a letter of inquiry about her possible attendance at a prestigious New England boarding school, we received all sorts of odd mailings back from them almost exclusively about diversity, commitment to minorities, minority scholarships, etc. Apparently since we also have a rather simple non-ethnic last name, and given her home town, the school assumed she was black. It's a beautiful name!

Has your daughter ever commented on her name?

[Anonymous]

Is "Lebron" a made up name or does it have AA roots.

[Anonymous]

Can we just find out the name that started this whole long thread???????

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Can we just find out the name that started this whole long thread???????

And that will solve everything that ails us and leave us singing Kumbaya . . .

With everything that has followed, I'm sure that the OP would not dare venture into this hornet's nest.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is "Lebron" a made up name or does it have AA roots.

http://www.thinkbabynames.com/meaning/1/Lebron

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Here's the thing - my DD is named Parisia, which is a farsi name. We are white, and she has blonde hair and blue eyes. We chose the name because we think it is beautiful. But every time someone asks what her name is, we have to get into some whole conversation justifying why we chose it, and that can be very irritating.

btw parisia is NOT a Farsi name. At best, it is one of these nouveau made up names, certainly not of Iranian origin. Parisa, however, is a farsi name. I wonder, do people really tell you thy you gave your dd a Persian name or is it you who likes the drama of explaining to people how you gave your "white" daughter an exotic "dark" name? (and not to turn this into an anthropological lesson, but Iranians are considered "white." the name Iran comes from "Aryan" and historically Persians were fair complexioned.)

I think this post makes clear that most of the racial debate on this thread is much ado about nothing (or at least not having anything to do with OP's original question. This is the exact reaction OP probably worried her cousin (and cousin's child) would get from AA's if the child had an AA name. She wasn't saying she opposed having her nephew "sound" black, she was worried that the kid's parents would be unfairly accused of cultural colonialism. My husband has rejected several names for the baby we have on the way for exactly that reason, and I thought he was nuts. The post above shows he is right.

[Anonymous]

soooo what's the name?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: FriedChickenequia

Isn't Latasha, Natasha and the like Russian? I don't think AA when I hear them.

Careful...

Some of the other names were borderline racist, at best, this one is blatantly racist.

It's so much fun to make fun of black people when we can hide behind our screens, right? Half of the things said in these posts never would have been made out loud in public - even to your white friends, I bet. Thanks for the anonymyity, DCUM!

I really don't see why Latasha is any "worse" of a name than Jessica or Jennifer. I do recognize that people are racist, and Latasha is less likely to get a call back for an interview than Jennifer. But just because we're racist as a society doesn't make Latasha a bad name. White people give their kids names that I would never in a million years inflict on a child, too, so all of this black-name bashing really is silly.

Who said that Latasha is a "bad" name? I like it more than Jennifer.

I don't see any actual bashing (aside from the fried chicken one above - that is so wrong)...just pointing out reactions ("weird" "change has to start somewhere") & things to consider (interview call backs).