I'm not an expert on the subject of African names, but I at least know "all the bearers are actually men, not women" is false. Zola Nombona, Zola Nene, Zola Ndwandwe, and Zola Mafu are some examples I found...when I looked it up, the name Nokuzola (Mndende) came up; perhaps that is a source for it in African usage?
As far as I'm aware, there's no basis for saying Italian culture specifically has impacted American culture more significantly than various African cultures.
Also, since I can see why European Americans with no Italian heritage or knowledge might feel that Italian names are more culturally familiar to them than a Zulu name, I don't see why an African American with no Zulu heritage or knowledge couldn't feel the same way about a Zulu name being more culturally familiar to them than an Italian name.
This message was edited 6/30/2018, 11:57 AM