Feedback: Names
Friday, September 23, 2005 - 03:19 PM
Subject: too late but my name is pflaum
That's right, P as in Peter, F as in Fred, L as in Larry, A as in Apple, U as in underwater, M and Mary.
And my ancestors have been here since 1848 and never made it any easier to spell.
I was thinking of changing it to Pflaumbaumskivich so when people ask me if I have ever thought of changing my name, I can say I did, it used to just be Pflaum.
-WP
Subject: Top 5 Ethnically Incongruous Sports Names
Vladimir Guerrero
Shaquille O'Neal
Dante Culpepper
Juan Pierre
Jose Offerman
Bonus
Herschel Walker
-DH
Subject: NOAA
As your caller mentioned, finding names that are accessible to multicultural/multilingual audiences is a difficult exercise.
I suggest, as I have friends who are multi-ethnic expecting children, to look at the Nat'l Oceanic and Atmospheric Admin (NOAA) hurricane name list. It is a list that must be easy to say in French, Spanish and English. It is a great resource for naming, if not strange for the chances of naming you child after natural disasters.
-PG
Subject: An African-American Woman Given a Consciously Assimilationist Name
I strongly disagree with your last caller who described African Americans as "neologians." I believe that this is the class-based practice of a subset of the black population. My parents, born in 1933 and 1940, made a conscious effort to distinguish us from other African Americans [who] gave their children "bongo beating names". While I completely disagree with the internalized racism that prompted them to describe more creative naming in this derogatory manner, I think that they were being protective of us in a way with these lackluster names. When I was young, I remember a Jewish teacher saying that my name was good because "they won't know what you are". It took years for this to make sense.
-BG
Leave a Comment
Register for your own account so you can vote on comments, save your favorites, and more. Learn more.
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Email addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. We reserve the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the Comment Guidelines before posting. By leaving a comment, you agree to New York Public Radio's Privacy Policy and Terms Of Use.