Posted on 06/09/2005 9:26:31 AM PDT by InvisibleChurch
Black children who are given exotic names at birth are at more of a disadvantage than children with more common names, according to USA Today.
“Afrocentric” names, which were popular in the 1970s and have since rebounded, are typically associated with low socioeconomic status. Indeed, economist David Figlio of the University of Florida examined data on 55,046 children and found:
Children whose names began with “lo,” “ta,” and “qua,” or ended with “isha” or “ious” were more likely to score lower on tests and less likely to meet teacher expectations. They were also less likely to receive high-quality instruction or attention; they are also less likely to be referred to gifted programs than siblings with common names. In one example, two twins, Damarcus and Dwayne, had nearly identical test scores, yet Damarcus was slightly less likely to be recommended for a gifted program than Dwayne. In fact, Figlio found that about 15 percent of the black-white test score gap is correlated with naming patterns, an even greater effect than class size or teachers’ qualifications.
Furthermore, the disadvantage continues through adulthood. A study by the University of Chicago and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) found that resumes with “white-sounding” names received 50 percent more responses than those with “black-sounding” names.
Source: Yolanda Young, “A Name Doesn’t Have to be a Burden,” USA Today, June 3, 2005; and David N. Figlio, “Names, Expectations and the Black-White Test Score Gap,” University of Florida and the National Bureau of Economic Research, December 2004.
MUST...REFRAIN...FROM...MAKING...SNIDE...COMMENT...
And member that ther average income for afro-centric names is actually brought "UP" by the inclusion of professional athletes..
See Freakonomics. Causality and correlation. Black names don't cause poverty, they are an indicator.
Like Barack Obama?
What does having a wierd name somehow prevent you from absorbing material? Or perhaps it affects when and how often you come to school on time?
Heck I've got an idea!!! Lets ask the Asians, and the Indians how disadvantaged they are with "wierd" names. Whoops, you'll have to look in the honors/AP class rooms to find them.
I hope the feds didn't pay for this one.
I hope this writer has their flame suit ready- It is SO un-PC to say out loud that your going to rarely find a bank president named 'Shoniqua'
Are you sure names like "Boss" and "champ" are considered exotic? (Those are two pro football players from the Bailey family. I waonder what the rest of the brothers are named: "Chief", "Prez", "see-ee-oh", "Kaiser", "Tsar"?)
"Black names don't cause poverty, they are an indicator."
Bingo. Again a symptom is mistaken for a cause.
I mentor at a nearly all minority school some distance from our home. I love the kids who are the sweetest little children in the world.
But their names! I CANNOT remember them very well which upsets me and I know they are at a disadvantage as they grow up and move out into the world.
Osama Obama?
O- Go ahead - based on todays education, these children cannot spell there names on the tests to even get graded - how do they know.
Sheniqua alert..
Actually anyone given an odd or unusual first name is an a disadvantage... trust me on that ...
One of the funnier "swimmer" foul ups..
Nor can you spell.
They aren't "white sounding " names but Judeo-Christian names.
I bet white weird names fare almost as poorly like Kaden or Colt. Yes I knew a guy named Colt.
"Exotic" names?
How about "illiterate"? Like the little boy in my wife's first grade class whose name was pronounced "Brian" but was spelled on his birth certificate "Brain" - because his mother was not one.
How about "silly?"
How about "sick," like the kids named after fashion designers and alcoholic beverages?
It should come as no surprise that a hiring manager is going to say to himself, "What are the chances that this person whose parents (if he had more than one) were morons will himself turn out to have more than one brain cell active at a time?"
Stevie Wonder at 55 celebrates the birth of his 7th child with his fashion-designer wife, Kal Millard Morris. The name of the newborn son is: Mandla Kadjaly Car Stevland Morris. Mandla means "powerful/defiant" in Zulu and Kadjaly is Swahili for "born from God."
My personal favorite is Tie-ee-sha. (Taisha)
I've seen a lot of names recently that end with "aden", such as: Kaden, Paden, and Jaden. Kinda odd.
My wife swears that she ran across a Creamora several years ago
The thing that bugs me more than anything are the mothers who give these kids names that are badly mangled variations on normal names. Variations that will never be spelled correctly by anyone ever.
Examples I've seen include Darrieel, Donuld, Kennith, Jhames, and Jonuthin.
Like my political science prof used to beat into us - association is NOT causation.
Gee, you go out of your way to dissociate yourself from the broader culture...and then the broader culture discounts your views. Who woulda thunk it?
Hey, Lily!
My wife's motto is a variation on your tagline:
"Veni, vidi, Visa" - "I came, I saw, I charged it!"
A friend of mine was named after his father -- Damailman. Never got anywhere in life. I wonder if this explains it.
Which is easier to spell?
Joe or Kevinisha (I heard that name on a maternity show on Discovery the other night!)
But Creamora is white.
Here is a partial list of names of students I have taught over the years. All of them have quit/dropped out.
Keshemonia, Deshawn, Lashondra, Lashonda, Daquaneshia, Natarian, Dezmon, Kemeshia, Ketreshia (twins)
There are many more, but they quit school for any number of reasons, chief being the fact us mean teachers expected them to do something productive rather than sit and do nothing.
Fess up...what's your first name.....
I like the names that are taken from medical conditions, such as "Chlamydia Jones", or something similar.
So was Damarcus' test score slightly less than Dwayne’s (since they were not identical) and could that explain the less likelihood (albeit slight) that he would be recommended for a gifted program?
Distorting information to advance a cause just pisses me off.
"Like Barack Obama?"
Well, if it had been Tabarackious Obama, things might have turned out differently...
I remember my grandmother, before she retired as a registered nurse in the Akron area, tried her best to persuade one of her female patients not to name her child FECAL.
She saw the word on a medical chart, and liked it.
How about the Atlanta Braves catcher right now, Brayan Pena - he ain't hurtin'.
Or Dwyane Wade?
Names like "Condoleeza"
Worst employee I ever had was named LaKeesha. I stepped up the performance requirements for everyone, and she fled within months of my arrival as her boss.....
When you have so many kids you begin naming them like race horses, it's bound to have a negative effect on the potential educational opportunities of your offspring.
I'm convinced many of these names are picked by tossing Scrabble tiles onto a table.
Has anyone done a study to determine how children with Native-American names do in school?
Speaking of exotic names, check out this link for some laughs: warning, very, very funny but NOT PC.
http://minibytes.mondominishows.com/daddy/main.asp?affil=fan
Google "Who's my Babies Daddys" by Shirley Q
Liquor.
Anfernee Hardaway.
Majestic Mapp.....
Those aren't their real names. Rodney and Roland are.
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