Abstract

This paper explores the existence of distinctively Black names in the antebellum era. Building on recent research that documents the existence of a national naming pattern for African American males in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries (Cook, Logan, and Parman, Explorations in Economic History 53:64–82, 2014), we analyze three distinct and novel antebellum data sources and uncover three stylized facts. First, the Black names identified by Cook, Logan and Parman using post-Civil War data are common names among Blacks before Emancipation. Second, these same Black names are racially distinctive in the antebellum period. Third, the racial distinctiveness of the names increases from the early 1800s to the time of the Civil War. Taken together, these facts provide support for the claim that Black naming patterns existed in the antebellum era and that racial distinctiveness in naming patterns was an established practice well before Emancipation. These findings further challenge the view that Black names are a product of twentieth century phenomena such as the Civil Rights Movement.

摘要

本文探讨了战前时代独特的黑人名字的存在。建立在最近的研究基础上，该研究记录了 19 世纪末和 20 世纪初非洲裔美国男性的国家命名模式（库克、洛根和帕尔曼，经济史探索）53:64–82, 2014），我们分析了三个不同的和新颖的战前数据源，并发现了三个程式化的事实。首先，库克、洛根和帕曼使用内战后数据确定的黑人名字是解放前黑人的常用名字。其次，这些相同的黑人名字在战前时期具有种族特色。第三，从 1800 年代初到内战时期，名称的种族差异性增加。综上所述，这些事实支持了这样一种说法，即黑人命名模式存在于战前时代，并且命名模式中的种族独特性早在解放之前就已成为一种既定做法。这些发现进一步挑战了黑人名字是民权​​运动等二十世纪现象的产物的观点。