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elaborate names and poorness..?

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joko | 00:42 Mon 23rd Apr 2007 | Body & Soul
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I recently read that a report has found that the poorer an area, the more elaborate and invented the names become.
Parents somehow feel that by making a name up or spelling it oddly makes their child 'special' - they feel that it is the one thing they can give them, and some believe it may help their future.

it is evident in poor areas of america, which names like shaniqua, tinashqua, nesheekita, lateeshqua etc etc

and perhaps in the uk with names like chardonnay, chantelle-marie, etc

odd spellings like Karell, mishell, teena, jewely, etc

what do you think?
do you think this is true - that they do this, perhaps even subconsciously, or is it just an environment/trend thing and they just do it to be like the neighbours etc?
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agree here are some names i think are chavvy

wayne
britney
courtney
donna
lee
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er thanks, not really elaborate or made up though are they?
ow sorry you are correct i thought u meant people from a poor background , im tired
joko....I think when we have children we pick names from the family.....mum/dad.....their middle names etc.....or names just passed down in the family...... I do agree that these youngens are trying to go all out and pick something different......but what they need to remember is that these children have to grow up with these names.....my daughter wanted to call her baby Zoe-lee........I soon put a stop to that..... :)
I don't agree with this at all...it is embarking on a course of research from a very snobbish angle. Why should poor people's creativity be demeaned just because they have not achieved material recognition?
In the UK/US there are plenty of people from affluent areas and from wealthy families have names like Peaches, Pixie, Apple etc...even aristocrats are branching out with more imaginative names.
Many names that are recognised as being middle-class, bourgeois or even upper-class have only been created within the last hundred years...viz the many varients on early 20th century names such as Lily, Liliane etc. Spellings have always been individual to particular families and regions, it is not a new occurence.
The name Wendy is very staid but is quite a recent invention (from Peter Pan) and there are many more examples of invented names which have entered the popular domain.
Shakespeare used to sign his name with a flourish in several different ways and he was hardly poor or a chav, or stupid, or illiterate, or uncreative. I don't really get the point of the whole survey
In some of the poorer areas of America then names are often given in defiance of the westernised 'slave names' which were imposed upon the ancestors, and as such I would say it is an attitude of defiance and strength rather than desperation.
Question Author
the famous have very different reasons for choosing bizarre names. peaches, fifi, moon etc are relatively modern thing used by celebrities.
this is about the poor wanting to give their child a leg up, such as it is.

how did shakespeare spell his name? what other ways?

signing with a flourish is not an issue, it is the spelling and invention.

i can't see your average 17 year old black american thinking about defying slave names when choosing a name like tanishqua for her child....do you really think that is what guides them in their choice?

i am not sure if the report was looking down on anyone, just reporting the instances of unusual name occurrences in the world.

it did mention that the more comfortably off people, tended to choose names like alice, sarah, ann, charlotte, elizabeth etc

(i think it all pllied to boys names too but they weren't as fancy as the females)
2 out of 5 for the females in my family joko..... :)
what has become of me
It is not only famous people in the UK who have given unusual names to their children...many aristocratic, middle-class and working-class people have given unusual names throughout the ages. This is especially true since the 1960s when psychedelia had quite an influence on popular culture. A surprising number of people have changed their names to seem less pretentious.
Shakespeare did not only sign his name with a flourish, he used variants of his name, a fact which is universally acknowledged. Many medieval and renaissance people did the same, here and abroad.
I have worked extensively in American studies, specialising in slavery, and also on diaspora issues, and I can assure you that names are of paramount importance...I have attended name-changing ceremonies for older people who wish to rid themselves of western influence, and also travelled throughout the Caribbean where in some places the same issues of birthname and birthright are always forefront in the people's awareness. Basically you are saying that a 17 year old Black American is too stupid to understand such issues, and that is what I find intirinsically disrespectful in your post. You speak of certain groups as 'they' without even indicating which ones you are speaking about...poor Blacks lumped together with chavs, etc etc and snobbishness pervading throughout. Why don't you do some research (even for simple subjects such as Shakespeare's name) before wasting space? I have been fed up with AB for ages but this is the final piece of stupidity and I am not coming on here EVER again, and that's FACT
red.....are you having an outer body experience......lol
god bez i could do with one lol x
Well.....shhhhh and don't tell anyone else......but last night Trinny and mrk where getting to know each other...as you do.........red what I want to know is.....should I buy a hat :)
well i hope so , i know i could do with seeing someone have a happy romantic encounter , however i do have feelings for mr know all and i hope he will love me in time , i have tried playing hard to get

ie calling him on the hour every hour

bombarding him with love letters,
offering myself on a plate

sorry off topic i know, but me messenger crashed, you;'ll know who, and it was great to say hello x
There are only so many names available, with their variant spellings. Why don't people, couples I suppose, refrain from manufacturing these little rug-rats which have to be named? And if one does happen to be popped out why not use some real names like Archibald, Cynthia, Cyril, Ernest, Montague, Ursula, or even Joko?..:)
curly....catch u with u soon...x......Oh and btw curly is the most loveliest male on AB...... x

tut tut red........treat em mean to keep em keen..... ;-)
stewey i love u where u been all nite ?

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