Thanks for that comment, sian.

And may I confess that I've pictured you as a male, thinking that "sian" was probably the same as the Irish name "Sean" which [for some reason] is pronounced the same as Shawn and Shaun and since Sean, Shawn, and Shaun [in the USA anyway] are usually male names that's why I thought you were male.

May I ask how 'Sian' is pronounced?

Btw, I believe these often African American and usually female names LaShaun, La-shauna, Shante, Shantika, Shauna, Shawntiniqe, and LaSean are based on the "Sean", "Shawn", "Shaun" family of usually male names.

The names Deshawn and DeShaun are very popular among African American males. For some reason both are pronounced day-SHAUN and both have the very common nickname Day Day. You would think that these names would be pronounced dee SHAUN, but that is rarely the case. The 'e' is pronounced like the Spanish, Swahili, Yoruba, Arabic 'e', meaning "e' is pronounced like "a".

And then there's "Juan" and other "aun" names for males and females. This name & sound rhymes with 'lawn'. African Americans seemed to have had a preference for the 'on'; 'aun'; 'awm' sound before the influx of Spanish speaking people to some of our communities. For instance, there are alot of Davon's {day VAUGN} which is another Day Day name and a prime example of why one rule for vowel pronunciation doesn't always hold true as according to the rule I gave previously this name should be pronounced dah-VAUGHN}. And there are a number of Black Americans in their 50s and older named "Juanita". But there are an increasing number of African American males who are name Javon, Javote, Javontay, Juantika, Jwan, Juwan, Dejuan, DeJuwan, etc, etc, etc.

Through my website and through presentations, I share with folks my opinion that some of contemporary names are African American created variants of Hebrew names {and Arabic names, and so forth}. And, because they are variants of these names, they can share the same meaning as their 'root' name. For instance I say that all those Javon, Javontay, Juwan, Dejuan names mean the same thing as John {"God is gracious" or "Gracious Gift of God"}.

If these names have positive meanings, and if ascribing those meanings to those names which are usually said to have no meaning it can help someone feel better about him or her self, all to the better.

Best wishes, Sian!

Azizi {who on this website has often been mistaken for a male}