Do you know why French names like
Antoine,
Andre and
Monique are more popular among African Americans than White Americans? I've been curious about this for a long time and have never been able to find a definitive answer. I've read that Arabic names became popular among that demographic because of the influence of Black Muslim organisations like Nation of Islam. But why did French names become popular?
I've read several explanations on the internet: one is that it is because of the influence of Creole people, among whom French names are common. Another is that they were introduced by Haitian immigrants. Another one is that they were used as a kind of tribute to the French, supposedly because during WWII Black soldiers were treated better in
France than they were in
America. Do you know which one, if any, is true?