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When did the fake African name phenomenon start?

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People think that putting a "La" or "Da" before a typical americanized name makes it African sounding, LOL.

Doesn't this have roots back to bastardized French in the South? Kinda like how Leroy was supposed to be "le roi" (the king).
 
A read about a girl naming her daughter La-a, pronounced (La-Dash-a). I'm all for people naming their kids how they want, but just like I get to laugh at parents who name their kids Adolf Hitler, I sure as hell am going to laugh at La-a,
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Ultimately, unique names are cool I think but with anything there is a line to be drawn lol
 
It jumped the shark for me early in life when I encountered "Lasagna".

And, I kid you not, "Shithead" (pronounced Sha-theed, someone's idea of a joke....on their child!?)
 
The best name I ever heard for a child comes from my wife when she worked for Medicaid. Someone named their child "Mother Earth". Second place goes to Shequisha, which sounds like a borderline onomatopoeia to me. I'm all about unique names. I want to give my kids some great, unique names. These names baffle me, though.

A read about a girl naming her daughter La-a, pronounced (La-Dash-a). I'm all for people naming their kids how they want, but just like I get to laugh at parents who name their kids Adolf Hitler, I sure as hell am going to laugh at La-a,
KuGsj.gif


Ultimately, unique names are cool I think but with anything there is a line to be drawn lol
Oh yeah, there were lots of those in the database, too. People with names that were clearly spelled one way, but the parent insisted they were pronounced in some incomprehensible other way.
 
I'd rather talk about when celebrities got it in their head to name their kids stuff like "Jermajesty" "Pilot Inspector" and "Audio Science."
 
It probably started with the "Roots" phenomenon of the 70s. Or at least that make it mainstream (as opposed to the black power movement of the late 60s early 70s)

It was a book by Alex Haley, which turned into a big TV mini-series in 1977, 3rd highest TV show ever in terms of ratings. They pulled some punches in the mini-series, but still very shocking - I certainly remember it vividly and I watched it when I was 6.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roots_(TV_miniseries)

There was an episode of Barney Miller where one of the detectives paid a service to try to find his African family's name, only to discover that he was actually Scottish.

But then it sort of evolved, with people modifying the names. You see this a lot too with European names, especially women. But even my name, Jeremy, can be spelled Jeremi or Jeromy or Jeramy. And itself is a shortened version of Jeremiah, which in turn is basically derived from an Aramaic name.
 
I thought they were:

1) Based on Swahili names
2) Often modified with La because of the French influence on New Orleans, where many African Americans settled after the slaves were freed.
 
I'd rather talk about when celebrities got it in their head to name their kids stuff like "Jermajesty" "Pilot Inspector" and "Audio Science."

these names are awesome. Except Jermajesty, that's just horrible. I like Crime fighter as a name. I dont see any reason why a person can't have an interesting middle name like that.
 
There's just no competing with Epiphany LaRen.

*And incase of ban hammers that's a quote from American Dad about the derailed topic of this thread.
 
At work I interviewed a woman named Dijonaise. That would be like calling my daughter Soy Sauce or Toyo.

Though to be fair, I find it horrible when Filipinos name their kids as an amalgamation of their parents name. I knew a Raynor, Jhonafer (dad's name was Jon), Mattris, Jenniphree, and Michathany.
 
I didn't think to associate the La with French Culture, like La Croix, because I've seen it used in communities without likely French influence, but that does make sense.

I was asking for the origin of a certain cultural phenomenon. I received answers to this question that I can then look into and validate. This was not meant to be racist in any way and I would hope that the thread does not turn racist.
 
I was flipping through the channels once and came across this show called Bridezillas. Woman on there was named Latrina. What the hell parents, did you really name your daughter after a toilet?
 
Aren't 50% of African names either Christian or Arabic/Muslim anyway? African Americans are doing something different which is odd because most of them are Christian.


Uhh...no. There's thousands of tribes that have names unrelated to any type of Western/Arab name.
 
weak thread premise + potential magnet for closet racists = what have you done, op.

This thread is probably going to look like a bloodbath 24 hours from now after the mods get around to it.

edit:
That said, my wife promised me that if we have boys in the future, I can name them Clark and Bruce, with their middles names being Kent and Wayne.
 
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