Slave name

Slave name refers to a European or English name borne by an African-American or Afro-Caribbean—especially an African-American whose ancestors were enslaved in the U.S.A. and given surnames by their owners.

Many people, like Assata Shakur and Muhammed Ali, and some organizations, like the Nation of Islam, encourage people to abandon their slave names and take Arabic or African names instead. However, this is not universal, and many American blacks keep names of European origin without considering them shameful or distasteful.

In Roman slavery, slaves took the surname of their owner and kept it if they were manumitted.