Have to ask when did black names become popular ( Like what decade ) 😭

    by Direct-Sail-6141

    45 Comments

    1. AgreeableEconomy1587 on

      How do you even think of the name “Dejohnold”? Is there any one else named that?

    2. I remember hearing that it started around the time Roots came out. It was a cultural phenomenon and people understandably decided to not to give their kids Euro-centric names.

    3. It’s funny, my name is Jamar. Born in ’73. I didn’t see anyone else with my exact same name until the late 90s. Lots of Jamal’s, tho. I had to constantly correct people.

    4. ArcaneOcean612 on

      That’s funny but Atlanta gotta get rid of his and the rest of that goofy ass coaching line up they got over there it’s rough being a dirty bird fan 😔

    5. Somebody black dog owner definitely has their pet with this name or they’re thinking about it

    6. My exes name is Shonquail and he hated it. Shawn and Shaquille. I liked it, I remembered him from elementary school bc of it 🙂

    7. midwestprotest on

      I don’t know how it’s pronounced but I assume it is “Dee-jahanald”, like “Donald”.

      Brb checking to see.

      ETA: nobody says the first name apparently lol

    8. Fickle_Meet_7154 on

      They said, “lil man better be good at sports because he ain’t getting a desk job”.

    9. Double_Dingo1089 on

      I’m just imagining a teacher trying to say his name on the first day of class. “De..De…DeJarald Morris?”

    10. bluebirdsmallbird on

      The juxtaposition of his name and his daughter’s is sending me. He said this shit ends with me.

      My niece has a crazy name. I’ll never say it publicly because I’m sure she’s the only one in the world with it, but I remember being a teen and sitting with my sister as she wrote up a list – literally just stringing names together with apostrophes in random places. The end result was completely made up, not inspired by existing names, yet it’s still the blackest thing I’ve ever heard.

    11. Additional_Read4397 on

      I’m a Boomer and when I was in the fourth grade in 1967 I went to school with a girl named Quinnzola. People had been creating weird names in the Black community but the sixties and seventies are when they really took off. There was a Back To Africa movement and people started making up names that they thought sounded African. My niece was born in 1972 and is named Ayanna which is a legitimate Swahili name but other folks just started creating their own version.

    12. I would guess that names like mine started becoming popular along with the rise of Black Power and the Black Panther Party. So late 60s, early 70s..

    13. RedditsOnlyBlackMan on

      What do you mean by black names?

      When we became able to name our own children legally, some of us had a desire to choose unique names.

      Some of us had a desire to choose culturally significant names. Some of us wanted to give kids a name to blend in the only small what we could.

      That is ongoing.

      What are you asking for? Black names have always been a thing bc black people have always been a thing (within human existence).

    14. As a Falcons fan can he please leave?

      And tell him to take Zac Robinson, Marquise Williams, Terry Fontenot and Rich McKay with him in the way out.

    15. In the 1960’s, Cassius Clay converted to Islam and changed his name to Mohammad Ali. Many other black men followed suit which I think put the idea in peoples’ heads to think about the origin of their names.

      As blacks started to realize that they were handing down names from slave masters, they decided to break that tradition. If they were Muslim there was already a process in place, but Christians decided to go for “African sounding” names since they didn’t know any African languages.

    16. Yea well as long as he’s coaching that team, I won’t care much for Mr Dejohnold winning his games. Who Dat.

    17. Taco_Taco_Kisses on

      Probably like the 60s/70s during the Civil Rights/ Black Power Movements.

      Prior to that, it was a lot of biblical names and even Roman names.

      After King, Martin, Fred, Medgar, etc, etc, etc were assassinated, black folk weren’t too keen on naming their children names that were used by white folk.

    18. TheBoxcutterBrigade on

      “Black names” date back to the time of slavery. Parents would give their children very unique names

      1. As an act of defiant self-determination, and

      2.so that if they were ever separated they had a stronger chance of reconnecting.

    19. BranchReasonable9437 on

      I love that LeBron is both an incredibly Black American name and one that wouldn’t be out of place on a French twink. Hilarious

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