At 5:03:41 PM on Friday, August 21, 2009, andythewiros
wrote:
[...]
> Actually I looked up 'Lakeisha' and 'Lawanda' and found
> out that some of these African-American names are of
> Arabic or Swahili origin. However, many are merely
> rhyming-variants of Arabic or Swahili words, or of names
> of other origin. 'Lakeisha', according to the website, may
> be either of Arabic, Swahili, or rhyming origin (rhyme of
> 'Letitia'/'Leticia' , from Latin 'joy');
<Lakeisha> is most likely derived from <Keisha>, both of
which are modern American coinages; supposed Arabic or
Swahili connections are wishful thinking. (The actual
inspiration for the <La-> and <Le-> names of this type seems
to have been Spanish and French nicknames beginning with a
definite article.)
> 'Lawanda' is listed as of American origin (hence created).
Yes, in the 30s as a variant of <Louanda> and in the 70s as
a <La-> extension of <Wanda>.
(By the way, the overwhelming majority of name sites on the
web are crap. Printed name books, especially baby name
books, are generally just as bad.)
Brian
Very true, but Imani, Aisha, Moesha, Jamila, Amina, Mu'amun, Ali, Omar, etc are rooted in Arabic and these names are very common among my students. Tia, Tiaa, Tiya, Kiya etc. are names of Egyptian queens and princesses and are common.
I point out to my students that Susan, Candace, Monica, Phineas and possibly Mary (if from Egyptian Mery "beloved" rather than Hebrew Maryam "bitter sea") are all African names as well