Dashiell Hammett is one of my favorite authors, and if I saw a kid with that name, I'd assume his parents were big fans of The Maltese Falcon and the Thin Man. I am surprised that so many people on this board don't know how to pronounce it or don't make the connection, but naming your kid for a classic American author isn't the worst thing you can do.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:hate it. and definitely screams black, which may or may not matter to you.

Why would you assume that somebody named Dashiell was African-American?

i honestly can't tell you, but i would. i just asked dh and he said the same. maybe because of the ending sound? would you assume someone named, say, marquel was black? i would. (not african-american necessarily, btw, but black). this is purely anecdotal of course, and that assumption may not matter to OP, but it does exist.

Horrible name. Clunky spelling that will trip people up, and you are stuck with a very stupid sounding hipster nick name.

Anonymous wrote:"Black name" is what comes to mind, although after a while I also think of the little boy in "Thr Incredibles" ( called Dash but at one point one of the parents calls him by his full name )

Yes

Anonymous wrote:hate it. and definitely screams black, which may or may not matter to you.

Why would you assume that somebody named Dashiell was African-American?

hate it. and definitely screams black, which may or may not matter to you.

I think it's a fine name. Dash is cute. I also say "Go for it!"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I would assume low SES African American.

Really? I would assume a fan of The Maltese Falcon.

+1

I like it, OP!! People might call him Dash, which is cute. Go for it!!

"Dash" is what Lillian Hellman called Dashiell Hammett. (Now people are going to ask whether Lillian Hellman was related to the mayonnaise.) For what it's worth, Wikipedia says that Dashiell was Dashiell Hammett's mother's last name. Also he's a local boy, born in St. Mary's County, Maryland.

Hipster name - I like it! Brother to Atticus, Beckett and Ruby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. I would assume low SES African American.

Really? I would assume a fan of The Maltese Falcon.

+1

I like it, OP!! People might call him Dash, which is cute. Go for it!!

I have taught in low SES African American environments for many years, and the only Dashiell's I have known (2) have been affluent white boys. The D trend for African American names is waning, but the trend was always for names that either had accented second syllables (e.g. de ME tree us, de LON tay) or 2 syllables equally accented (DAY SHON), usually ending in -on. A name with a strong first syllable DASH followed by an unaccented schwa syllable wouldn't fit in with the trend.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It reminds me of names like Daquan and DeMarcus.

It is not Duh-sheel. It is Dash-ul

Dafuq?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It reminds me of names like Daquan and DeMarcus.

It is not Duh-sheel. It is Dash-ul

Actually no, it's DASH-ee-ul.

No, it's the word Dash plus the sound of the letter L.

Anonymous wrote:When I first say it, I pronounced it as "DAH-she-ell"...

Sorry, should be when I first SAW** it

When I first say it, I pronounced it as "DAH-she-ell"...