Correction- I meant to write that pronouncing the name Devon with the "De" rhyming with the word "he" is the old way of pronouncing it. Since the 1990s or so, I've more often heard the name "Devon" pronounced the same as "Davon" (DAY von The "e" having the same vowel sound as "e" in Spanish).

A lot of non-Black teachers have difficulty pronouncing contemporary African American first names. A number of these names are variants of Arabic or traditional African languages such as Swahili, Yoruba, Akan, or Zulu. But many of these names are based on Celtic, Germanic, Spanish and other European languages. In addition, some names are based on Asian syllables such as "Quan"(probably from "Kwan" which means "strong" in Korean and probably has other meanings in other Asian languages.). A fairly common contemporary African American male name is "Quante" (pronounced QUAN-tay). Btw, the "te" suffix has no meaning.

Besides asking the children how they pronounce their name, my suggestion is to remember that

1. Most African American names adhere to what I believe is the mainstream American rule that the emphasis is on the second to the last syllable. For instance, my name is pronounced ah ZEE zee.

and

2. The vowel sounds in many Arabic or traditional African names are the same as or very similar to the vowels in Spanish:
a=ah
e=a
i=e
o=oh
u=oo

**

With that, I'm going to make myself exit this thread and attend to the work I'm suppose to be doing. But I'll be lurking on this thread later.

:o)