DISTINCTIVE AFRICAN AMERICAN NAMES: AN EXPERIMENTAL, HISTORICAL, AND LINGUISTIC ANALYSIS OF INNOVATION*

By S. Lieberson, Kelly S. Mikelson. 1995

Subfields: Linguistics, Social Sciences & Humanities

How researchers see this paper

The researchers whose trusted networks rank it highest, strongest advocate first. Every researcher gets a different order.

In Linguistics

1. Hewan Girma
2. Andrea Griffin
3. Bonnie S. O’Neill
4. John L. Cotton

In Social Sciences & Humanities

1. Hewan Girma
2. Eric Michael Smith
3. Adina Williams

Citations in the corpus

• Fitting In or Standing Out: Trends in American Parents' Choices for Children’s Names, 1880–2007 (2010, result): “Mississippi, the U.S. state with the largest percentage of Blacks in its population, showed an even stronger decline in common names, consistent with previous research (e.g., Fryer & Levitt, 2004; Lieberson & Mikelson, 1995).”
• How Black Are Lakisha and Jamal? Racial Perceptions from Names Used in Correspondence Audit Studies (2017, unknown): “Since at least the 1960s, a small percentage of black parents have chosen certain first names for their children at much higher frequencies than white parents, making these names racially distinctive (Fryer and Levitt 2004; Lieberson 2000; Lieberson and Mikelson 1995).”
• Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology Zahra or Zoe, Arjun or Andrew? Bicultural Baby Names Reflect Identity and Pragmatic Concerns (background): “For instance, the increase in the use of African American names by Blacks in the United States after the 1960s is usually interpreted as a voluntary affirmation of a separate and unique Black identity (Fryer & Levitt, 2004), reflecting a desire to go back to one’s roots (Lieberson & Mikelson, 1995).”
• The “name game”: affective and hiring reactions to first names (2008, background): “The names tend to incorporate elements of both African and American culture (Lieberson and Mikelson, 1995)[1].”
• Black Names, Immigrant Names: Navigating Race and Ethnicity Through Personal Names (2019, background): “For instance, Malcolm X, lauded leader of the Black Power movement, changed his name from Malcolm Little and was also known as El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz1 and Ọmọwale (Lieberson & Mikelson, 1995).”
• “Selling the Farm to Buy the Cow” (2012, background): “Figolo hypothesized that teachers have low expectations for a student if (a) they are less likely to refer that student to the school’s gifted program and (b) they are more likely to promote the student to the next grade.”