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Archiver > CARIBBEAN > 2003-03 > 1047861883


From: (cecilia)
Subject: Re: Slave naming in Barbados
Date: Mon, 17 Mar 2003 00:44:43 GMT
References: <000001c2ebba$27902e00$da7a4e51@tinykncwubxl> <000001c2ebf8$553022f0$db29fea9@ibmw772yq25xnb>


Ernest M. Wiltshire wrote:

>I highly recommend the scholarly article on slave naming practices by
>Jerome Handler & Jo-Ann Jacoby .... they
>treat specifically of Barbados, they do compare naming practices in
>other colonies and they also detail (West) African naming practices.

"The Black Family in Slavery and Freedom, 1750-1925" by Herbert G
Gutman, published 1976, dealing with the USA, has a chapter that
discusses naming practices among slaves and their families (in the
USA), and gives a similar mix of reasons for choice of a particular
surname (information gathered from interviews with ex-slaves and their
families). It also points out that a slave's surname might be that
of the owner, but only because the slave's ancestor had been owned by
the owner's ancestor, and both families had continued to use the name
of father or grandfather.

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