African-American Names
Joseph E. Holloway, Ph.D.
California State University Northridge

Names have always been matters of great importance in the culture and history of the peoples of West and Central Africa. They are given at stages in an individual's life, and, as in so many traditional cultures in which magic played an important part of life, the real name given at birth by a particular relative must be kept secret lest it fall into the hands of someone who might use it in working evil magic against the person. Among Africans, moreover, a person's name may change over time. Assuming a new designation or name on the occasion of some striking occurrence in one's life was a generally accepted practice in African history. Names might change, too, when a person passed through one of the rites marking a new stage in his or her development.

In the Americas, naming practices among the enslaved were African in origin. As Africans did, African Americans changed their names corresponding to major changes in the life of the individual. This name shifting is clearly demonstrated by the experience of Frederick Douglass, who began a series of name changes soon after escaping slavery:

On the morning after our arrival at New Bedford, while at the breakfast-table, the question arose as to what name I should be called by. The name given me by my mother was Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey. I, however, had dispensed with the two middle names long before I left Maryland, so that I was generally known by the name Frederick Bailey. I started from Baltimore; I found it necessary again to change my name…. I gave Mr. Johnson, Mr. Nathan Johnson of New Bedford, the privilege of choosing me a name, but told him he must not take from me the name "Frederick;" I must hold on to that a sense of identity.

Sojourner Truth, the great crusader for black emancipation and the equality of women, was known as Isabella until age 20, when she was freed and left her master's plantation. She had a vision in a dream that told her about her new name and her mission to free her people. And, the modern African-American leader, Malcolm X, was known at various stages of his life as Malcolm Little, Homeboy, Detroit Red, Big Red, Satan, Malcolm, El-hajji, and Mali El Shabazz.

In many parts of Africa today, men, who leave their traditional settings and family, take on new names to mark the changes in their lives. (Read about Natchez, Mississippi, native Clifford Boxley's decision to change his name: http://jimcrowhistory.org/resources/narratives/Clifford_Boxley.htm) Nowhere is this tradition as vivid as in the jazz world, where name shifting to signal a major event in the life of the musician is common: Jelly Roll Morton (Ferdinand La Menthe), Satchmo (Louis Armstrong), Yardbird (Charles Parker), Lady (Billie Holiday). The story of these name changes in the Americas follows the African pattern of using a new name to adapt to new circumstances and changes in the person's new life.

African-American Nicknames

A more direct survivor of African naming-practices is the use of nicknames. Almost every black person in slavery was known by two names: a given name and a name used only within the family circle. Lorenzo Dow Turner found a dual naming system that has survived among the Gullah-speaking African Americans living in the Sea Islands of South Carolina. This system consists of an English (American) name given at birth and a more intimate name used exclusively by the family and community. Turner was surprised that previous scholarship had failed to note this practice or the importance of Africanisms in Gullah nomenclature. Recognizing this dual naming practice among enslaved Africans in the 18th century, slaveholders, in their advertisements of runaways in the South Carolina Gazette, always included both the "proper" (given) names and "country names" (the African names slaves retained).

In African-American naming practices, every child receives a given name at birth and a nickname that generally follows the individual throughout life. Some examples of these nicknames are Jo Jo, June, Tiny Baby, O.K., John-John, Mercy-Mercy, Baby Sister, Sister, "T," Sunny Main, Bo, Boo, Bad Boy, Playboy, and Fats. Among enslaved Africans, this practice was also evident in names used by slaves, such as Pie Ya, Puddin'-tame, Frog, Tennie C., Monkey, Mush, Cooter, John De Baptist, Fat-Man, Preacher, Jack Rabbit, Sixty, Pop Corn, Old Gold, Dootes, Angle-eye, Bad Luck, Sky-up-de Greek, Cracker, Jabbo, Cat-Fish, Bear, Tip, Odessa, Pig-Lasses, Rattler, Pearly, Luck, Buffalo, Old Blue, Red Fox, Coon, and Jewsharp.

Turner found that Gullah-speaking people preserved their language and nicknames using what they called basket names or day names. Their children always had two distinct names, an English one for public use and an authentic African name for private use by the extended family alone. Following are a few examples of Gullah "basket names," which are also straight, unchanged, present-day Tshiluba names:

• Ndomba is the name given a Gullah child whose hand protrudes first at birth. It means, "I am begging (with my outstretched hand)."



• Mviluki has a Gullah meaning of "a penitent." Its Luba source word is Mvuluki, a remembered one who doesn't forget his sins.



• Sungila means "to save, help, deliver," while Kamba, a very common Luba name, comes from Munkamba, meaning "ancestor." The Gullah meaning of Kamba is "a grave."



• Anyika, a Gullah name meaning "she is beautiful," is related to a Luba word, spelled exactly the same and meaning "to praise the beauty of."



• Seba, a Gullah name meaning "a leather ornament," comes from the Luba word for hide or leather, tshisebe.

But, the Gullah day names Tulu (sleep), Tuma (send), Pita (pass by), Mesu (eyes), Kudima (to work or hoe), and Kudiya (to eat) are exactly the same in Gullah and Luba.

In the Sea Islands, children sometimes have not only their given names and basket names but also community names. The community gives the child a name that characterizes or is characteristic of the individual, such as Smart Child or Shanty (show off). This practice parallels Bantu naming practices in Zaire. Philadelphia Seventy-Sixers basketball center, Dikenibo Mutombo from Zaire, illustrates this point. His full name is Dikenibo Mutombo Mpolondo Munkamba Diken Jean-Jean-Jacque wa Mutombo. In order, these names are his uncle's name, his family surname, his grandfather's name, his nickname given by his village, his name given at birth, and his hometown village, wa Mutombo (which means "from the village Mutombo").

Other "creolized" Gullah pet names (nicknames) that are typical of Bantu naming practices include names of animals or fish: De Dog, Doggie, Kitty, Fish, Yellowtail, Croker, Frog, Spider, Boy, Gal, Jumper, Tooti, Crocki, Don, Cuffy, Akebee, Dr. Buzzer, and Dr. Eagle. An integral part of Bantu culture is the unchanging secret "spirit name," something that the individual has that is uniquely his or her own from the past and is carried on to the next generation, given to a new baby so that it may remain incarnate. Thus, by a strange interweaving of religion and language, the "inner soul" of the speech of a cultural group is preserved.

Lesson Activity Suggestions

• The author notes that the African-American custom of having two names (a given name and a pet name) originated in Africa, where people are known by several public names as well as having a secret "spirit" name. Consider the significance of your own name and those of others in your class, including family and school nicknames. Working in groups, discuss how your naming practices are similar to or different from those the author describes.



• You probably have been called by more than one name at some point in your life. Friends, family members, teachers, or co-workers may use a shortened or lengthened version of your birth name or a nickname. You may even have changed your name informally or legally when your marital status changed.


Brainstorm a list of all the names you can remember that have been used to identify you. For example, you might group them according to who gave you each name (your family, friends, enemies, yourself, community, etc.) Or, you might group the names according to the phases of your life when they were used (in childhood, at school). You might even find some other organizing principle. After grouping the names, write about the significance of each category, telling what the names in each one reveal about you, your life, and your relationships with others. Write a paper entitled "My Names" that explains what you have learned through this activity about the names you have used in your life.


• Imagine you live in a culture that expects each person to choose a secret "spirit" name. What name would you choose for yourself and why? Then, write a reflective essay explaining the name and describing the qualities it signifies, making it a good representation of your spirit. Next, working in a group, share your spirit name and discuss with the group each member's choices and the significance of naming your own spirit. Finally, write a brief memo to your instructor reflecting on the role and importance of naming.



• Have one group member record some of the conversation among the other members as you are talking. Then, look at what was transcribed: do you notice any dialectical features of the language? Write a report to your instructor about your group's discussion. Describe the language(s) group members grew up speaking, as well as the dialectical features of the language used in your group discussion. Can you come to some conclusions about the dialects of group members?



• Expectant parents are faced with a major decision when naming their new baby. Quite a few books listing names are available. With your class, research baby name books. Do some books target specific ethnic or other groups? Which names appear in some books but not in others? Why? Which names routinely appear in all the books? If possible, find name books from ten to 30 years ago to see which names have come in or gone out of fashion. Are there any non-Anglo names on the lists? What do baby names tell us about our culture? Write a paper explaining your findings, giving some vivid examples, and reaching some conclusions about your research.



• Two prominent African-American athletes changed their names at the height of their popularity: Cassius Clay, a heavyweight boxer, became Muhammad Ali in the 1960s; and Lewis Alcindor, a basketball player, became Kareem Abdul Jabbar in the 1970s. Consult biographies or autobiographies of both men to see how they explain the name changes and the public's response. Write a paper reporting your findings.



• In paragraph three, the author quotes Frederick Douglass, who, "after escaping slavery," changed his name several times. Consult one or two recent anthologies of American literature in which Douglass' work is represented. Read a few of his writings, as well as the biographical descriptions of him in the anthologies. Then, write a paper that briefly reports on his life and writings, and use the information the author of this essay provides about African naming practices as a context for profiling Douglass.