William Miller

Professor Raymond

UWRT 1104

19 February 2017

Names

Your name is the first thing that another person will know when you are first meeting that

person. Names are unique to you and/or your family and who you are. Most families value and

take pride in their names and the names of the children who are born into the family. Names can

have different meanings in another language. For example, my dad was going to name my little

brother Prince but instead he went with Amir because that means prince in Arabic. Names

can be the deciding factor in family names being kept alive for generations. Different cultures

have different practices they use when choosing a name for a new inductee into their family.

Throughout society african americans are more known for naming their child something

little more ghetto, as people call it. African Americans have their own unique naming history

and culture. In the days of slavery, a slave owner often renamed his slaves something that was

not generally used by whites;. According to this information, I would say I dont think my

granddads great-granddad was a slave. I say this because my great-granddad told me William

has been the first guy born name for several of generations and William was a name that was

generally used by whites. Most people may not understand it but african americans are into

naming their child something thats unique. These names may not be socially accepted and may

have an affect on their chances of getting a job in the world we live in.
 Native americans have naming practices that are quite different from people of other

backgrounds. An example of this is in the Miwok tribes, there is a custom of using water names,

often chosen by the way the stream flowed when a baby was born. Or in the the Southwest

Hopis have a mystic tradition of placing an ear of corn, representing Mother Earth, close to a

newborn baby. Twenty days after the birth of a baby, corn is rubbed over it's body while the

baby, held to face the rising sun, is named when the first ray of sun hits it's forehead.. Naming

practices for natives vary by tribe but names are often determined by nature, animals, characters,

etc. Because of this natives names has also been found unacceptable in the workplace. I

personally hate the fact that your name has an effect on the type of job you can receive. But,

Native americans have the most unprecedented and unique naming practices out of everybody in

the world.

Some people are big on having their child mean something. Personally, I dont think my

name had any deep family meaning behind it because I am named after my dad. My name is

originated in Germany and it means Resolute protector in German. My name isnt what most

people think of when they think of typical black names. Most of the first borns in my family

are/were juniors. This tactic will help keep the family name alive.
 Works Cited

Cox, Jeanie. Baby Naming Traditions: Baby Naming Traditions From Around the World. Babble.

N.p., 22 Sept. 2014. Web. 19 Feb. 2017.

"Our Evolving Black American Naming Traditions." Psychology Today. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb.

2017.

"Native American Naming Traditions." Native American Naming Traditions. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb.

2017.

"William Name Meaning." William Name Meaning. N.p., n.d. Web. 21 Feb. 2017.