text: why do so many black people have unusual names? it's a known fact, and it's even noted in the best-seller freakonomics. but if i remember correctly the book doesn't explain why black people tend to name their kids with such uncommon names. latisha, majda, clarisha, ebony, latifa, shannel, oprah, etc... of course, it's not always the case but it's enough to be noted. does anyone know exactly why that is the case? do black people feel the need to differentiate themselves? is it to do with socio-economic facts that by giving them a fancy name they perhaps think themselves as more important somehow? i know that in brazil poor people can often be distinguished from their names, much like black people in the us and uk they tend to name their kids with unusual names. statistically black people are poorer than white - so is this maybe a economic reason rather than a racial one? or do rich and well-educated black people also name their kids this way? if so, why? why be different if all we want is for everyone to be treated as equals? some of those names that you mentioned....have meaning. imani means faith....and ebony means black. i have an afrocentric name....and really a lot of african americans are now researching and looking for names to give their children that they themselves were denied b/c of assimilation...  we really were not meant to have euro centric names so we began to create pseudo african names just so that we(blacks) could have a separate identity...since everything else was pretty much stripped away from us.  there are african american baby naming books that are out now and you won't see the typical christopher or catherine...you may see names like malik and aeysha...their meanings and origins are also listed.  btw...my names means the 'beautiful one' and it is origin is swahili and the region is ethiopian.