View Message

NO, but the Italian name Zola has entered into a broader cultural sphere than Italy. I'm sure most European Americans have no idea Zola is an Italian name, and it's cultural familiarity has nothing to do with it's "Europeanness". After all many Europeans have names with a non-European origin (James, John, Moses, Mary etc.). I think you misunderstand the sense of "familiar" in this context. In modern English it is almost never used in the sense "related to a family", rather it simply means "acquainted with". Thus an African American growing up in a European culture, with a school system biased toward European history and culture, rather than African, is going to be more acquainted with an Italian name such as Zola, than a supposedly homographic Zulu name. They may feel that a Zulu name is more relevant to them as African Americans, but that does not make them more aware of a Zulu name. You're correct that Zola is used as a name for both men and women in South Africa, but the fact that in America it is considered only a feminine name indicates an unfamiliarity with the African name, further it is not a Zulu word at all. It turns out it's a Xhosa word meaning "appease". The Zulu word is Xola "to be calm" (both languages belong to the Nguni branch of the Bantu group), and is a phonologically altered form of Phola used particularly by married women in avoidance speach or hlonipha (women who practice hlonipha may not say the names of their father-in-law and other senior male relatives or any words with the same root as their names). What's more Xola is not pronounced Zola as we would in English. So it would seem the Zulu origin is purely folk etymology — an attempt to rationalize an name with unknown origin by matching it with an unrelated word. Might some African Americans have heard of a South African actress named Zola and got the meaning completely wrong? Possibly, but I think it more likely they have heard it in another context. A number of Zolas (both men and women) have been well-known in American culture, but the popularity among African Americans may be due mostly to Zola Taylor of the Platters, but her name apparently was an abbreviation of Zoletta.

This message was edited 6/30/2018, 11:55 PM