LaShawn

The hostility towards names deemed "trashy" or "urban" or "African American" on this site is appalling, truly. Why do you all care so much if it's not your name?

I have noticed that African American people from working/lower class backgrounds sometimes add 'La' to the beginning of a more usual name, so Shawn becomes LaShawn. In England a famous reality star who I quite like, who is from a place in inner city London called Bethnal Green (traditionally a white, poor and cockney area but now very south Asian part of London) named her daughter Larose. I wonder if using prefixes Le and La is an aspirational choice? The preposition De is also used frequently with AA names such as DeShawn and DeAndre. My guess is that higher class and better opportunities are associated with the Romance languages. I can see how there might be some sensitivity when judging this name. I definitely prefer Seán to LaShawn.

I don't understand these names. Oh, he's not just Shawn, he's ✨ L a s h a w n ✨.

If you thought DeShaun and DaShaun were bad, I raise you LeShaun and LaShaun. An utterly awful name, do not give this to your child under any circumstances.

Ugly name. Very, very, very, ugly name. It's a mouthful to say.

Everyone here is so rude about the name. My name is Lasean and everyone I know finds it a beautiful name (btw I live in Belgium). I personally find my name also beautiful.

This name doesn't sound masculine or feminine. It's tacky and rubbish.

There are worse names out there besides made up names including names that have prefixes attached to the beginning of them just to make them sound cool and spunky. I can totally see a boy or a girl with this name.

I don’t mind African American names, and Leshawn sounds more like a boy’s name but it can still go both ways. Leshawna is a girl’s name only!

I never thought this was feminine. I thought it was like DeShawn or Lesean.

The ''Shawn'' should rule it out for a girl, but if the name is used on males, it should at least be LEShawn, not LAShawn. So, it doesn't sound logical on either sex.

What a terrible thing to do to "Seán". This name makes me think of a poor, urban black family, and I do not mean it as a compliment. It has no class and shows little hope of aging well.

I agree with ElsieJane, I don’t understand these names either. I’m black, and the things that black people did to beautiful names like Seán/Sean is unforgivable. Shawn is bad enough, but Deshawn, Keshawn, etc are hideous in their own universe.

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Another person said this: “What a terrible thing to do to "Seán". This name makes me think of a poor, urban black family, and I do not mean it as a compliment. It has no class and shows little hope of aging well.” These are my thoughts. It’s a ratchet, poor name and mostly is found in low income, black neighborhoods.

My name is Lashawn and I'm not poor, black or urban. I'm not rich either but our family are well off.

I think she just means it sounds like the parents destroyed a perfectly good name by anglicising it and adding little snippets of other names to it.