slave name
noun1
A name or surname given to a person held in slavery, or passed down to their descendants.
- They might not know which name to call—my slave name, Marie Laveau, or the unknown African name that should've been mine.1995, Jewell P. Rhodes, Voodoo Dreams: A Novel of Marie Laveau, page 164:
- His point is to let white people know you don't accept your slave name.2019, Patricia San José Rico, Creating Memory and Cultural Identity in African American Trauma Fiction, page 164:
1 more example
- Shipp is my slave name. It's the name of the people who owned my family.2021, Marcellas Reynolds, Supreme Actresses: Iconic Black Women Who Revolutionized Hollywood, page 171:
2
Broadly, Derogatory Any name imposed on one by others rather than chosen by them for themselves (but generally excluding names bestowed by one's parents).
- 'Woman' is my slave name; feminism will give me freedom to seek some other identity altogether.1989, Ann Snitow, “Pages from a Gender Diary”, in Dissent, page 205:
- Muffy was my slave name. It's what all those Columbia math majors called me.1993, George Alec Effinger, Michael D. Resnick, Maureen Birnbaum, Barbarian Swordsperson, page 23:
1 more example
- Call me Namron. You see Norman is my slave name.2012, Susan W. Gray, Marilyn R. Zide, Brooks/Cole Empowerment Series: Psychopathology, page 47:
- Related terms
- deadname, government name