Malik
On this fine evening at Black Ghetto Baby Names I would like to share a name that hearkens back to a previous name we discussed; In Arabic, Malik means king, and, in addition to the African American community, the name is used throughout the world. Today I will focus on its usage in the Middle East, and close with a certain Malik held dear to the community.
In Afghanistan and Pakistan, Malik refers to the penultimate king of the religion shared by those ethnic groups - that is: Allah. The term Malik can also be used to denote the tribal leader or ruling monarch of a tribe or nation. Yemen, Egypt, Iraq, and Libya have all had rulers who bore the title of Malik. Today, several countries are still ruled by a Malik. Bahrainian, Jordanian, Moroccan, and Saudi Arabian citizens are all subject to the authority of their Malik. Given the state of unrest between Israel and most Islamic countries in the Middle East, one fact is quite interesting to note. The Hebrew word melech is a cognate of the Arabic word, and is used to refer to the evil god Moloch who demanded infant sacrifice of his followers. This anecdote demonstrates to us here at Black Ghetto Baby Names the animosity that has grown between those genetically and geographically close peoples.
Another similar word in Hebrew is malak, which means “angel.” The designation Malik is used to refer to human authority, such as subjects to their kings. It is used to describe the ultimate authority of Allah over each of his Muslim followers. One other context in which this name is used is in a military sense. In India, it is used to refer to a high-ranking Muslim army officer who commands ten thousand men and reports directly to his khan.
The name is rarely used as a first name, although it is occasionally adopted as a surname. In fact, one very well-known African American man, Malcolm Little, or Malcolm X, took the name Malik as part of his Islamic surname. His full Islamic name was El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz. An American Muslim minister and one-time spokesman for the nation of Islam, he left the Nation in 1964 and embraced Orthodox Islam, joining the Sunni sect. He was assassinated in 1965 by two members of the Nation of Islam.
It always pains me to think of the gunning down of our people by ourselves. And in the case of Malcolm “El-Hajj Malik El-Shabazz” X, we lost a particularly gifted and moderate voice that could have helped us in the years since. A name like Malik holds the power and energy of Malcolm himself, and, here at Black Ghetto Baby Names, we pray that his memory live on in you. Thank you, and don’t forget to check out our list of popular African American Names to continue our journey into the black nominative.
DeShawn.
Jamaal, Jamal, Jamaul
On this fine evening at Black Ghetto Baby Names I would like to share a quintessential name for the black male: Jamal.
The name Jamal is of Middle Eastern origin. It is widely known to mean “handsome,” which it makes it a popular choice for parents who want to designate their child by a special name. A variation on this origin roots the name in Arabic for “beauty.” Typically, since it is considered to be a boy’s name, parents like the “handsome” designation for their baby boys, although it also means “grace.”
The name has gained popularity among the community and is also popular among Muslims. It consistently ranked among the top one thousand baby names in the United States throughout the 1990s. In the new millennium it has dipped slightly in popularity. In 1968, Jamal entered the list of popular baby names at number 796 for boys. Throughout the 1970s, is hovered in the mid 300 range of names. By the 1980s, Jamal was rising in popularity, clocking in at 236 in 1988. In the 1990s, it continued to stay in the 200s, until 1997 when it dropped to 317. From there it has steadily dropped in popularity. Currently (from the 2006 report), the United States’ Social Security Administration reports the name as being at number 504 on the list of popular names for boys.
Celebrities who share the name include Cosby kid, Malcolm-Jamal Warner. Besides “The Cosby Show,” Warner also starred in “Malcolm and Eddie” with Eddie Griffin and “Listen Up” with Jason Alexander. Neither show rivaled the popularity of “The Cosby Show,” but Warner still remains a working actor (and personally, the author of Black Ghetto Baby Names very much enjoyed Malcom and Eddie). Variations of the name include adding an “h” in various places or spelling it with a “u” after either a. Some spellings even include a second “a,” as in “Jamaal.” Jamal is also interesting because it is also a surname of some families, such as the famed Mumia Abu-Jamal.
Thank you for joining me and Black Ghetto Baby Names in this adventure that wound through the Middle East and out into the diaspora where it resides proudly. And with that young child growing in your womb, I wish all you young mothers precious names and lives for your children. I hope that you will look at my list of popular African American names, as you choose one out for yourself. Have a fine night, all.
DeShawn.
Reginald, Reggie
Today at Black Ghetto Baby Names we will be discussing the name “Reginald”, or Reggie, and its historical use in the African American community and before.
The name Reginald is English in origin and is derived from the word king. Although it is not a commonly used name several well-known African Americans have borne this name.
For example, Reg Weaver is the president of the National Education Association (NEA). He also serves as vice president for Education International, a worldwide organization for educators. He has addressed Congress on many occasions, and has spoken before both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Rainbow Coalition.
Another individual, Reginald Lewis, was the first African American to own a Fortune 500 company. TLC Beatrice was the largest company owned and managed by black persons in the United States. He was a well-known philanthropist, making the largest donation to Harvard Law School ever received by that institution. He was a native of the city of Baltimore, Maryland. The recently opened Reginald F. Lewis Museum of African American History and Culture, located in that city, was named in his honor.
In striking contrast to this well-known charitable businessman is the man named Reginald S. Lewis. This young brother was convicted of stabbing a man and is currently living on Death Row in Pennsylvania. He maintains that he has been illegally detained there since 1983, and has written many powerful and moving dramas, books, and poems. He has been described as the “Poet Laureate of Death Row.”
Black Ghetto Baby Names will now bring you a less controversial example of a brother named Reginald: Reginald Martinez Jackson, the son of a Puerto Rican mother and African American father. Jackson proudly took his place in the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993, after leading both the Oakland As and the New York Yankees to the World Series, and winning with these two clubs a total of 5 World Series rings. He received many awards, including the Babe Ruth Award, the Silver Slugger Award, and the American League MVP award.
Reginald, Reggie, the name is used in our community like salt in a bland soup, and many such individuals stand out from the crowd. These are only a few examples of noteworthy men with this name, the English name for King.
Here at Black Ghetto Baby Names we will continue to bring you reviews of the names of the community. Be sure to check out the list of popular African American names.
Nia
Today at Black Ghetto Baby Names we will discuss the quintessential African American name “Nia”. Whether Nia Long, or the Nia made eyes at me across Northern Parkway in the summers, the name has been with the African American community for a long time.
There are several sources of the name ‘Nia’. The name means ‘purpose’ in Swahili. Meanwhile, on another end of the world, the name was being evolved from Niamh, a character of Irish folk lore. Niamh was the daughter for the sea god, and fell in live with Oison, the poet. Nia also represents one of the seven days of Kwanzaa.
So what will it mean for you to name your beautiful young daughter Nia? The child will be one with PURPOSE. You are admonished to raise her to be higher than the struggles consuming black America. She will be a child of the OCEAN. A strong swimmer, a water polo player, or even a dancer whose fluid movements evoke the sea. She will be a lover of LITERATURE, and will fall in love with the written word. These are the properties of your daughter Nia.
To continue exploring the breadth of African American names, please examine the Black Ghetto Baby Names list of popular black names.
Marquis Tyrone
Dear visitors of Black Ghetto Baby Names. Today we continue our investigation into African American names that have been adopted from the names of European lords, whose descendants were probably slave owners. As promised, today we cover Marquis and Tyrone, two of the most popular African American names among boys. As usual, I will end the post with some of my own thoughts.
Marquis
As a student of language might now, Marquis is a family name from France. As with the flavors of names in the community today, the name Marquis has historically enjoyed many different spellings: “Marques”, “Marquise”, “Marqui”, “Marquess”, but they all referred to the same house. Since before written history of such matters, the family has been rooted in Normandy, the arrondissement of Boulogne-sur-Mer. In any imagining, the name means “Nobleman” or “lord of the borderlands.
The name came to America by means of Canada; in`the 17th century, many French lived in Quebec. However, when some nearby land (Acadia) was granted to the British, the French nationals fled to Louisiana. It is reasonable that there they acquired slaves and started to interface with the African slave population. The name Marquis has traveled an ocean and the long Mississippi to come into frequent parlance here in the United States.
Tyrone
There are very few identifiably African American names as the name Tyrone. Yet would it surprise you to learn that the name Tyrone is not a “Black Ghetto Baby Name”, but actually hails from the lands of an ancient Irish lord? The name directly translates from Gaelic to “From the land of Eoghan”. Now Eoghan is an Irish male name that originated perhaps in the 4th century AD. And the lands of Eoghan likely belonged to an Irish land owner from those times. So next time you meet a Tyrone, make sure he knows that his name dredges the long-ago history of the emerald island.
Today’s post discussed even more popular African American names and their histories that stretch back to Europe. In light of this connection, here in this final hour I would like to point out that all people, black and white, are interconnected and shall always be. May we learn to love each other peace, without war or bloodshed.
DeShawn
If you found this post interesting, I hope you’ll check out our list of popular black names for similar posts on other historically black names.
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