The POWER Our Names Holds
My name is Jamel McFarlane.
I was named Jamel because my parents saw the names James and Jamal and they liked them both. They wanted to make it unique so they changed it the A to and E to make it Jamel. Having a name like Jamel which means handsome has its challenges and benefits.
When you search for the name Jamel or Jamal it says it is an Arabic masculine given name (Arabic: جمالJamāl/Ǧamāl), meaning "beauty". It is a name used in the Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, Central Asia, the Caucasus, the Balkans, and predominantly Muslim countries in South Asia. Having a first name that is from an Arabic background and being a black guy throws up its challenges. My last name McFarlane is of Scottish origin and that itself throws up interesting conversations. I believe it comes from my ancestors being within the slave trade.
Ancient cultures were concerned with the question of identity. They often asked questions such as “What is your name? Who are your parents? Where are you from?” just like we do.
In fact, the development of our system of names whereby we have multiple names — first name, middle name, and last name — was connected with these foundational questions about family, parents and origins. That is why a person’s names are so important.
Why is it so important to use people’s names? Our names are an incredibly important part of our identity. They carry deep personal, cultural, familial and historical connections. They also give us a sense of who we are and our place in the world. The sound of your name being used typically cuts through all other noise that might be going on around you.
Since birth, you have been conditioned to respond to the sound of your name. Think about it this way: how would you feel if your best friend or family member referred to you by another person’s name? That is why the power of names is so important! This is why are we talking about people’s names?
Your name is something that is important and it can be so easy for someone to pre judge you based on your name. For example, I asked the person next to me on my train journey if you saw the name Tyrone, what might assume? They said that they would assume that he is black/mixed race, that he is a trouble maker, aggressive and in a gang.
Contrastingly, when I asked what they would think if they saw the name Jake, they said they would think he could be a white middle class male, that he could be a cheeky but charming guy, outgoing, a lad's lad, who loves a drink and is a ladies' man.
Crazy huh?
So does having a certain name can put you in a box? Does your name change the way people think you should look?
Let me introduce Artie Ray Hughes. He would like to share his experience as a transgender man:
‘Everyone is given a name when they are born and most feel a connection to their birth name and wouldn’t question ever changing it. However, as a transgender man I always felt disconnected from my birth name. I tried shortening it, but it still didn’t resonate.
Once I began questioning my gender identity, it became clear to me why I felt disconnected to my birth first and middle name. They are stereotypically feminine and popular girls’ names. I knew an important part of my transition would be to change my name to reflect how I see myself. It was important to me that my parents liked the name and I distinctly remember my Dad saying he liked the name Arthur. I thought about ways I could shorten it and chose ‘Artie’. It fit perfectly because ‘Artie’ means courageous. I felt as though coming out as Artie (a queer transgender man) was a courageous thing to do. Nothing makes me happier than hearing people call me Artie. I feel like a kid in a sweet shop!
My time as a student at the University of Chichester was pivotal in my transition journey. I got to meet other students who are in the LGBTQ+ community and met other transgender men. I became good friends with a transgender man called Ray. We spoke about the importance of finding a name that reflects who we are. ‘Ray’ means wise protector, which is exactly what he is to me. Someone who gives sound advice and will always have my back. He is someone I deeply admire, so I chose ‘Ray’ as my middle name to thank him for everything he has done to support me.
My surname ‘Hughes’ is of Welsh and Irish Origin. In Welsh, it means “inspiration” or “fire” and in Irish it means “son of Hugh”. Whilst a very popular surname, I have always loved it because it makes me feel connected to my ancestry and those I love most.
On paper, it seems as though choosing my name was a straightforward process, but it was incredibly difficult. I have heard parents say that choosing their child’s name was a profound thing, and I can somewhat understand why now. Not only was I having to think about what name my parents and I liked, but also one that would be deemed socially acceptable and avoid the wrong kind of assumptions about the kind of guy I am.
This is particularly important in a professional sense. The legal lines are blurred around whether you can judge a potential employee based on their name. I felt I had to choose a name that was unique but not too different that I could lose a potential job based on an employer’s prejudice.
A CV must include your legal name, which for me at this moment in time is my birth name. Writing my birth name on a CV and seeing my birth name on any documentation is a very upsetting and dysphoric experience. It blows my mind that it is such a complex process to legally change a sound you respond to.
Somehow hearing someone call me by my birth name feels worse than seeing it written down. If they don’t know my name is Artie, I feel like I am hiding who I am from that person. If they do know my name is Artie but use my birth name (whether with malicious intent or not) it is an act of disrespect and transphobic.
You may notice that I haven’t mentioned my birth name in this blog and that is because it shouldn’t be used and isn’t relevant in this context. Using my name is the height of respect and tells me you accept who I am.
Changing my name to Artie Ray Hughes has changed my life. I feel a new sense of freedom to explore who I am and be authentically myself.’
Thank you Artie for sharing your story. Artie has had a very different experience to me but he has highlighted the power our names hold.
A study was conducted by Bertrand & Mullainathan (2004) that looked at if individuals named Emily and Greg are more employable than those named Laskisha and Jamal. They randomly assigned these names to high quality and low quality CV’s. The results were shocking.
Ethnic named candidates were 50% less likely to be invited for an interview.
What makes it even worse was that in regards to getting invited to an interview they were spilt into 3 categories: i) high-quality whites; ii) low-quality whites; iii) Blacks.
The study showed that people who have typical ‘Black names’ are less likely to get an interview let alone hired.
Does that mean that when people are having children that they have to think about not naming their child or children with a name that can be considered too ‘black’ because it might affect their job opportunities.
A person is more interested in their name than in all the other names on earth put together. Remember that name and call it easily, and you have paid a subtle and very effective compliment. But forget, misspell, mispronounce or not use it at all – and you have placed yourself at a disadvantage…one of the simplest, most obvious and most important ways of gaining respect is by remembering names and making people feel important – yet how many of us do it?
What we want you to take away from this is that someone’s name is a huge part of their identity, but it doesn’t define who they are.
Be respectful and actively question yourself next time you make prejudgments on someone’s appearance and character based on their name.
Bibliography
Bertrand, Marianne, and Sendhil Mullainathan. "Are Emily and Greg more employable than Lakisha and Jamal? A field experiment on labor market discrimination." American economic review 94.4 (2004): 991-1013.
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