Re: Tyrone
in reply to a message by Orsino
Tyrone and Shaniqua are considered African-American names in the US. I wouldn't use either one. Why? Because I'm not African-American. But why does African-American automatically translate to "ghetto"? Or do you consider Tyrone and Shaniqua "ghetto" WITHIN the African-American naming community? In other words, are there African-American names that you DON'T consider "ghetto"? For instance, there are names that are predominately used by whites that people call "trashy." I'm not coming up with any examples right now, but you know what I mean. Naturally, there are names that predominately used by whites that aren't commonly considered "trashy". Is that what you mean by calling Tyrone and Shaniqua "ghetto"? They are "ghetto" compared to other African-American names that aren't "ghetto"? A serious question, here.
Replies
There is a difference between stereotypically African-American and ghetto. For example, Reginald is often thought of as an African-American name, but it is not ghetto at all. On the other hand, names like Jamar are considered ghetto because in the US, they are almost exclusively used by black people.