Why Did Obama Change His Name?

Newsweek:

Barry Obama decided that he didn't like his nickname. A few of his friends at Occidental College had already begun to call him Barack (his formal name), and he'd come to prefer that. The way his half sister, Maya, remembers it, Obama returned home at Christmas in 1980, and there he told his mother and grandparents: no more Barry. Obama recalls it slightly differently, but in the same basic time frame. He believes he told his mom he wanted to be called Barack when she visited him in New York the following summer. By both accounts, it seemed that the elder relatives were reluctant to embrace the change. Maya recalls that Obama's maternal grandparents, who had played a big role in raising him, continued long after that to call him by an affectionate nickname, "Bar." "Not just them, but my mom, too," says Obama.

Why did Obama make the conscious decision to take on his formal African name? His father was also Barack, and also Barry: he chose the nickname when he came to America from Kenya on a scholarship in 1959. His was a typical immigrant transition. Just as a Dutch woman named Hanneke might become Johanna, or a German named Matthias becomes Matt, the elder Barack wanted to fit in. America was a melting pot, and it was expected then that you melt--or at least smooth some of your more foreign edges.

Read the whole story: Newsweek

Comments

[Jaxxon]

Here's the link to the "Tuzla Trailer" LOL I do feel sorry for Hillary on occasion.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=It6JN7ALF7Y

[RobynMc]

I just finished reading the article and I thought it was beautiful. I don't think that the title is misleading. I think it speaks to the choice he made for the trajectory that his life took. He chose to become Barack instead of sticking with Barry, who he was known as for most of his life up until then. The choice, to become Barack Obama and not Barry Obama is a critical turning point in his life. It was a subtle transformation that created the Senator & eventual Democratic Nominee we see today.
Thanks Richard Wolffe (& team) for sharing this story.

[rzan]

What was the purpose of this story? Who cares? You must be hard up for some real news.

[markkraft]

"Why Did Obama Change His Name?"

Short answer: he didn't.

Why did Bobby Kennedy start going by Robert the older he got?

... and why are you making a big deal about Barack's name? Could it be that he's black, or that his name is somehow scary to you?!

I swear, if HuffPo weren't bringing attention to this crap, they'd be forced to have stories about the actual issues prominently featured at the top of their news links...

... and if Barack Obama still went by the name Barry, all of the Clinton supporters would be posting about BARACK HUSSEIN OSAMA and how he was trying to fool America into believing he wasn't a potential terrorist.

[joplin]

Exactly my thought when I read this idiotic headline and article. He didn't change his name, he stopped using his nickname.
Shame on Newsweek and the THREE people it took to write this stupidity.

[Teri]

he decided to call himself by his GOD given name, why is this even a story? I was called T for a long time, eventually, people called me Teri, what is the problem? Didn't they call Hillary, Hill? Why not call Bill, William? Newsweek is as bad as the KKK Why is this a story at all? STUPID, RACIST and truly pandering to the racist in American society!

[asnevitt]

Such a misleading headline. He didn't change his name. He requested to be called by his real name. Many of us do as we mature.

This headline smells of purposeful misdirection.

[RButler]

Ahh, ya doesn't has to call me Johnson! You can call me Ray, or you can call me Jay, or you can call me Johnny or you can call me Sonny, or you can call me RayJay, or you can call me RJ... but ya doesn't hafta call me Johnson

[Kalima]

Your point is what, exactly?

What is in your heart is perfectly clear, so why don't I just say it for you, R.Butler doesn't
like black people. There, now it's cleared up for you and you don't have to hide in your
closet anymore.

[PDXTransplant]

RButler - I dont think Kalima understood your comment.

Here is the video you are referring to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qoYsfbq3vMc

[shades3]

Thank you asnevitt.
Many of us have long, sometimes unpronouceable first names that people feel quite entitled to shorten, sometimes without even asking us. I do. Most of my friends do.
For example, if a boy's given name is "Nathanial", people shorten it to "Nate." If a girl's name is "Patricia", people shorten it to "Patsy" or "Pat."
When Scandanavians and Europeans emigrated to North America, quite often they would Anglicize their names, for example, "Johan" became "John", etc.
Obama's first name being shortened by friends and family to "Barry" makes perfect sense.
So does his deciding that as a serious adult he would use his given name.
Nothing to see here. Move along.

[kardwell]

Interesting how the headline insinuates that he "changed" his name , when in fact, he simply returned to using his formal name.

I am sure it was for the same reason after years I tolerated people abbreviating my name, which I never appreciated, and finally as an adult began insisting people call me by my given name.

[HeadScratcher]

Headline is very misleading, for certain.

There are hundreds of thousands of Americans with names changed from the original. How many came through Ellis Island and had their names respelled or shortened to make it easier on those doing the paperwork? (The scene in the Godfather when Andolini was changed to Corleone is a great example of this.)

My whole life people have mispronounced my name - sometimes intentionally. My grandfather came over from eastern europe and everyone (mostly WASPs) started calling him "Duke", because they didn't want to deal with his name. I've got a lot of stories that are similar.

What Obama did was insist on his identity, he embraced it - and I respect and commend him for it.
Americans, my experience has been the WASP community, have always been both fascinated and fearful of people not like them. That which they don't understand, they belittle. There has not been a time in my life that this has not happened - and I'm 58.

So go for it Obama. I'm proud you found yourself.

[jp5472]

Agreed - Here one is drawn in to the article only to find the impact of something in comparison as me using Joseph instead of Joe or Joey as I was called as a child. Now if I had changed my name legally or asked to be addressed by Guiseppe (My name in Italian), sure, if I was running for president, I would expect a question or two. This is certainly not the case here.

[OckhamsElectricRazor]

Yeah, inquring minds want to know... plz cut out this crap!

[Pray4usnow]

What's wrong with his full name?

BARACK HUSSEIN OBAMA

[SayonaraSnot]

Absolutely nothing.

[Deni]

Simple. Barry is a nickname. Barack grew up and started using his given name. In my youth, and to my family still, I'm "Deni." But in my work and professional associations, I'm Denise, my given name. Simple. Hardly worth notice in a newspaper even if he is a presidential candidate. Certainly nothing to make an "issue" over!!! Sheesh.

[wmbear]

YEAH, "BARRY" SOUNDS...

Way too foreign....

[cinemaven]

Ridiculous headline... he didn't change his name at all. Why sensationalize something that almost everyone goes through? When you're a child, it's usually the adults around you who choose what to call you. I know countless Davey and Bobby's who are now David and Robert as do we all.

[PardonMyFrenchFries]

Perfect, his black friends can call him Barack and his white friends can call him Barry or vice versa... Finally we get president who can tell each side what they want to hear.

Anyone sense that Obama may have a hidden radical side to him?

I would rather vote for Jesse Jackson than Obama since atleast he is honest and "upfront" with his beliefs.

[lovethesinner]

Why did Obama start using his given name? (headline alert: Obama didn't change his name, he began "not" using a family nick-name.)

"Barry" is such a western anglo-saxon sounding name, it just doen't fit with Obama, really. It's like "Sidney bin Laden" or "Sheamus Rostropovitch," there's a cultural disconnect that causes one to stumble momentarily, unconsciously. Then there's the obvious association to questionable public figuers like Barry White, Barry Manilow, Barry Goldwater...(practically brand names in America.) His grand-parents probably only did it to make him feel comfortable within their concept of what they found to be "acceptable."

Nicknames are fine for family, they define who that person is within that group. But, eventually people want to define themselves, and claim an "individual" identity. To be known for who you are and what you have made of yourself. Obama was nineteen when he started using his given name. By that time, he probably figured it out that he was okay with the his parents gave him. (Considering where he ended up going from that point, it's clear he judged the situation correctly.)

He chose to be himself, (always a wise decision) and now me and millions of my fellow patriots are chosing him to be our President. Why? Because... we can. (Yes, we can.)

Obama-Webb (Gore, McKaskill, Richardson, Nepolitano) in '08

[rwe]

Globa lWarming became Climate change