Unique names and naming practices among African American families

ABSTRACT: Using a detailed case description of unique names, their meaning, and the naming process among five African American families, the author discusses the application of a culturally competent practice framework. The historical significance of names in African American culture is highlighted, and issues surrounding practitioner-based research in the African American community are discussed.

NAMES ARE UNIVERSALLY recognized as having power-as evoking images or signifying membership in a particular collective. Names are of great significance to African Americans, who, because of the history of slavery, have had to fight for the right to choose their names. As Wideman (1988) quotes in Hiding Place,

The white man used to call us whatever he wanted. Uncle and Cuffy and Boy. Anything came into their heads. . . But now we got real names, entitles he said, and if a man got a name nobody had a right to call him out his name. He said he fought all his life for a name (p. 112).

Devore and Schlesinger (1987) theorize that ethnicity is a source of cohesion or strife among ethnic group members. Because ethnic identity is inseparable from culture, cultural practices also carry strength and conflict. Culture is defined as the cognitive map of a group (Spradley, 1979) encompassing a wide range of beliefs and behavior. Names and the process of choosing names are embedded within the culture of a group and therefore may be sources of conflict or cohesion. Moreover, naming is a family function. Understanding the naming process in its cultural context can be helpful in understanding the dynamics of African American families.

This article is based on a qualitative study of how a sample of African American families chose names for their children and of the meaning attached to these names by the children and the families. These families are reflective of many African Americans who select names for their children that are viewed as unique by the dominant culture. The results of this study adds to the profession's knowledge of African American families and clarifies principles of culturally competent practice.

Unique Names

A unique name is operationally defined as occurring infrequently in a given society. African Americans are certainly not the only ethnic group with unique given names. However, one of the legacies of racism is the intensification of differences between African Americans and members of the dominant culture. Members of the dominant culture may interpret unique names among African Americans as further evidence of African Americans' inability or unwillingness to "fit in."

The impetus for this article arose out of practice encounters with African American children with Afrocentric or otherwise unique names and from observation of the reactions of a cross section of social work colleagues to these unique names. Names and naming practices were sometimes the source of cross-cultural misunderstanding. For example, at a clinic in a large urban center, well-meaning white social work interns sought to convey warmth and concem by addressing their older African American clients on a first-name basis. The clients were often angered and insulted by what was perceived as a lack of respect. Additionally, some practitioners reacted negatively to unique names in children because they believed such names indicated family dysfunction or ignorance. Unsupported judgments of this kind reflect a lack of awareness of the value that African Americans place on names.

The literature on names and naming practices indicates that this negative response pattern is not unusual. In a survey of elementaryschool-aged children, Busse and Darian (1977) found that many children disliked the unique names of classmates. Willis, Willis, and Grier (1982) concluded that African American children with unique names were more likely to be discriminated against both socially and academically. Each of these studies, however, focused on the response of the majority culture to uniquely named African Americans; they did not explore the reaction of African American children, their peers, families, and community to these names. Psychodynamic theory suggests that, beginning in infancy, a child's given name is a potent symbol of psychological identity for him or her (Dion, 1974; Jacobs, 1990). Because this response evolves within the context of the family of origin, one can assume that a child's response to his or her name is highly influenced by the response of the family. Among African Americans, extended family and group ties may also influence a child's response to his or her name. If unique names are respected and valued by family and community, they may represent a strength for African American children.

Culturally Competent Social Work Practice

Culturally competent practice incorporates a strengths perspective that requires respect for differences and "cultural integrity" (Green 1982). In the case of naming practices, an informative and respectful approach would be directed toward understanding the meaning of unique names to those who chose them and those who have them as well as African Americans' explanation of the naming process. This approach is compatible with constructivist theory, which supports the notion that who we are strongly affects what we know (Dean, 1989). Practitioners are not objective observers, and assessment is not a pure and rational process. A culturally competent framework draws attention to the client's "story" and to the client's way of knowing. Culturally competent practice enhances collaboration between workers and families by helping the worker enter the world view of another as expressed through culture. This article focuses on African Americans' "stories" through an examination of names and the naming process.

Historical Significance of Names In the African American Community

African Americans have been "called out of one's name" with racial epithets and other demeaning forms of address. African Americans remember the humiliation of adults being addressed as Sambo, Boy, Gal, and Aunty or of children being called pickaninny or Topsy. Slaves were routinely stripped of their given names (Puckett, 1975; Rose, 1982)-a potent assertion of ownership and control signaling the slaves' change in status from individual to chattel. This practice also clearly demonstrated the association between names and identity. To be, a person must have a name. This philosophical connection between a name and individuality is described in Levy-Bruhl's Law of Participation: "A connection is believed to exist between two things which are regarded as partially identical or as having a direct influence on one another although there is no spatial contact nor intelligible causal relation between them" (Puckett, 1975, p. 2). Although the Bible served as the primary source of new names for slaves, many slaves were given names that reflected slave owners' perception of the name-bearer's character or the whim of the master (Puckett, 1975). Examples of such names include Strumpet, Yallah, Gamesome, Lies, and Obey (Osofksy, 1970; Puckett, 1975). This practice was in effect a parody of the West African tradition of bestowing names that held a specific meaning. West African names traditionally reflect either the circumstances surrounding a child's birth, a key life event in the family, or a desired personality characteristic (M'Biti, 1970). In African culture "the name is the person" (M'Biti, 1970, p. 154). For example, the Ashanti traditionally name children after the day of the week on which they are born. Each day of the week carries particular traits so that children born on a particular day are believed to have particular personal characteristics that reflect that day. For example, children born on Mondays are named Kwado and are thought to be peaceful, shy, and quiet (M'Biti, 1970).

African American slaves sought to maintain a sense of self by using names other than those given by owners. Escaped slaves changed their names not only to avoid detection but as a means of reclaiming their identity (Osofsky, 1970). At the height of the Black nationalist movement during the '60s and '70s, Black Muslims encouraged African Americans to adopt names of African or Islamic origin. Naming remains a powerful practice in the African American community.

Practice Principles

Culturally competent social work practice incorporates a person-in-environment focus and emphasizes addressing problems at both a macro and a micro level. It recognizes the effect of ethnicity and culture on an individual's history as well as the influence of group identity on an individual s life (Devore & Schlesinger, 1987; Lum, 1992; Green, 1982). These concepts are the basis of principles for practice with African Americans (Green, 1982; Logan, Freeman, & McRoy, 1990).

* "Social workers should attempt to identify and understand the world view of black families as being distinct from that of the larger society, since the latter view distorts the behavioral patterns being observed and labels them diagnostically as deviant instead of viewing them as natural responses to institutional racism" (Logan et al., 1990, p. 47).

* "[Social workers should] enhance engagement and the helping process by risking a onedown position in which the worker asks sensitive, non-judgmental questions that clarify the client's view and culturally determined perceptions about reality" (Logan et al., 1990, p. 47). m "Social workers should not prejudge which aspects of a client's cultural history, values and lifestyles are relevant to their work with the client" (Green, 1982, p. 182).

* "Social workers should treat all 'facts' they have heard about cultural values or traits as hypotheses. 'Facts' should be turned into questions." (Green, 1982, p. 182).

Led by these principles, the practitioner can begin to explore the phenomenon of naming. The significance of cultural practices is identified by the client system. In the culturally competent approach, workers do not merely offer their professional expertise. Rather, a culturally competent approach recognizes client expertise with respect to his or her life. By reexamining a given situation in its cultural context, the client and worker gather additional material to facilitate change. The political implication of this perspective is that in recognizing client strength and integrity, the client system is no longer the predominant target for change. In fact, in the case of naming practices in the African American community, the attitudes of workers and the larger community might well be appropriate targets for change.

Practitioner-Based Research in the African American Community

Research in the African American community, even on the small scale represented in this article, raises several issues. Because social science research findings on African American families have frequently been used against them, African Americans are often skeptical of the research process. Research may add to client mistrust of practitioners' authority. Historically, research in the African American community has reflected the biases of the dominant culture in that questions asked determine what is found. Research questions based on assumptions that the African American community and culture are dysfunctional have resulted in deficit-focused findings. Research has also been connected to broken promises of socioeconomic benefits.

Given this background, many African Americans have cause to suspect research as a tool of subjugation. It is therefore incumbent upon researchers to explore and acknowledge the effects of their own world views and experiences on the research question as well as the research process, regardless of whether quantitative or qualitative methodologies are employed. Practitioner-researchers working in the African American community should weigh these factors when making decisions about research design and approaches.

The cultural-competence framework provides guidelines for ethical research in the African American community. Culturally competent practice suggests that researchers approach the world of clients as unfamiliar territory and that researchers assume a "systematic client-oriented learning stance" (Green, 1982, p. 56). Qualitative research methodologies lend themselves well to these principles in that qualitative methods emphasize the presentation of subjects on their own terms while increasing opportunities for sharing power with clients during the research process and decreasing opportunities for manipulating clients as objects in a research design. These concerns should also guide researchers attempting larger, quantitative studies in the African American community.

The Study

This exploratory case study on the derivation and perceptions of unique names by name givers and uniquely named children was conducted during the mid-1980s in New York City. Participants consisted of a voluntary nonprobability sample of five adult female African American name givers and five of their uniquely named children. Participants were drawn from a pool of former clients of a clinic and their acquaintances, all of whom were known to have given unique names to either children or grandchildren. No male name givers were located for participation in the study. Two of the adult name givers were working-class grandmothers who had named their grandchildren, one was a single mother receiving public assistance, one was a married working-class woman who had just moved to a suburban neighborhood, and one was an upwardly mobile registered nurse. The name givers' ages ranged from the mid-twenties through the late fifties. The five children interviewed were 6 through 12 years of age. Together, participants had a total of 19 uniquely named children and grandchildren. The majority of these children (n = 14) were not included in the study because they were either unavailable or unwilling to be interviewed or too young to participate. Participants were told that the purpose of the study was to help social workers understand how unique names are chosen, the meaning of unique names, how families and children feel about them, and how the outside world reacts to the names. Participants responded positively to the researchers' interest in a topic that participants regarded as important but had received little attention.

Participants led very busy lives and juggled multiple responsibilities. Although it would have been preferable to conduct interviews face to face, it was not feasible to do so. At their request, all participants were interviewed by telephone. Nevertheless, it was possible to obtain a flavor of participants' lives. Neighbors, family members, and friends were introduced over the telephone. Participants often performed tasks, such as cooking or child care, while talking. Although set times for calls were established, participants would sometimes call at unscheduled times to share details of an experience they had just remembered. Each adult participant was interviewed for an average of three hours. Children were interviewed for an average of 45 minutes. Ethnographic interviewing techniques were used to shape questions. Interviews consisted primarily of open-ended, descriptive questions asking for a detailed word picture of behavior, thoughts, and opinions:

* "Describe for me how you choose a name."

* "What is the significance of naming for you/your family?"

* "Do Black people and White people react differently to your name? If they do react differently, describe the difference." * "What have your children said about his or her name?"

Structural questions were aimed at obtaining an overview of domains of knowledge (e.g., "Tell me what it means to you to name a child") (Laird, 1985).

As noted earlier, no research method is bias free, and qualitative methods are often criticized for their more apparent subjectivity. Although the scientific method manages subjectivity through quantitative methods, qualitative research methods manage subjectivity through the "vigilant reflection" of the researcher (Goldstein, 1991). Questions regarding the significance of unique names were discussed with colleagues, clients, and other associates before beginning this project. Their comments were recorded and reviewed to determine whether the research question had an external reality or was the focus of the author's perception. The data were analyzed by means of a standard method for ethnography. Responses were coded line by line for key words and patterns. "Living with" the data over a period serves as another control for validity and reliability, with the researcher constantly reevaluating findings and scrutinizing the data and judgments for alternative explanations. The data for this study were revisited and reviewed for a number of years before the final draft of this article was written.

The following summaries from interviews highlight patterns of participants' responses.

Interviews

Nadeen: Names and Pride

Nadeen, a single mother of five children, was receiving public assistance while looking for work. Her children are named Monifa, Guishard Malik, Giovanni, Igwe' Mugabe', and Kwesi. She named all the children, with the exception of Guishard, who was named by his maternal grandmother. The name was chosen for its French sound.

Nadeen referred to her children's names as "cultural names." They were chosen to instill and represent racial and cultural pride. According to Nadeen, names should have inspirational meanings. She felt that first names were more significant for African American children than for White children, because "Black children have to be stronger, and a good name can help them with that." Through explaining and reinforcing a name's meaning, she hoped to influence each child's development positively. For example, Kwesi was told that his name means lordly in Yoruba, Giovanni knows she was named after the poet Nikki Giovanni, Guishard Malik is called Malik in honor of Malcolm X, and Monifa and Igwe' Mugabe' were told that their names are traditional West African names. The children have not expressed any desire for another name, nor are they called by nicknames. Nadeen felt that her use of culturally derived names is supported by younger African Americans and rejected by White Americans as well as older African Americans, whom she viewed as being "desperate to be like White folks."

Sandra: Naming as a Ceremony of Love

Sandra, a mother of seven and grandmother of four children, works as a receptionist in a mental health clinic. Sandra discussed the process of naming her grandchildren, whose names are Schavonne, Rondese (male), Armish (female), and Tomara. Beginning with the birth of Schavonne, Sandra and her extended family began a "naming ceremony." Sandra describes the event as a family gathering to celebrate the birth of a new child. Sandra originated a process whereby names were created from the letters and syllables of family members. Schavonne's name takes the "Sch" from her mother's name, Schaunda, and the "vonne" from her aunt's middle name, Vonnette. During the naming process, laughter, affection, and sharing of family memories are expressed. Sandra states that the names of her grandchildren are repositories for family ties and love. The children are taught that they have unique, lyrical names. Sandra reflected that names, alone, do not mold a child's personality but that the feelings attached to a name have a profound impact on the child and family. Names should reflect a sense of family pride as well as the happiness and love surrounding a child's birth. Sandra felt that the unique names she and her family created were far more powerful than names drawn from a "White baby book."

Viola: A Name Composer

Viola, an energetic mother of 8 children and grandmother of 16, works in a day-care center and is active in her community. She has always loved languages and writes poetry when she has the chance. She is a self-styled "name composer." Her goal is to give a child "something no one else had." Viola works alone. Some of the many names she has composed include: Shauon Orlanz (male grandchild), Tlishae Chaequenae Renearl (female grandchild); Ren'ata Dejoia (daughter), and Reznick-Shertwaun (son). Viola creates names from the syllables of family members or "works with the letters of the alphabet" until she creates a name that is poetic. She points to the fact that her uniquely named children ask her to name her grandchildren as evidence of their positive reaction to unique names. Viola viewed the naming process as an important outlet for the creative urge. She believed that unusual names enhance any special qualities an individual might possess and that even being ridiculed because of one's name makes the individual appreciate his or her uniqueness. She felt that self-acceptance and pride was critical for African American children's survival in a hostile world.

Guishard Malik: "I'm special"

Malik, age nine, is one of Nadeen's five children. Soft-spoken and reserved during our conversations, Malik is known for his impish sense of humor at home. Malik does not regard his name as unique, even though none of his classmates had the same name. He believes that his mother chose the name "Malik" from an African American history book. He knows that Malcolm X later changed his name to Malik. He is proud of the name's association with a "hero." Malik believes he has a "cultural name"-a name reflective of ethnicity and culture. His mother and father emphasize their pride in Blackness. Malik feels it's important for African American children to have cultural names. He also thinks that names like "Steve" or "Joe" are "too corny." He is not sure of the origin of "Guishard" but likes the way it sounds. He might use this name when he is a man. In a later interview, Malik revealed another name. Some of his classmates call him "Spider" because his legs are so long. When asked which name he preferred, Malik answered that all of his names make him feel special. Tlishae--"Sometimes I Hate This Name" Twelve-year-old Tlishae is serious and forthright. She describes herself as a good student. Her peers and teachers call her "Shae Shae" or "Lisha." She feels her grandmother and family tried to give her something beautiful when they named her. One problem is that few people pronounce it correctly, and she gets tired of teaching others how to say her name. Although frustration has caused her to hate her name at times, when asked if she would change it, she said, "Never." Her name reminds her of how special she is to her grandmother. Tlishae believes that after she becomes successful (pediatrician or engineer), people will have to learn to pronounce her name correctly.

Naming as a Political Act

The methodology and small sample size preclude making generalizations about unique names or naming practices among African American families. Nevertheless, some surprising and significant patterns emerged from the data. A review of the literature suggested that unique names would likely have special meaning for participants as well as encourage negative feedback from society. Because cultural competence was a guiding framework in this study, noncultural explanations and negative responses were highlighted when analyzing the data. The participants' positive responses to their unique names and the variety of cultural interpretations were not unexpected, particularly in the child participants.

Only one of the five children interviewed felt strongly dissatisfied with the given name. None of the children interviewed felt that his or her name had a negative impact on functioning in the community or school. The majority of the children indicated their preferences for unique names, connecting their name to racial and family pride.

The unique names chosen by these families were derived in one or more of the following ways: out of kinship, as a reflection of cultural pride, and as an expression of creativity and uniqueness (Table 1). By honoring family, connecting with African roots, commemorating African American heroes, and emphasizing individuality and self-acceptance, each participant used the naming process as a source of strength.

As in West African thinking, the subjects believed names were integral to the person. Oppression hinges on the ability of oppressors to define a group by perceived faults and frailties. In the world view of these participants, unique names were viewed as helping children claim their own identity rather than be defined by a hostile world. In this light, the naming process becomes a small battle against racism and as such is a political act.

Practice Implications

Culturally competent practice requires practitioners to rely on client systems to orient them to their clients' world. Narrow, practitioner-defined conceptions of culture inhibit the operationalizing of a culturally competent framework, as does centuries of stereotypes regarding African Americans. This study demonstrates in a small way how operationalizing a culturally competent practice framework expands the foci of attention in engagement, assessment, and intervention. Practitioners alone cannot determine which detail, event, or act is meaningful to clients. Names and naming practices add meaning to the clients' stories. In a problemsolving situation, such information might be a vital part of a family's story. Fear of offending or of appearing ignorant or incompetent may prevent practitioners from asking direct questions of clients from a different cultural background. The participants in this study interpreted such questions as a sign of interest and respect. Their responses illustrate the ways in which commonplace objects, actions, and events take on meaning within the cultural context of the family.

Social work clearly rejects overt racism. Although notions of racial inferiority are unacceptable, subtle stereotypes characterizing African American families as disorganized, dependent, nonverbal, and concrete are part of the dominant culture's consciousness. These subtle, persistent, and destructive images may lead practitioners to base their work with African American families on generalities and to disregard the uniqueness and complexity of family units.

Practitioners can use this study to challenge some of their underlying assumptions about African American families. The following questions may help them meet this challenge.

* What assumptions do you make about the things that matter to African American families?

* What assumptions do you make about the sociopolitical views of members of African American families?

* What assumptions do you make about an African American family's cultural experience?

*Are you able to recognize and address stereotypes of African American families that are generated personally and professionally?

* Do you routinely ask clients from different cultures to guide and orient you to their world?

The principles of culturally competent practice remind us that good social work practice is distinguished by the exchange and sharing of information between worker and client. The profession has looked primarily within to develop knowledge and skills for effective practice with African American families. A culturally competent approach suggests that social work educators, policymakers, administrators, and practitioners must begin to include families in this process in a creative and meaningful way.

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Linda Anderson Smith is Assistant Professor, School of Social Work, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana.

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