Black Activist/Feminist Names

Hello, readers!

In honor of Black History Month, this installment of Feminist Names will focus on black women who've made great strides in the movement. In Famous First Wave Feminists, I included Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells, two early fighters for suffrage and equality. Let's look at some twentieth-century activists (in no particular order).

bell hooks, 1988, via Wikimedia Commons

Audre Lorde
She described herself best - "black, lesbian, mother, warrior, poet” - and wrote many influential works on racism, sexism, and homophobia. Though she was born Audrey Geraldine Lorde, she dropped the "y" from her first name to achieve "artistic symmetry" with her last. Choosing the Audre spelling would be a great way to honor this icon while maintaining relative ease of pronunciation; though Lorde has also been recorded for girls!

Daisy Bates
A civil rights activist and mentor for the Little Rock Nine, Daisy Bates also worked as a journalist and in political organizations against racism and poverty. While Daisy is currently in the top 200, naming your little one after Bates is far from trendy. Another option is Daisylee (Lee being Bates' middle name), a pretty Southern-sounding pick.

bell hooks
Though she was born Gloria Jean, bell hooks chose to take her pen name from her grandmother, Bell Blair Hooks, but kept it lowercase to separate the two identities. She is known for her focus on intersectionality and postmodern perspective on race, class, and gender. Today, Bella reigns in popularity, but Bell is a beautiful and crisp choice that hasn't ranked since 1915.

Alice Walker
Known for The Color Purple, Alice Walker is a novelist and political activist with a career spanning from the early 1960's to today. Though Alice is another name on the rise, Walker's novel characters may provide further inspiration: Celie, Nettie, and Henrietta. Walker is also a great choice for either gender, fitting in with the surname trend.

Dorothy Height
An advocate for education, literacy, and equality, Dorothy Height also advised political leaders throughout the 1950's and 1960's. She was most recently honored with a postage stamp bearing her likeness in November 2016. Though Dorothy is used more in the UK, it's a classic, attractive name that offers excellent nickname possibilities for girls today - Dot, Dottie, and Thea among them.

Shirley Chisholm
The first African-American woman elected to Congress, Shirley Chisholm was also the first black candidate to run for a major party presidential nomination. Though she retired from Congress in 1982, she was active in education and civil rights promotion until her death in 2005. Shirley may soon return to name charts if the 100-year rule proves true, and it's a friendly and feminine choice.

Fannie Lou Hamer
A leader in the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and a political and social activist, Fannie Lou Hamer also released an influential album of spirituals and civil rights' anthems, called Songs My Mother Taught Me. While the name Fannie has some issues in the English-speaking world, long form Frances or middle name Lou are both underused, stylish options.

Maya Angelou
Born Marguerite Annie Johnson, she was called Maya by her brother ( for "My-a Sister") and it stuck. Maya Angelou is well-known for her poetry and memoirs of a complicated life throughout the civil rights movement and subsequent decades; when she passed away in 2014, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings became the #1 best-selling book on Amazon. Both Maya and Marguerite are gorgeous names, with the latter still outside the top 1000.

Angela Davis
Scholar and radical activist Angela Davis no longer teaches at universities, but her speeches and work on feminism, social issues, and political activism continue to inspire audiences today. Today, her words are especially relevant: "Radical simply means 'grasping things at the root.'" The name Angela is on the decline, but variants Angelina, Angelica, and Angelique are fabulous options.

Florynce Kennedy
Lawyer, civil rights advocate, and feminist Florynce Rae Kennedy championed intersectionality and reproductive rights, and is remembered for her outspokenness and radical protests. Though she was better known as Flo, Florynce may appeal to modern parents who like the "y" trend combined with an elegant English standard.

Coretta Scott King
Though many remember her as the wife of Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King was an author and activist in her own right. She's now referred to as the "First Lady of the Civil Rights Movement," who worked tirelessly for equality and peace for over fifty years. With Cora in fashion, elaborate Coretta could definitely take off as both an honor name and an update of a classic.

Kimberlé Crenshaw
A leader in intersectionality studies and a law professor at UCLA and Columbia, Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw is a current source of inspiration and knowledge for activists and feminists today. Like Audre Lorde, Kimberlé is missing the expected "y" at the end of her name, making it simultaneously more memorable and more likely to be misspelled. Still, she is a fantastic potential namesake!

Here are links to helpful articles about these and other black feminists:
10 Black Feminists/Womanists Everyone Should Know
14 Black Female Activists You Must Know
27 Black Women Activists Everyone Should Know
4 Famous Black Feminists You Never Learned About in School
14 Books That Should Be On Every Black Feminist's Bookshelf

Famous First-Wave Feminists

Hello, readers!

While brainstorming for today's post, I found that today, January 9th, is the birthday of two major feminists - Carrie Chapman Catt of the first wave, and Simone de Beauvoir of the second wave. (It's also Joan Baez's birthday, though she's had a more conflicted relationship with the movement). Though it would be impossible to list every woman who's contributed to the fight for women's rights all over the world, I'll be periodically posting lists on some of the "bigger" names.

Please send me suggestions in the comments! Which feminists, living and dead, inspire you?

Ida B. Wells

I'll be looking at first-wave feminists today; Simone de Beauvoir will be studied in a later post

American Women's Rights Activists

Carrie Chapman Catt

One of the crusaders whose work led to the Nineteenth Amendment, granting women suffrage in the United States, Carrie Chapman Catt also founded the League of Women Voters and the International Alliance of Women. Despite these progressive activities, Catt also appealed to white supremacist notions in her campaigns. The name Carrie, popular in the late nineteenth century and mid-twentieth century, is now relatively rare. 

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Though she didn't live long enough to see suffrage enacted in her lifetime, Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a tireless crusader for the movement. However, she didn't support the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments (granting rights to African-American men, including suffrage) on the grounds that women weren't included in the amendments. The name Elizabeth has long been an established classic, but the name Cady was given attention in 2003 as the main character's name in Mean Girls - a nod to this first-wave feminist, perhaps?

Susan B. Anthony

Like her partner in activism, Stanton, Susan B. Anthony worked long and hard for a movement she wasn't able to see to the end, and held her share of racially-insensitive views. Her legacy today is that of the "incomparable organizer," a true leader of a shifting and divided group of women. While Susan is another prominent women's name throughout English-speaking history, it's a bit dated today - Susanna and Lily are more contemporary options. 

Sojourner Truth (Isabella Baumfree)

Born a slave in New York, Sojourner Truth did not achieve freedom until her early 30's. She was the first black woman to win a case recovering her son from slavery in 1828. In addition to her activism in the abolitionist movement, Truth worked for the women's suffrage movement, becoming famous for her speech "Ain't I a Woman?" Though she herself chose the name Sojourner Truth in 1843, the name has since been used by many parents to honor such a remarkable woman. 

Ida B. Wells

One of the founders of the NAACP and a prominent author and activist, Ida B. Wells had a rich and multi-faceted career. She wrote about lynching as an investigative journalist, organized and marched in suffrage movement activities, and toured as a speaker in Europe. The name Ida, while currently off the top 1000, could move back onto the list with Ada and Isla getting popular. Another possibility - Wells wrote occasionally under the name Iola. 

International Women's Rights Activists

Táhirih (Fatima Baraghani)

An Iranian poet and religious leader, Táhirih ("the Pure One") was educated and outspoken in her beliefs. She is known as the "first woman suffrage martyr" in the Bahai faith, and attended the Conference of Badasht in 1848 (the same year as the Seneca Falls convention), shocking male attendees by unveiling herself and speaking on Islam. Tahirih has been recorded in the United States a handful of times since 1967, and Fatima has long been a popular choice in the Arabic community. 

Fredrika Bremer

A Swedish writer and feminist, Fredrika Bremer inspired countless other women in Sweden to join the fight for equality with the publication of her novel, Hertha. The book prompted legislation that led to legal rights for women, a women's university, and one of the first national women's magazines. While Fredrika may not mesh with modern trends, variants Frida or Frederica may work a bit better. 

Nicoline "Line" Luplau
A cofounder of the major women's suffrage group in Denmark, Line Luplau was also an activist for Socialism and class equality. A sweet, uncommon name in the US, Nicoline may unfortunately be mistaken for "nicotine." Nickname Line (or to use the same pronunciation, Lena) is pretty and timeless.

Haru "Raicho" Hiratsuka
Writer and activist Raicho Hiratsuka accomplished a great number of feats during her lifetime - she founded the first all-women Japanese literary magazine, led and won the fight to allow women in political participation, and championed pacifism during the Korean War. A unisex name in Japan, Haru has been used sporadically in the United States

Katherine "Kate" Sheppard
The most famous suffragette in New Zealand's history, Kate Sheppard's work helped many following suffrage movements across the globe. She was elected the National Council of Women's president in 1894, and continued to write on behalf of women's issues until the end of her life. After years of Caitlin's and Katherine's topping the charts, short and sharp Kate could rise up the ranks.