"The Name Game" - Shirley Ellis

Good morning peeps!! Part I:
What's in a name? Apparently, everything! Did you know that what you name a child can influence their personality, behavior, achievements, vocations,  levels of creativity, and more? I have been thinking about my own choice of names for my three children, and their personalities. Sorry Rhett children but in order to write this piece, I will have to do some "name dropping." I am not trying to invade your privacy, but to accurately state my position on this topic, I must do this. I named my first born; a son, Shannon. I considered Sean, but a friend had her son first and named him Sean. So, I had to think again. I decided not to name my son after his father; James, because I wanted him to have his own "unique" name. Looking through a newspaper, I saw the name Shannon. I instantly liked the sound of it, so Shannon it would be! Mind you, when I first saw the name, I was not even expecting! I tucked it away for future consideration. I did concede and gave my son his father's first name as a middle name. Upon researching further, I discovered the origin of the name. It is Gaelic and contains the root of the word "wise". Maybe that explains why my son was reading The New York Times at the age of two, and had knowledge of Egyptian culture well beyond his years! My second born was a daughter and my husband and I both had our favorite name choices: mine was Tonya and his was Donny and Starrene. I vetoed Starrene, feeling it was more suited for a cat! However, I did promise to use it if we were to have another daughter (secretly thinking he would forget the promise, and never planning on a third child). We combined Tonya and Donny, and came up with Donya! For years I thought we had made that name up.  I later found out the name was derivative of the Spanish word for lady: Dona (there is a Tilda over the n) and a variant of Donna; an Italian word for lady.  My daughter is quite an accomplished lady indeed! A sister/friend of mine liked the name so much that she named her granddaughter Donya as well. In recent years, I have come across more Donyas with the same exact spelling! Ten years later, I had a second daughter (oh-oh, I'd hoped he had forgotten my promise)! He remembered! So, Starrene it was! Supposedly, the name came from some comic book space queen he had read about as a teen. I relented because I would call her Starr! Well, let me tell you...she has always shone! Her personality is sparkly and she loves the spotlight!

Part II:
Did you know that teachers often make assumptions about children based the child's name? I am guilty of that...yes I know it's wrong to prejudge, but it's the reality of the situation. For example, whenever I got a student with the prefixes La, Na, Qua, Sha, or De before their names, or tique as a suffix. I knew I would be dealing with behavioral issues. Think what you want to think about it, but I was more often correct than not. Another predictor for me were names that contained an apostrophe separating the beginning consonant from the rest of the name, as in T' Shanae.That would be a double whammy name! I would not make any disparaging comments, single them out or deliberately focus on their names as predictors of their success or failure. I did try to gain their trust so that we would start out on a positive tip. Sometimes it worked, but as I stated earlier, these were usually the most difficult of my students! I have yet to figure it out! I also don't think it is wise to name your children after characters from horror movies! One of my most recent difficult students was a little boy named Damien! Need I explain? I think not! I don't think I operated on The Self-fulfilling Prophecy Theory, that predicted failure because I had realistic expectations for all of my students! I realistically expected them to perform to the best of their ability, and to leave with more knowledge than they came with.  No brag...just fact!


Part III:
Some people assume that unusual names are only heard in the so-called "ghetto." Well, some names that are presumed to be "ghetto" are really of African, Native American, or Arabic origin, so what makes them  "ghetto" names? A possible answer is that since these name are primarily given to African-American children, they are labeled "ghetto." Names like, Aisha, Keisha, LaKeisha are more likely heard in communities of color than other communities. How many of us don't know a Keisha? Well, you might be surprised to learn that "Keisha" is derived for the Hebrew name "Kezia", which is from the Cassia tree! The addition of La in front of Keisha was added by free people of color in Louisiana! In my early days of teaching, I was a pre- school teacher in a day care center. I have a distinct memory of a little boy in my class named "Akhenaten", which is Egyptian for devoted to "Aten." I also knew a girl for my daughter's dance class named Nefertari; also Egyptian. I could but won't go on and on to illustrate that not all so called "ghetto" names are really that. Ethnic? yes...ghetto...no!

Part III:
That being said, there are some names that truly are Ghetto! If you name your child after cars, perfume, liquor, pets or dead Latin phrases for example, that's Ghetto! Here are some actual names I know of that were given to children: Moet, Alize, Aviance, Quo Vadis. I also knew a girl named Vendetta!...Her mom must have really been angry with her baby's father or maybe she named her Vendetta to get even with someone in her life? I am not letting celebrities off the hook either! They may not be called Ghetto names, but they sure qualify as "different" in my book.
Examples:
Moon Unit and Dweezle Zappa; children of Frank Zappa (was he high?)
Seven, Puma and Mars; Erykah Badu's (fits her personality)
Rumer and Scout; Bruce Willis and Demi Moore
Bluedaydreamer; Big Gipp
Apple; Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin
Brooklyn Mowgli; Ashlee Simpson and Pete Wentz
Pilot Inspektor; Jason Lee
Suri; Tom Cruise (a cute name)
Shiloh Nouvel; Angelina and Brad
Blue Angel; The Edge of U2
Fuschia; Sting (do rock stars love colors?)
Bluebell Madonna; Geri Halliwell of The Spice Girls
Camera; Arthur Ashe
Memphis Eve; Bono
Jett; The Travlotas; ( a cute one)
Sage Moonblood; Sly Stallone
Willow; The Will Smiths; (I love it!)
Ocean; Forest Whitaker; (makes sense a Forest would have an Ocean)
River and Leaf Phoenix; (the children of former hippies?)
Prince Michael first and ? (Micheal had more than one Prince)
Fantasia; (has a fantastic voice, but named after a Disney movie? really now!)

Part IV:
Back in the day, especially in the south, people often feminized male names and gave them to their daughters. I don't know why, but my theory is that this was the mother's way of convincing the father that the baby is indeed his or to let other women know that the man was taken, by virtue of a child having his name. Just a thought. How many Jamesettas'or Johnny Maes' do you know? Another trend was to name children after presidents or other great leaders; especially post slavery. My father was named Warren Harding. I am sure we all know Theodore Roosevelts, George Washingtons and Frederick Douglasses! my mother named me after an actress she admired: Beverly Garland. I have a sister named Ricksine (?) and a sister named Shira. Shira is a Hebrew name meaning poetry. Is Shira a poet? You bet! She wrote some prolific song lyrics in her younger years, that can be heard on an album that she recorded at the tender age of sixteen. One cut from the album; "The Line Of Time And The Plane Of Now" can be heard on MySpace as part of the compilation CD; Women Of The Canyon.

Now, it's your turn...what are some "different" names you have come across or just know someone with?