#409: Funny Names in Haiti : Simidor adds (fwd)

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From:Karioka9@cs.com

Ajax was a popular hero in the comic book trade (liv cowboy) 30 years ago in 
Haiti.  Young men (age 12 to 25) lived by those books, collected or traded 
them all summer long, and why not, would name their offsprings from them.  In 
my ignorant youth, we made fun of people with Greek and Latin names (Titus, 
Albertus, Demosthenes, etc.) or with peasant names like Asefi (enough girls) 
and Dieudonne (God-given), proud that our French, German, Russian, English 
and Nordic (e.g. my cousin Sven) first names were "the norm."  But children's 
names, everywhere, reflect their parents' worldview.  In this country, whites 
laugh at African-American names like Lakesha, Mutulu or Shaeena, not 
realizing how hard black folks laugh back at names like Dick, Jane, Chuck or 
(Miss) Ann.

P.S.  The Creole verb konnen (to know) is from the French connaitre (to know).

Daniel Simidor