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ArchivesRe: "african american"
in reply to a message by Don
They are not implying that all black Americans have those names. The website means that the names are predominantly used by black Americans. You probably won't see a white person using a name like Shaniqua or DeAndre. But you're right that many black people in the United States have normal names.
I do sympathize with what you're saying, though. I'm from Brazil. There aren't many names we'd associate with black people, since black Brazilians generally use the same names as white Brazilians. My girlfriend, an Afro-Brazilian, is named Clara, which is common on white Brazilians too. But there are a lot of names that people in Lusophone countries would associate with Brazilians in general, such as Isamar, Thiago, Ayrton, Dercy, Valdir, and Iracema - names you would never see in Portugal. However, not all Brazilians have names like that. My name is Eugenio, which is a standard Portuguese name. Probably the majority have standard Portuguese names that you would find in Portugal. But some Brazilians do have specifically Brazilian names. Unlike Portugal, we don't have naming laws down here, so we get away with a lot of names that would be considered ridiculous in Portugal.
I do sympathize with what you're saying, though. I'm from Brazil. There aren't many names we'd associate with black people, since black Brazilians generally use the same names as white Brazilians. My girlfriend, an Afro-Brazilian, is named Clara, which is common on white Brazilians too. But there are a lot of names that people in Lusophone countries would associate with Brazilians in general, such as Isamar, Thiago, Ayrton, Dercy, Valdir, and Iracema - names you would never see in Portugal. However, not all Brazilians have names like that. My name is Eugenio, which is a standard Portuguese name. Probably the majority have standard Portuguese names that you would find in Portugal. But some Brazilians do have specifically Brazilian names. Unlike Portugal, we don't have naming laws down here, so we get away with a lot of names that would be considered ridiculous in Portugal.
This message was edited 4/13/2013, 1:17 PM
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