African American Names: Early Day, Place, and Word Names
In Colonial times, as many as twenty percent of enslaved people in the Carolinas bore African names, most notably day names, which relate to the day of the week on which the person was born. The West African day names, often translated to English cognates such as Judy for Juba or Joe for Cudjoe, are:
Sunday
Quasheba; Quashee
Monday
Juba; Cudjoe
Tuesday
Beneba; Cubbenah
Wednesday
Cuba; Quaco
Thursday
Aba; Quao
Friday
Phebe, Phibbi; Cuff, Cuffee
Saturday
Mimba; Quame, Kwame
Names were also chosen that signified months of the year, seasons and holidays. Some of these that have survived on the roles include: Monday, Friday, Christmas, Easter, March, and July.
African American Place Names
Place names, sometimes signifying a site of importance to the enslaver, sometimes relating to one meaningful to the African American parents, were also commonly used. As many as a quarter of enslaved men and boys received a place-name in the mid-1700s. Among those found:
- Aberdeen
- Africa
- Albemarle
- America
- Baltimore
- Barbary
- Boston
- Carolina
- Congo
- Dublin
- Glasgow
- London
- Norfolk
- Richmond
- Williamsburg
- Windsor
- York
African American Word Names
Most avant-garde sounding to our modern ears are the word names used for and by African Americans, signifying everything from the weather to virtues à la the Puritan naming traditions. Their use relates to the African belief in the power of a name to shape personality or influence fate or impart a certain quality – though many are far from uplifting. Some virtue and word names recorded among early African American names are: