LESSON 2: NICKNAMES MEAN MORE THAN YOU THINK

Names have always been matters of great importance in the culture and history of the peoples of West and Central Africa. They are given at stages in an individual's life, and, as in so many traditional cultures in which magic played an important part of life, the real name given at birth by a particular relative must be kept secret lest it fall into the hands of someone who might use it in working evil magic against the person. Among Africans, moreover, a person's name may change over time. Assuming a new designation or name on the occasion of some striking occurrence in one's life was a generally accepted practice in African history. Names might change, too, when a person passed through one of the rites marking a new stage in his or her development In the Americas, naming practices among the enslaved were African in origin. As Africans did, African Americans changed their names corresponding to major changes in the life of the individual.

Sojourner Truth, the great crusader for black emancipation and the equality of women, was known as Isabella until age 20, when she was freed and left her master's plantation. She had a vision in a dream that told her about her new name and her mission to free her people. And, the modern African-American leader, Malcolm X, was known at various stages of his life as Malcolm Little, Homeboy, Detroit Red, Big Red, Satan, Malcolm, El-hajji, and Mali El Shabazz.

A more direct survivor of African naming-practices is the use of nicknames. Almost every black person in slavery was known by two names: a given name and a name used only within the family circle. Lorenzo Dow Turner found a dual naming system that has survived among the Gullah-speaking African Americans living in the Sea Islands of South Carolina. This system consists of an English (American) name given at birth and a more intimate name used exclusively by the family and community. Turner was surprised that previous scholarship had failed to note this practice or the importance of Africanisms in Gullah nomenclature. Recognizing this dual naming practice among enslaved Africans in the 18th century, slaveholders, in their advertisements of runaways in the South Carolina Gazette, always included both the "proper" (given) names and "country names" (the African names slaves retained).
In African-American naming practices, every child receives a given name at birth and a nickname that generally follows the individual throughout life. Some examples of these nicknames are Jo Jo, June, Tiny Baby, O.K., John-John, Mercy-Mercy, Baby Sister, Sister, "T," Sunny Main, Bo, Boo, Bad Boy, Playboy, and Fats. Among enslaved Africans, this practice was also evident in names used by slaves, such as Pie Ya, Puddin'-tame, Frog, Tennie C., Monkey, Mush, Cooter, John De Baptist, Fat-Man, Preacher, Jack Rabbit, Sixty, AND Pop Corn.

This is an excerpt from "African American Names" by Joseph E. Holloway, Ph.D.
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