There's the trendy, aspirational name that seems modern and unique to the namer but is soon deemed "trashy" by society at large, and then there's the tradition of naming a child after an elder,
That sounds similar to what my friend was talking about. Her theory was that US pop culture in general draws heavily on African American culture, but that naming (which seems very pop-culture-ish at first glance) is one area where whites draw strong lines between themselves and blacks. (Obviously, there are other things going on with other racial and ethnic groups that affect this dynamic, too.) So instead of drawing on black creativity, whites denigrate black naming patterns without transforming them into something more "mainstream
But I say just wait. In 150 years, Destiny and McKayla, and yes, even Robyn-with-a-y (or with a y-n-n-e) will be venerable great-grandmother names too.
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That sounds similar to what my friend was talking about. Her theory was that US pop culture in general draws heavily on African American culture, but that naming (which seems very pop-culture-ish at first glance) is one area where whites draw strong lines between themselves and blacks. (Obviously, there are other things going on with other racial and ethnic groups that affect this dynamic, too.) So instead of drawing on black creativity, whites denigrate black naming patterns without transforming them into something more "mainstream
But I say just wait. In 150 years, Destiny and McKayla, and yes, even Robyn-with-a-y (or with a y-n-n-e) will be venerable great-grandmother names too.
:) M.