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Looking for African-American baby names for your newborn or interested in the origins of unique and beautiful African-American names?

African-American Names

Source: FatCamera/Getty Images

African-American Girl Names

African American names have origins in many languages including French, Latin, English and a variety of African languages. For example, many African-American girl names utilize the feminine French, Spanish, and Italian article “La” as their first syllable, like Latisha or LaVern. In this way, families can also choose to pass down a traditionally masculine name to a daughter. A couple with a beloved family member named Shawn may choose to name their daughter Lashawna.

African-American Boy Names

Many African American boy names are also derived from foreign languages and utilize the masculine “Le” or “El” as the first syllable, such as LeBron or Elton. Another trend that shows up as a large percentage of the top African American boy names are Biblical and classical Latin and Greek names. Names like Adrian, Dion or Gabriel are popular and timeless choices.

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Traditional African Names

Some parents choose traditional African names for their children due to their unique, musical qualities and ties to their ancestry. Not only are the traditional African names different and special, they are often derived from an African language and carry meaning. Adamma means “beautiful girl” in Igbo, a language spoken primarily in Nigeria. Tafari is an Amharic boy’s name meaning “inspires awe”. What better way to name your child than to instill in that name your love of them and your wishes for their future?

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Celebrity Names

Many names are inspired by public figures in the world of social justice, politics, entertainment or sports. Martin, Jackie, Malcolm, Maya, Ella, Harriet or Hank are all names that allude to a rich cultural history and just may lend a hand in inspiring the next generation of African Americans to follow in their footsteps.

Original African-American Names

African American names are among some of the most original. Many names make use of hyphens and apostrophes to combine two names into one or add an extra syllable, like D’Angelo or La-Teesha. Unique spelling of traditional (or not-so-traditional) names is another way to stand out in the crowd. Whether that means interesting capitalization, like TruDee or an alternative spelling, like Ryann or Stefany.

There are tons of great resources when considering what to name your newborn or when delving deeper into your own genealogy, but what is most important is that you feel good about the name you choose for yourself.

By Alison Hines

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Top 30 African-American Baby Girl Names In 2010:

Aaliyah/Aliyah

Alexandra

Alexis

Alyssa

Angel

Aniyah

Brianna

Chloe

Destiny

Diamond

Gabrielle

Hailey

Hannah

Imani

Isis

Jada

Jasmine

Jayla

Jordan

Kayla

Kennedy

Kiara

Laila

Madison

Makayla

Nevaeh

Sydney

Taylor

Tiana

Trinity

Top African-American Baby Boy Names In 2010:

Anthony

Brandon

Caleb

Cameron

Christian

Christopher

Daniel

David

Elijah

Ethan

Gabriel

Isaiah

James

Jayden

Jaylen

Jeremiah

Jordan

Joseph

Joshua

Josiah

Justin

Kevin

Malik

Matthew

Michael

Nathan

Tyler

William

Xavier

Zion

List from babycenter.com

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