What's the History of Your Family Name?

[Blackstar*]

Is it a slave name or did the family come by it after emancipation <span style="text-decoration: line-through">in 1838</span>?

Does it make any difference to you, such as how you view history, etc.?

<span style="font-size: 8pt">Nuh know if that's the right year - memory gone.</span>

[Stormmey]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

I have never checked out my maiden name, it is a well known jamaican family name Dad was Jamaican. I guess I just took it for granted but must check it out.

[Blackstar*]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

This series focuses on the Beckford family.

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[kia027]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Is it a slave name or did the family come by it after emancipation in 1838?

Does it make any difference to you, such as how you view history, etc.? </div></div>

My fathers side (where my surname came from) started as indentured servants so they were slaves, just not african slaves

[Blackstar*]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

...the obviously Irish surnames, despite the less than obvious features that went with them: the Burkes, the Collins, the Lynches, the Murphys, the Maddens, the Mullings, the Lanigans, and the Walshes. There were the McCarthys, McCormacks, McDermotts, McDonnoughs, McGanns, McLaughlins, and McMorris's. I found the O'Briens, O'Connors, O'Reillys, O'Haras and O'Meallys -- the list is almost endless...

Source


1840 Jamaica Almanac

'ST. ELIZABETH'=
Mullings,

12 Mullings listed on http://www.geni.com/projects/British...Planters/6826; my mom always said her grandad was from St. Elizabeth...

[Blackstar*]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

I was just thinking how &quot;conscious&quot; Jamaicans don't seem to change their names as much as their counterparts in the US, nor do Jcans convert to Islam.

There are a few exceptions like Mutabaruka (and Louis Farrakhan); but then Peter Tosh just shortened his surname while Bob Marley left his name alone. It's like our names don't weigh so heavily on us. Agree or disagree?

[Peasie]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was just thinking how &quot;conscious&quot; Jamaicans don't seem to change their names as much as their counterparts in the US, <span style="font-weight: bold">nor do Jcans convert to Islam</span>. </div></div>
Whoa.

If you are a conscious Jamaican and you choose to change your last name to something more meaningful to the heritage with which you identify, what does that have to do with converting to Islam?

Further more, I believe conscious Jamaicans would convert more to Rastafari or Nyahbingi than to Islam.

[Cultcha]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Peasie</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was just thinking how &quot;conscious&quot; Jamaicans don't seem to change their names as much as their counterparts in the US, <span style="font-weight: bold">nor do Jcans convert to Islam</span>. </div></div>
Whoa.

If you are a conscious Jamaican and you choose to change your last name to something more meaningful to the heritage with which you identify, what does that have to do with converting to Islam?

Further more, I believe conscious Jamaicans would convert more to Rastafari or Nyahbingi than to Islam. </div></div>

Muslims enslaved Africans far longer than the North Atlantic slave trade went on, so yes, I can't imagine why anyone of African ancestry would gravitate to either Islam or Christianity.

JMHO.

[Blackstar*]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Peasie</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was just thinking how &quot;conscious&quot; Jamaicans don't seem to change their names as much as their counterparts in the US, <span style="font-weight: bold">nor do Jcans convert to Islam</span>. </div></div>
Whoa.

If you are a conscious Jamaican and you choose to change your last name to something more meaningful to the heritage with which you identify, what does that have to do with converting to Islam?

Further more, I believe conscious Jamaicans would convert more to Rastafari or Nyahbingi than to Islam. </div></div>I agree with you Peasie. However, in the States, Malcolm X, Muhammed Ali, and most recently Mos Def converted to Islam. In converting, they make a big deal about getting rid of their &quot;slave name&quot; (not just taking on an Arabic name). When Jcans convert to Rastafari, they don't necessarily change name.

[Blackstar*]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

Peasie &amp; Milo, you didn't answer the question about the history of your respective family names!

[St_Bess]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">...the obviously Irish surnames, despite the less than obvious features that went with them: the Burkes, the Collins, the Lynches, the Murphys, the Maddens, the Mullings, the Lanigans, and the Walshes. There were the McCarthys, McCormacks, McDermotts, McDonnoughs, McGanns, McLaughlins, and McMorris's. I found the O'Briens, O'Connors, O'Reillys, O'Haras and O'Meallys -- the list is almost endless...

Source


1840 Jamaica Almanac

'ST. ELIZABETH'=
Mullings,

<span style="font-weight: bold">12 Mullings listed on http://www.geni.com/projects/British...Planters/6826; my mom always said her grandad was from St. Elizabeth.</span>.. </div></div>

Mullings from St. Elizabeth - they even have a Coat of Arms (LOL). Had one lady who claimed that she was white but her father who came to the US from St. Elizabeth was &quot;light skinned&quot;. She even visited my Uncle in Vancouver to get his side of the family history. I asked my Uncle what she looked like - he said she looked like me or his mother but on the surface looked white (LOL). My Uncle is black (not high yellow/browning). Aye sah......

[Cultcha]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

My family name came from a Sottish immigrant to Jamaica who helped to work on the establishment and development of the Botanical Gardens (later named Hope Gardens).

[kia027]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Peasie</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was just thinking how &quot;conscious&quot; Jamaicans don't seem to change their names as much as their counterparts in the US, <span style="font-weight: bold">nor do Jcans convert to Islam</span>. </div></div>
Whoa.

If you are a conscious Jamaican and you choose to change your last name to something more meaningful to the heritage with which you identify, what does that have to do with converting to Islam?

Further more, I believe conscious Jamaicans would convert more to Rastafari or Nyahbingi than to Islam. </div></div>I agree with you Peasie. However, in the States, Malcolm X, Muhammed Ali, and most recently Mos Def converted to Islam. In converting, they make a big deal about getting rid of their &quot;slave name&quot; (not just taking on an Arabic name). When Jcans convert to Rastafari, they don't necessarily change name. </div></div>

Could it be that they chose an arabic name to identify with Islam more than getting rid of their slave name

I also think that Jamaicans growing up in a mostly black society have less ties with a name than their beliefs

[Gen]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

more like comparing/contrasting Jamaicans with AA.

in <span style="text-decoration: underline">general</span> when AA change them name is usually upon converting to islam, although a few will change to African names (mi nuh have stats pan this)

whereas in JA, if the name is changed, is usually to a name with african origin

my cousin born in JA, came to the US as a child, and in her teens went searching for her self and decided to convert to Islam and of course change name

<span style="font-style: italic">disclaimer: to the few who a guh come in yah with blah blah yes mi know some countries pan the continent have muslims and hawse dead and cow fat rae rae guh suddung oneside </span>

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Peasie</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BlackStar</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I was just thinking how &quot;conscious&quot; Jamaicans don't seem to change their names as much as their counterparts in the US, <span style="font-weight: bold">nor do Jcans convert to Islam</span>. </div></div>
Whoa.

If you are a conscious Jamaican and you choose to change your last name to something more meaningful to the heritage with which you identify, <span style="font-weight: bold">what does that have to do with converting to Islam</span>?

Further more, I believe conscious Jamaicans would convert more to Rastafari or Nyahbingi than to Islam. </div></div>

[Blackstar*]

Re: What's the History of Your Family Name?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Gen</div><div class="ubbcode-body">more like comparing/contrasting Jamaicans with AA. </div></div>Exactly! Thanks, Gen.

Just wondering how Jamaicans' relationship to our ancestry differs from AA. Frequent references to &quot;slave names&quot; and changing names w/ or w/o conversion to Islam by AA seems to be a manifestation of the difference. What is the difference though?

I just found this bit on Wikipedia that kind of sums up my observations. Jamaican Americans are mentioned in this excerpt and other Caribbeans in the main article, but not &quot;Jamaican Jamaicans&quot;. I find it intriguing that Jamaicans who are fairly conscious for the most part do not appear to be too concerned about &quot;slave names&quot;.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><span style="font-size: 11pt"><span style="font-family: 'Arial Black'">African Americans</span></span>

Prior to the ratification of the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, the vast majority of African-Americans in the United States were enslaved. During enslavement, slaves' names were assigned by their owners. Others received a name based on what kind of work they were forced to do.

After emancipation, many freedmen and women took the surnames of their former owners as their own. Some blacks in the U.S. took on the surname Freeman, while others adopted the names of popular historical or contemporary figures of social importance, such as former presidents Washington, Jefferson, and Jackson.

A number of African-Americans and Jamaican Americans* have changed their names out of the belief that the names they were given at birth were &quot;slave names.&quot; An individual's name change often coincides with a religious conversion (Muhammad Ali changed his name from Cassius Clay and Louis Farrakhan changed his from Louis Eugene Walcott, for example) or involvement with the black nationalist movement (e.g., Amiri Baraka and Assata Shakur).

Some organizations encourage African-Americans to abandon their &quot;slave names.&quot; The Nation of Islam is perhaps the best-known of them. In his book, Message to the Blackman in America, Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad writes often of &quot;slave names.&quot; Some of his comments include:

&quot;You must remember that slave-names will keep you a slave in the eyes of the civilized world today. You have seen, and recently, that Africa and Asia will not honor you or give you any respect as long as you are called by the white man’s name.&quot;

&quot;You are still called by your slave-masters' names. By rights, by international rights, you belong to the white man of America. He knows that. You have never gotten out of the shackles of slavery. You are still in them.&quot;

Other organizations, such as the Black Nationalist US Organization, also advocate for African-Americans to change their &quot;slave names.&quot;

Source

<span style="font-size: 8pt"><span style="font-style: italic">*The only Jamaican-American given as an example is Louis Farrakhan.</span>[</span></div></div>