tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post7428527478231399444..comments2024-03-28T07:58:41.643-04:00Comments on pancocojams: How The Name "Keisha" & Its Variants Came To Be Considered "Black Names" Azizi Powellhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-85894775984556295992023-03-13T13:23:27.552-04:002023-03-13T13:23:27.552-04:00Thanks Kezia for your comment.
Your comments add ...Thanks Kezia for your comment.<br /><br />Your comments add to the linguistic and socio-cultural information about the name "Keisha". I'm sorry that you have experienced negative interactions from people who confuse your name with the name "Keisha". As you wrote, that name is often associated with Black females in large part because it has been given to a female character in several African American movies. However, as you pointed out, "Kezia" is a Biblical name. That said, everyone who has the name "Keisha" (or a similar spelled name" may not use the standard meaning of Kezia as the meaning of their name.<br /> <br />Best wishes,<br /><br />Azizi Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-57312740268377776412023-03-13T09:47:45.244-04:002023-03-13T09:47:45.244-04:00Hi, I’m realizing my comment is included here - in...Hi, I’m realizing my comment is included here - in reference to my name being mispronounced as Keisha. I am a black woman. My parents were born in a Latin American country. My name is Kezia. I can tell you I’ve gotten pushback from African American and white Americans about my name (not particularly Latinos or foreigners). <br /><br />I don’t think anyone is excused from being teased as a child. I hated my name growing up because seemingly no one wanted to pronounce it correctly.<br /><br />I love my name now because it is uncommon, and my parents put thought into it so I aught to be respected.<br /><br />I have had interactions with people (white and black) who think my name is part of the 1970’s revolution and is an African or made up name. Some make this clear condescendingly. Others not. And I correct them. It’s originally a Hebrew name and a biblical name.<br /><br />Every culture makes up names or names their children after items and fruits. People tend to affiliate African American with low class here and no one group is a monolith. <br /><br />I applaud anyone who names their kid a truly unique name in either direction, playing into these respectability politics will eat your soul. I’m glad my parents named me something uncommon. I’m glad I stand out. I’m more knowledgable about language and etymology for it, truly.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-61693875959509102912015-06-15T12:32:44.488-04:002015-06-15T12:32:44.488-04:00Here are three other parent affection/praise names...Here are three other parent affection/praise names that I've come across this weekend:<br /><br />Cherish-(a name that a young African American woman has)<br />MyAngel - (a name that a young African American girl has)<br />Gugulethu, means “Our Pride” in Zulu (nickname Gugu) - Gugu Mbatha-Raw, a Black (mixed race) British actress, who starred in a United States tv series "Undercover". <br /><br />When it comes to traditional African names, it seems to me that African Americans only choose names that meet our aesthetic tastes. Therefore, we seldom choose names with consonent clusters or names longer than three syllables, or names that begin or end in "u" or have the u sound prominent. So regardless of its meaning, the name "Gugu" or "Gugulethu" is unlikely to be used by African Americans.<br />Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-53464856140819517332015-06-12T12:14:35.312-04:002015-06-12T12:14:35.312-04:00By "that page" in my listing of the name...By "that page" in my listing of the name "Ife", I meant <a href="http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/african" rel="nofollow">http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/african</a>.Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-91666073765452856312015-06-12T11:30:28.273-04:002015-06-12T11:30:28.273-04:00I also didn't know that some people considered...I also didn't know that some people considered "Reginald" (nickname "Reggie") a "Black name". I also read the same thing for the name "Antoine" although I knew that some variant forms of that name "Antwan" and "Antuan" are usually given to African American males.<br /><br />I wonder if a better term for "high esteem names" is "parental affection/praise names". <br /><br />I don't know if African Americans' custom of giving these types of name that express one's love, high regard, and high expectations for the child "originally" comes from Africa more than anywhere else, but there are LOTS of "parental affection/praise names" in traditional African language and Arabic languages. To cite a few examples of traditional African names and Arabic names which are names given to African Americans who I know: <br /><br />Furaha female, Swahili<br />"joy, happiness"<br />**<br />Ifetayo female, Yoruba<br />"Love brings joy" [note: That page listed the name "Ife", but, in addition to my knowing an African American woman named "Ifetayo", that is the name of a Brooklyn, New York cultural center]<br />**<br />Jelani, male, Swahili<br />"mighty" [This name is quite popular among African Americans]<br /><br />**<br />Jalil- male, Arabic<br />"important, exalted"<br />**<br />Jamal, male (with traditional male variants such as Jamil, Jamaal, Jamel and Jamela, female)<br />beautiful (handsome)<br />[Jamelle Bouie is an African American male writer for "Slate" magazine.]<br /><br />**<br />Shani , female, Swahili<br />"marvelous"<br />["Shani" was the name of a Black doll that was marketed in the USA in the 1990s]<br /><br />-snip-<br />I know a young African American woman whose name is "Love" and I have a great neice whose name is "Beautiful". Also, I've known several African American women with the name "Joy". Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-85025064007617409012015-06-12T09:38:38.860-04:002015-06-12T09:38:38.860-04:00I didn't know that Reginald was considered a b...I didn't know that Reginald was considered a black name, but it explains something. There's an American comedian based in London, Reginald D. Hunter, who's from Georgia originally. I actually didn't think it was his real name! Not many men his age in Britain would be called Reginald, it's considered a very old-fashioned name here. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/11452470/Reginald-D-Hunters-Songs-of-the-South-BBC-Two-review-fascinating.html)<br />I remember there was a TV series on a couple of years back about a lady detective, set in Botswana, and she was called Precious Ramotswe. Perhaps giving babies high-esteem names is an African custom originally?slam2011https://www.blogger.com/profile/03112153426493772446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-33392855327406709732015-06-12T08:14:31.654-04:002015-06-12T08:14:31.654-04:00I read-but can't find now- a lengthy discussio...I read-but can't find now- a lengthy discussion from commenters to a post on so-called "ghetto names". A couple of the commenters wrote that people categorize names that are considered standard in the United States as "black names" when a certain number of Black people start using them. An excerpt from the this research addresses that;<br /><br /><a href="http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/FryerLevitt2004.pdf" rel="nofollow">http://pricetheory.uchicago.edu/levitt/Papers/FryerLevitt2004.pdf</a><br /><br />The Quarterly Journal Of Economics<br />The Causes and Consequences of Distinctive Black Names<br />Ronld G. Fyrer, Jr. and Steven D. Levitt<br />Vol CXIX August 2004, Issue 3<br /><br />“In the 1960s Blacks and Whites choose relatively similar first names for their children. Over a short period of time in the early 1970s, that pattern changed dramatically with most Blacks (particularly those living in racially isolated neighborhoods) adopting increasingly distinctive names, but a subset of Blacks actually moving toward more assimilating names. The patterns in this data appear most consistent with a model in which the rise of the Black power movement influenced how Blacks perceived their identities. Among Blacks born in the last two decades, names provide a strong signal of socioeconomic status, which was not previously the case. We find, however, no negative relationship between having a distinctive Black name and later life outcomes after controlling for a child’s circumstances at birth.”<br />-snip-<br />[Researchers] “used data that covered every child born in California in the past four decades. “We first document the stark differences between Black and White name choices in recent years. For example, more than 40% of the Black girls born in California in recent years received a name that not one of the roughly 100,000 White girls born in California that year was given. Even among popular names, racial patterns are pronounced. Names such as DeShawn, Tyrone, Reginald, Shanice, Precious, Kiara, and Deja are quite popular among Blacks but virtually unheard of for Whites. The opposite is true for names such as Connor, Cody, Jake, Molly, Emily, Abigail, and Caitlin. Each of these names appear in at least 2,000 cases (between 1989- 2000) with less than two percent of the recipients Black. Overall, Black choices of first names differ substantially more from Whites than do the names chosen by native born Hispanics and Asians….<br />-snip-<br />Notice the inclusion of the names "Tyrone" & "Reginald" in the listing of names that that research found to be more popular with African Americans than White Americans. <br /><br />The (usually) female name "Precious" is part of a category of "African American" names that I call "high esteem" names- these names show that the parents hold their child in high esteem. That category may be a sub-set of "high status" name like "Prince" or "Star". <br />ReplyDeleteAzizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-68294892038785384932015-06-12T07:53:36.668-04:002015-06-12T07:53:36.668-04:00Yes, I think the name "Quace" derived fr...Yes, I think the name "Quace" derived from the Akan day name "male born on Sunday: Kwasi, Akwasi, Kwesi" <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghanaian_name" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghanaian_name</a>. <br /><br />Adaptations of Akan day names (such as "Cuff" and "Coffey" for "Kofi" are documented in 18th century United States and in the Caribbean.Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-27909214726161650262015-06-12T07:33:55.099-04:002015-06-12T07:33:55.099-04:00Thanks for your comment, slam2011.
Here's inf...Thanks for your comment, slam2011.<br /><br />Here's information from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keziah" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keziah</a> about the name Keziah:<br />"Keziah is a person in the Hebrew Bible. She was the second of the three daughters born to Job after his sufferings (Job 42:14). Her elder sister was Jemima and her younger sister Keren-Happuch.<br /><br />A number of etymologies have been suggested for her name, among them the Hebrew for Cassia, from the name for the spice tree. The name has been taken to symbolize female equality, since all of Job's three daughters received an inheritance from their father, an unusual circumstance in a time period when women and men were not treated equally.[1]"<br />-snip-<br />I wonder if the male name "Hatita" was a variant form of the population name "Hittites". <br />Azizi Powellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14963772326145910073noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-31702498583418818652015-06-12T05:37:06.022-04:002015-06-12T05:37:06.022-04:00Still browsing the census, there was a 'Quace ...Still browsing the census, there was a 'Quace Johnson' living in Liverpool in 1911, born in West Africa in 1886 - I bet he was a 'Kwesi'.slam2011https://www.blogger.com/profile/03112153426493772446noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5893219718076521675.post-24064139958764028442015-06-12T04:50:57.349-04:002015-06-12T04:50:57.349-04:00I know that in modern times Keisha is perceived as...I know that in modern times Keisha is perceived as a name more likely to belong to a black female, but for curiosity I searched for it in English census records 1841- 1911, and got 5 results. But, I'm pretty sure these were just accidental variant spellings of Keziah, which was a surprisingly popular name - 56, 161 results. <br /><br />If you were to ask me how many of those Keziahs were black though I can't tell: British censuses at this period only recorded birthplace, not ethnicity.<br /><br />The Bible was a big source of rare names for British people, especially those of Methodist or similar faiths. I knew an old lady (Methodist and white) known as 'Carrie' to everyone, but whose full given name was actually 'Kerenhappeuch' (pronounced ka-run-AP-uck). Yep, it's in the Bible! She wasn't alone either - there were over 1000 girls christened with that name. And a friend has an ancestor called 'Hatita' - and he was a boy. Wonder if he got into fights with kids who called him 'Hattie'? :) slam2011https://www.blogger.com/profile/03112153426493772446noreply@blogger.com