Why are some distinctive African American names and Morman names so similar? These names share a number of structural characteristics. However there appears to be very little recognition of that fact among African Americans, among Mormons, or among other Americans. I've found very little mention or anaylsis online about the similarities between these post 1960s distinctive names. This page begins that analysis.
I wasn't even aware that Utah was known to have a tradition of giving children non-standard names until this past week. I happened upon that information online while researching "La" names for the Cocojams Names & Nicknames page that focuses on the origin & meanings of "non-standard" names: http://www.cocojams.com/content/names-nicknames
Most online information about Utah's naming traditions is from Utah Baby Namer http://wesclark.com/ubn/ . Cari Clark, the founder/faciliator of that website is a Mormon and a former resident of Utah. For the record, I am an African American female.
It's important to note that giving distinctive first & second names has been a cultural tradition among African Americans for a very long time. This tradition has been traced back to the 17th century by sociologist and folklorist Dr. Newbell N. Puckett. A small percentage of African American non-traditional names that were given in the 19th & early 20th century are still used by African Americans today. Furthermore, some of those names share characteristics with a portion of African American names that are the focus of this page-contemporary names that are of post-1960s origin.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (abbreviated as the LDS Church and known as the Mormon Church) was founded in 1830. I'm not sure when some Mormons began to give distinctive names, but it appears that that practice increased after the 1960s, which is the same period of time that giving non-standard names increased among African Americans. I believe one of the key reasons for this practice occuring at that time was the emphasis upon multiculturalism. I'll add more about the possible reasons for these naming customs later on. But, for the most part, this page focuses on an overview of the characteristics of these names (how they are constructed).
In a number of cases, these names are spelled exactly the same and the names are categorized for the same gender. In other cases some of the Mormon post 1960 distinctive names that are categorized as male names are either the same as or very similar in spelling to female African American names.This is particularly the case with a number of Mormon names that begin with the prefix "La" as most post 1960s distinctive African American names with the "La" prefix are female names. Furthermore, even when a post 1960s African American name is spelled the same as a post 1960s Mormon name, the cultural significance of the two names may differ.
* Unfortunately, I can't determine whether the African American & Mormon names that look the same or similar are pronounced the same.
This page focuses on post 1960s names. However, some of the construction patterns listed below also fit the pre-1960s naming patterns for African American names and the pre-1960s naming practices for Mormon names. I'll touched on this subject a bit below in the portion of the page that is sub-titled "Differences in African American and Mormon names".
The information on this page isn't meant to refer to all types of contemporary (post 1960s) distinctive African American names. Nor is the information on this page meant to refer to all types of Mormon distinctive names.
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Please send feedback, information, and examples about this topic to cocojams17@yahoo.com. Your email address is never posted or shared.
Thanks!
-Ms. Azizi Powell
May 5, 2010
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QUICK FACT
According to 2008 data, Black people comprise 1.3% of the residents of the state of Utah. Black people comprise 12.8% of the population of the United States.
-http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/49000.html
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CORE STATEMENT
I definitely don't think that the similarity in modern naming traditions among African Americans and Utahnans is because either African Americans or Mormons as a group purposely copied off of the other. However, I believe that it's likely that individual Utahnans and individual African Americans could have learned about a particular name through the mass media. Those individuals could then have either used that name "as is", or adapted that name, or used that name as inspiration for another unique name.
Furthermore, because of American institutional & personal racism directed towards Black people, and because of the stigma that is still largely attached to distinctive names (which are usually referred to as called "unusual", "odd", and "weird"), I believe that it's much more likely for the American mass media to refer to these distinctive names as "Black names". In other words, I believe that people in the United States (including Black people) are more likely to diss (insult, put down) and make fun of "black names" than they are to insult and make fun of Mormon names-even if they know that both populations use the same name.
* I use the religious referent "Mormon" and the state referents "Utah" & "Utahnan" to refer to the same population of people. According to 2004 demographical information, Utah is now 62.4 percent LDS. http://www.sltrib.com/ci_2886596
LDS is an abbreviation for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (which is commonly referred to as the Mormon Church).
The use of the reference Mormon is not meant to imply that all Utahnans who give distinctive names to their children are Mormons.
Disclaimer: Nothing in this page should be construed to mean that I believe that non-African Americans or non-Utahnans, or non-Mormans could not also use these names, or could not have also have "invented" these names on their own and not only by modeling their names after African American names or Utahnan names .
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SIMILARITIES IN NAME CONSTRUCTION AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS AND MORMANS [post mid/late 1960s construction & examples]
The following list is probably not comprehensive. Please add to this list by sending information & examples to Azizi Powell at cocojams17@yahoo.com Thanks!
[Points on this list appear in no particular order. All Mormon examples of names are from http://wesclark.com/ubn/ unless otherwise noted. Names in the examples that I recognize as also given to African Americans are posted in bold font. The examples of African names are from the Cocojams Names & Nicknames page, and/or from my own observations & direct experiences]
It appears that most distinctive post 1960s Mormon names and distinctive African American names are two or three syllables in length. While there are examples in both these naming traditions of long names (names that have four or more syllable), those names are rare.
Many distinctive modern (post 1960s) African American names andMormon names are created by
1. combining elements of the father's name & the mother's name to create the child's name (daughter or son)
Mormon Examples-Jonborah (Jonathan or Jonas and Deborah?)
2. using alternative phonetic spellings for “standard names” or clips of standard names(including capitalizations, prefixes, suffixes, apostrophes, accent marks, and other ornamentations)
Mormon Examples (male names) Kay C [Cayce] ; JaVon [Javon; Hebrew male name]; VerNon [Vernon]
(female names) M'Lisa [Melissa] Sha'Kira [Shakira]; Hi-D [Heidi] ; HiDee [Heidi]
African American Examples (male names) Aundray (Ondre); Ondre (Andre); Tyreek; Tyrick [Tarik; Arabic male name']
(female names) Tameka, Tamika [Tameko;? Japanese female name )
3. using the prefix “La”, “Le”, “De”, “Sha”, [or another prefix] in combination with a root name or a clip of a root name, or nickname [By "root name" I mean an "established name", one can be traced to one or more spoken language/s and has one or more semantic meanings in those languages.
Mormon Examples (males) LaGene; LaJuan; LaMar; (female) Ladaysa; Lachelle; LaDawn; LaDoya; LaTisha ;Shalissa; Shamaya; Shanisha;
Shareika
African American Examples: (male) Deshawn; DeAndre; Devontay
4. combining a prefix with one suffix or more than one suffix [with no root name and no clip of a root name]
Mormon Examples (males) Laiel; Lauel; LaVar; LaKota; LaFoy; (female) Labretta; LaVeDrienne
African American Examples (female-Shanaynay)*
*However, "Shanaynay" could be a blend of the Celtic name "Shan" and the suffixe "nay" repeated two times.
5. using a suffix such as “el” “ell” and “on” “aun”
Mormon Examples (male names) Cordell; Coshell; DarVel; Darvell; Daaron; Dason ; LaVaun
(female names) Shantel; Shantell; Shantelle ; LaVonne; Lavonda; LaShawna
African American Examples (male names) Dequan; Devonte; Devontay
6. using double capitalizations, meaning capitalizing the first letter of the name and also capitalizing the first letter of the root name (or the suffix if no root name is used)
Morman examples (male names): ClaVel; DeAaron; DaLeal; Dallon; DaMonite; DaNeil; Daquan ; LaMonte
7. using an apostrophe in place of the vowel such as “a” ; "i" or "'e"
Mormon Examples (male names) D'Monte; D'Brett’ De'Bracy: La'Donis
(female names) Jae' Vonna ; J'l ; L'Anique
African American Examples: (male names) D'Ondre; D'Andre
(female names ) Mo'Nique
8. using a hyphen to combine two root names or two [or more] clips of root names (both names used as the person's first name)
Morman Examples (male names) Jodi-Boyd ; Noah-Lot
(female names) Ann-Toy
Post 1960s African American examples: See my comments below in the "Differences between African American & Morman Names" section , (#4)
9. feminizing the father's first name (for his daughter's name)
Mormon example: (female name) Earlette
male name? LaWayne [Source: http://wesclark.com/ubn/different_is_good.html]
10. Using two names [established names or newly created names] as the first name (double names)
Mormon Examples (male namess) Tage Bo; Tel Max; Trace Denzel;
(female names) Allora LaLovi; Jicynda Summer
Post 1960s African American examples: See my comments below in the "Differences between African American & Morman Names" section , (#5)
11. using virtues; concepts; and other nouns as proper names
Mormon Examples: (male name) Knight Train
(female names) Lawn; Miracle; Miracles Precious One
African American Examples (male or female) Unique; (female) Love; Beautiful; Destiny;
Venus; (male) Prince
13. using product names and geographical place names as proper names (with or without prefix or a suffix
Mormon Examples (male names) Jordan River; Nightrain Lane
(female names) LaFrance;
African American Examples:
(female name) Afriquiah; Kenya, Sudan; Sahara
14. creating new names by "playing" with older names, for instance spelling the name backwards, or substituting the beginning letter of one name, or combining the element of one name with the element of another name to create a new name.
Morman & African American female name "Naveah" ["heaven" spelled backwards].
I've usually heard this name pronounced "nah-VAY-ah", but I've also heard it pronounced '"nah-VAY".
African American Examples: (male) Jamar ("Combine the "Ja" from the Arabic male name "Jamal" and the "mar" from the Old French male name "Lamar")
It's important to emphasize that many of these strategies for creating names were used pre 1960 by African Americans. I know too little about Mormon names to state whether that is also true for those names. As I indicate in the "Cultural Significance" portion of this page, the addition of Arabic/ traditional African names and other multicultural names post 1960s expanded the possible name pool for African Americans. The differences between pre 1960s and post 1960s African American unique names is more the material that were availalble for use, not the use of different strategies for name construction.
SOME DIFFERENCES IN NAME CONSTRUCTIONS AMONG AFRICAN AMERICANS AND MORMANS [post mid/late 1960s]
The following list is probably not comprehensive. Please add to this list by sending information & examples to Azizi Powell at cocojams17@yahoo.com Thanks!
1. The "material" used to construct names may be different
In my opinion, post- 1960s African Americans use a considerably wider pool of naming material than people in Utah do to create distinctive names. From my admittedly limited reading of Morman names, it appears to me that African Americans use entire names and name elements from Arabic and traditional African languages much more often than Mormons do.
2. The suffixes used to construct names may be different.
[This is actually a sub-set of #1].
It appears to me that post 1960s African American don't use suffixes like "ette" and "etta" because those suffixes are considered to be old fashioned. Another reason why those suffixes may not be used is because they may be identified with European/Hebrew languages. Instead we (African Americans) use suffixes like "a"; "isha"; "ica"; "ika", "on" and "quan". The first four suffixes "sound" African and (in my opinion) the last suffix that I listed is of Vietnamese derivation. While Mormons certainly do use "a", isha, ika, on, and quan", they also continue to use the "ette"; "etta" and "ous" suffixes to create post 1960s unique names. For example, "Milfordetta" and "Minonette" are two female names that are featured on http://wesclark.com/ubn/. Not only do these names end with what (I think) African Americans would considered to be "old fashioned" suffixes, but these name have more than three syllables. These names would therefore be considered too long for most post 1960s African Americans' aesthetic name preferences.
3. The frequency in which the prefix "La" is used for male names
With few exceptions, post 1960s African American names that begin with the prefix "La" are considered to be female names. That "rule" doesn't seen to be the case with post 1960s Mormon names.
4. The use of hyphens to create names
It appears to me that hyphens are used much more often in post 1960s Mormon names than in African American names. Although hyphens were used quite often by early 1980s rappers to create their stage names, and hyphens may still be used by rappers (for instance "Jay-Z" ), i don't think this name creation pattern is used that often for "real names" (meaning "birth names").
5. Frequency of the use of two non-hyphened names as first names (double names)
It appears to me that post 1960s, there are far more double names among Mormons than there are post 1960s African American double names. I think this is so because in the United States the custom of double names is still very much seen as a Southern naming tradition. For the most part, "Southern naming traditions" are considered by post 1960s African Americans (and many other Americans) as being old fashioned, and are otherwise stigmatized. For example, most African Americans nowdays wouldn't think of giving a male child a double name like "Billy Bob". Nor would they give a female child a name like "Ola Mae". Ironically, the name "Ola" is a very frequently used Yoruba [Nigerian] suffix meaning "wealth and/or honor". But few Americans know this.
6. The use of one letter to creat a birth name
The stage name "Jay-Z: reminds me of another difference I saw in the list of unique Morman names found on Utah Baby Namer http://wesclark.com/ubn/
Although the practice of creating Mormon birth names using one letter may be rare in that culture, I think such a practice is even more rare among African Americans. There are one letter nicknames given to African Americans (such as "O" for the pre-1960s male name "Oscar" or "T" for the Biblical male name "Thomas"). However, I can't think of any African American birth name that is only one letter.
7. The frequency of the use of names that are more than four syllables
From my admittedly limited knowledge of Mormon names, it appears that there are more post 1960s four & more syllable Mormon birth names than post 1960s four or more African American birth names.
DIFFERENCES IN CULTURAL SIGNIFICANCE
Given the differences in the culture of Mormans and the cultures of African Americans, it should not be any surprise that the same name or a similar spelled name may have a very different cultural significances and connotations or no significance within one of those populations.
For example, consider the name "Sudan". Given the practice in Utah of combining mother's and father's name to create a new name for their child, if a girl had the name "Sudan", people might think that she was given a name that was formed by combining the name Sue with the name "Dan". However, I know an African American woman in her late thirties whose name is "Sudan". Her name has nothing whatsoever to do with the names "Sue" or "Dan" . Her mother named her after the Northeastern African nation of "Sudan", the largest country in Africa and the tenth largest nation in the world.
To cite another example of cultural differences between specific Morman and African American names, the name "Nephi" has high religious significance to Mormans. See this quote from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nephi "According to the Book of Mormon, Nephi (pronounced /ˈniːfaɪ/) was the son of Lehi, a prophet, founder of the Nephite people, and author of the first two books of the Book of Mormon, First and Second Nephi"
-snip-
I'm not sure if the name "Nephi" is commonly given by Mormons as a birth name. The Utah Baby Namer website http://wesclark.com/ubn/ liss the examples (male) "Jeddie Nephi" and "Nephi Courage".
However, the name "Nephi" has no cultural or religious significance to African Americans who are not Mormons. Therefore, that name is much less likely to be found among African Americans. And, if the name "Nephi" were given to an African American, that name wouldn't have the same meaning to that individual African American and to other African Americans as it does to the Utahnan who has that name and to other Utahnans
Continuing my analysis of the name "Nephi" (with all due respect to Mormons), in my opinion, the name "Nephi" does not conform to post-1960s African American aesthetic tastes (as demonstrated by listings of post 1960s name lists). One feature of post 1960s African American names that influences alternative spelling of names is to spell names like or closer to the way that they sound. If Nephi is pronounced NEH fee or neh FEE, post African Americans would most likely spell that name Nefi. In so doing, one assumption that African Americans would likely make is that the name "Nefi" is a creative way of spelling a short hand version of the female Egyptian name "Nefertiti" (a name that has been given post 1960s to a few African American females.
An important value that some post 1960s African Americans give to unique names is that those names "sound African/". Names that "sound African" include traditional African language names, Arabic names, and neo- African & neo-Arabic names (meaning names that African Americans created from traditional African and/or from Arabic elements. These names may also include clips of European/Hebrew names). In my opinion, certain suffixes add to the "African sound" of a name. Among those suffixes for females are "a" (pronounced "ah" and sometimes spelled "ah"); "ya" (pronounced "yah" and sometimes spelled "yah"), "ia" (pronounced "eeyah"), "isha" (pronounced eshah), and sometimes spelled esha" or "iesha") and "ika" ; "ica" "eka" (pronounced ekah" and sometimes spelled "ieka")
The suffix "te" (pronounced and often spelled "tay"), the suffix "on" (pronounced and often spelled "aun") and the suffix "quan" serve the same purpose of "sounding African" for African American male names. An alternative cultural meaning for the above mentioned suffixes is that the sound "modern" (as opposed to "old fashioned"). Actually, I believe that many African Americans believe both of these (perhaps unconscious) interpretations of these suffixes and that is part of the reasons why names with those suffixes are so common. It seems to me that what makes a prefix aesthetically appealing is more complex. But my point is that Utahnan names that include the above mentioned suffixes are likely to be "read" without the cultural connotations that these suffixes have for African Americans.
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COMMENTS ABOUT THIS PAGE:
For the sake of continuity, I've decided to post comments & questions that I receive about this article on this page instead of on Cocojams' Mailbox page. I'm interested in receiving reader input about this subject. Please send your comments/questions to cocojams17@yahoo.com. Your email address will not be posted or shared. As per Cocojams' policy, unless you indicate otherwise, I'll only post your first name (or your screen name) and the first letter of your last name.
Entries are posted in chronological order starting with the earliest date.
Thanks!
Mormon/Africa American Names
"I was wandering through the internet and stumbled on an article you posted somewhere about similarities between Black and Mormon names. I am a white mormon guy from rural Utah (in Utah we refer to ourselves as Utahns). I never knew about this phenomonon until I dated a black female Army recruiter who was astounded by it. I believe the reson for this simply is that Mormons often have a habit of naming kids names with the prefix "La". LaVerl, LaVaughn,etc. This can be used with almost any other name and can be very similar to the black names you mentioned. Another reason is that many Mormons name kids out of the Book of Mormon hence we have lots of Nephi's, Lehi's,Helamans, and a few Shadaracs running around. Just thought you might want to know. Good luck."
-Wendell T; 6/4/2010
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