Study: Exotic Names Don't Make Grade For Black Students

[kranich]

I think a lot of you were sidetracked by the news headline and failled to see some key importnt points.

Important point 1:

"Figlio said boys and girls with exotic names suffer in terms of the quality of attention and instruction they get in the classroom because teachers expect less from children with names that sound like they were given by parents with lower education levels. He said the lower expectations often become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Important point 2:

'Figlio found that poorly educated black women overwhelmingly gave their children names that begin with certain prefixes, such as "lo," "ta" and "qua," and certain suffixes, such as "isha" and "ious."'

These two points explain the connection between exotic names and test scores.

 

[Rochir]

Well, we should be thankful then that a certain member of the Jackson family was not named LaMichael!

 

[BeautyForAshes]

Who would name a child LeRoy?

The CEO of the largest health system in my region (who was a white man in his 50s BTW) was named LeRoy.

Aparently, it didn't stop anyone looking at his resume.

 

[hernyaccent]

I think a lot of you were sidetracked by the news headline and failled to see some key importnt points.

Important point 1:

"Figlio said boys and girls with exotic names suffer in terms of the quality of attention and instruction they get in the classroom because teachers expect less from children with names that sound like they were given by parents with lower education levels. He said the lower expectations often become a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Important point 2:

'Figlio found that poorly educated black women overwhelmingly gave their children names that begin with certain prefixes, such as "lo," "ta" and "qua," and certain suffixes, such as "isha" and "ious."'

These two points explain the connection between exotic names and test scores.

Perhaps we need to erase our prejudice. I know many non-black children with lo,ta and qua.

 

[progressivegal]

The CEO of the largest health system in my region (who was a white man in his 50s BTW) was named LeRoy.

Aparently, it didn't stop anyone looking at his resume.

I went to school with a LeRoy too. He was a nice guy who seemed to do pretty well in school.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

My name is Jasmere. I am black. Therefore it's an exotic black name and I have a 3.86 GPA @ New York University. Study suggest correlation not fact. Perhaps the environment of us black kids with exotic names should be exammed.

I like "Jasmere!" You must have lots of nicknames for that too. ; ) You get called Jazz a lot don't you?

I have read articles that say employers do throw out applications with "weird" names. Not just "black sounding" names, but also Hispanic names or whatever group of names that person may happen to be predjudiced against. It's sad really. : (

 

[Quijote]

what about names from other countries. my name is Ogbonna but its pronounced the way you would read my member name abuna.. no one has ever gotten it right, and i dont blame them. even in nigeria where the name is suppose to be common my cousins didnt recognize it. i looked it up and most africans with that name have it as a last name. i plan on changing my name this year to Isaiah. but im still going to keep Ogbonna as my middle name. my parents were on some kind of return to your roots thing when they named me, because nigeria had just gotten its independence or something. but yeah im going to give my child a normal sounding name. in a society where the exterior matters so much, if you cant beat them join them.

Confession time....

When I taught High school in Houston, I liked to show respect to my students by addressing them by Mr. or Miss. On my first day of school, on my first period class, a had a list of students and one of the names was "Ogechi Ukegbu" (might be mispelled, it's been almost ten years). I did not know if it was a he or a she. Needless to say, from then on I started calling out names first, and then adding a Mr. or Miss on my list BTW, Ogechi is a girl.

Also, the coolest name was of another Nigerian student. His name is Anayagochu (mispelled for sure) Ignatius. He told me his name means "God's servant". I tried convincing my wife to name one of our three boys Anayagochu, but she did not like the name like I did (she's white, I'm Mexican).

cheers

 

[jayem]

Condoleeza Rice has done pretty well for herself.

 

[Quijote]

Once, driving from Dallas to Houston, I stopped at a Whataburger to eat and there was a little league baseball team eating there as well. The names of all the kids were in the back of the jerseys so you could read all their names. One kid had "Sir Michael" on his jersey. I thought it was a cool nickname when his mother began to call out to him, "Sir Michael, Sir Michael, get over here...now!". I sure wish that was not his name.

cheers

 

[Vylo]

It probabbly has to do with the social class the child is born into since that will determine the style of their name.

Yes and also how many generations ago they immigrated into this country, and whether their parents, grandparents, etc. married other immigrants instead of more well-to-do citizens. Those whose parents both have close ties to their ethnic origin, are probably more likely to give them names that are untraditional by american standards.

 

[Fineous_Reese]

who's the Master?

Bruce LeRoy!

if you get grief about your name, use it to help you grow or it'll keep you down.

 

[WalksWithChrist]

Condoleeza Rice has done pretty well for herself.

LOL Good point.

 

[Vylo]

Condoleeza Rice has done pretty well for herself.

Yeah, as I suggested, it's not the name itself, it is the condition that frequent those names.

 

[tollytee]

Who would name a child LeRoy?

Mr. and Mrs. Brown, for one. He was the baddest man in the whole damn town.

 

[Ninja Turtles]

who's the Master?

Bruce LeRoy!

if you get grief about your name, use it to help you grow or it'll keep you down.

Actually Taimak was Bruce Leroy, not Bruce LeRoy.

The Last Dragon is a great 1980's movie, Vanity, Debarge,

Am I the meanest? Sho'nuff!
Am I the prettiest? Sho'nuff!
the baddest, toughest, low down in this town? Sho'nuff!

 

[Fineous_Reese]

Actually Taimak was Bruce Leroy, not Bruce LeRoy.

The Last Dragon is a great 1980's movie, Vanity, Debarge,

Am I the meanest? Sho'nuff!
Am I the prettiest? Sho'nuff!
the baddest, toughest, low down in this town? Sho'nuff!

yep i know, i changed the spelling to stick with the thread

and yes also, it was a great movie.

"Will you show me some moves??!"

more curious trivia for the off topic Taimak fans... he played the lead role in the musical theatre version of the Patrick Swayze movie Road House

 

[Abuna]

Confession time....

When I taught High school in Houston, I liked to show respect to my students by addressing them by Mr. or Miss. On my first day of school, on my first period class, a had a list of students and one of the names was "Ogechi Ukegbu" (might be mispelled, it's been almost ten years). I did not know if it was a he or a she. Needless to say, from then on I started calling out names first, and then adding a Mr. or Miss on my list BTW, Ogechi is a girl.

Also, the coolest name was of another Nigerian student. His name is Anayagochu (mispelled for sure) Ignatius. He told me his name means "God's servant". I tried convincing my wife to name one of our three boys Anayagochu, but she did not like the name like I did (she's white, I'm Mexican).

cheers

Wow you really wanted to name your kid that? how cool. that would of been a conversation starter. a half white/mexican kid with a nigerian name. hahaha. sweeet. but yeah people do prejudice against names when it comes to job apps. theres no way to catch them doing it so whats to make them stop. and yes condelezza has done well for herself. but that one extreme example. give me two more people with exotic names that have that type of precedent and i will stand corrected

 

[flicka]

Who would name a child LeRoy?

That's my dad's middle name!! LOL!

Actually the name was quite popular among Mormons some while back...