What's In a NAME?!

K y'all...There will be no WOD for a minute. I just don't feel like being extremely techincal about things at the moment. But I do have something else for you to take a look at.

What, pray-tell, is in a name? When you think about the name your parents gave you, do you view it as a blessing or a curse? Some names have a "white" ring to them. Which means that the race of this child is typically indistinguishable or the child is presumed to be white upon first seeing it. Then there are those of us who have not necessarily "black" names, but ethnic sounding ones that give our race/ethnicity away to folks who otherwise would not know a thing about us.

It has been said, that when naming a child, parents should look to the future and take into account: a) if the child will have problems saying and spelling his/her name by the age of 3 b) if the child's teachers will have problems with the same, particularly pronunciation c) if other kids will have issues with saying/spelling the child's name d) how the name will look on important, official documents e) how an 87 year old woman name Bonquisha will look to others.

Of course, it doesn't matter what she will look like to others, as there will be many adults like her. My name is pretty common, but not so much that it's Ashley, Jessica, Tiffany, Brittany or anything like that. But there are many girls out there with my name. My thing is, is there a 85 year old woman named Candice out there somewhere? If so...cool...

Parents should be mindful of trying to be so unique to the point that they screw their children over. Finding jobs in corporate America is already hard enough. Tack on race and gender (for females), and it's damn near impossible (at times). I'm not saying name your child something boring, generic, or typical. Your child has the right to be unique. All I'm saying is be classy and considerate with name choices.

According to a website, the following names are considered the BLACKEST names to give a child. Should you avoid them? Depends...

The 20 Blackest Boy Names
1. DeShawn
2. DeAndre
3. Marquis (know one)
4. Darnell (middle name of about 5 guys I know)
5. Terrell (know 2)
6. Malik (know one)
7. Trevon
8. Tyrone (know 2)
9. Willie (know 1)
10. Dominique
11. Demetrius (know plenty)
12. Reginald (cousin's name)
13. Jamal
14. Maurice (know 2)
15. Jalen (a lot of little black boys are getting this name)
16. Darius (know grown men named this)
17. Xavier (know 2)
18. Terrance (know too many)
19. Andre (same as 18)
20. Darryl (same)

The 20 Blackest Girl Names
1. Imani
2. Ebony (if I could count them all...)
3. Shanice (know 1, my MI)
4. Aaliyah
5. Precious (know 1)
6. Nia
7. Deja (know 1)
8. Diamond
9. Asia (my cousin, and a lil girl from church)
10. Aliyah
11. Jada
12. Tierra
13. Tiara (roommate)
14. Kiara
15. Jazmine (cousin)
16. Jasmin
17. Jazmin
18. Jasmine (too many)
19. Alexus (cousin)
20. Raven

Now, I'm not sure why several forms of the name "Jasmine" are considered different names, but whatever. I didn't make the list up. And none of them are terribly ghetto. Some just lack creativity, and are common to our group of people. We need to get more creative, y'all...but of course not go over board! I love baby names, and I have an ongoing, extensive list of them. I'd like to share some of my favorites...

1. Ari
2. Binae
3. Calandra
4. Devani
5. Elle
6. Faye
7. Giselle
8. Hannah (love this name)
9. Isis
10. Justice
11. Kaimana (Kah-ee-mah-na, hawaiian)
12. Lakera
13. Mahria
14. Nayana

1. Santino
2. Tariq
3. Dedrick (Dee-drick)
4. Yamin
5. Emery
6. Cassidy
7. Lonnie (one of my faves)

So yeah, unique and classy. I HAVE PLENTY MORE. But of course I can't give y'all the ones I many want to use for my 3 kids. So yeah...if you ever need help searching for a baby name, with meaning (which is something I specialize in), hit me up!!! 90% of the names I have own legit meanings and have histories behind them. Anyhoos...I'll HOLLA.

P.S. also check out BabyNamesWorld.com in the links section. It's very informative! :-)