Danielle Remp, the mother of 16 year old 📛Dixie says on her daughter's divisive name that has seemed to divide the internet, “She gets made fun of for it." In a TODAY interview with Danielle and her daughter, she shares she had been the target of taunting: “They call me things like ‘Dixie Dust,’ or ‘Dixie Normous.’” From Tennessee, Danielle said some of her daughter’s classmates have accused her of racism because of the term’s association with the Civil War-era South.
Nameberry's extensive commentary on Dixie: "The name Dixie is of Latin origin meaning "I have spoken; tenth". A sassy, spunky, punchy kind of name, Dixie can also be considered a place name, one that has become problematic because of its association with the antebellum South. The Dixie Chicks recently dropped Dixie from their band name because of its association with slavery and white privilege. The name originated from the ten-dollar bills used in French-speaking New Orleans, which came to be called dixies, or else from the Mason-Dixon line. Dixie, which had been as high as Number 167 in the late 1930s, jumped back onto the popularity list in 2007 and has been on and off the bottom of the Top 1000, though we expect the negative associations to take it out of consideration as a baby name."
A shift manager at Burger King, Danielle is saving up the $200 to cover the legal name change for her daughter. “I said yes no questions asked,” she explains when her daughter asked to change her name. “She’s a good kid. She’s doing great in school, she doesn’t give me trouble. So if changing her name makes her feel better about herself, why would I say no?”
Danielle's message to her daughter's online haters of her original name or the name change greenlight:
Of course the internet has a lot to say about a parent giving a child the word Dixie as a name to begin with to allowing them to then change their name:
- “What no. Teach your child resilience . If you let her change her name what else will she want to change about herself?”
- “I’m Dixie! I got bullied but now I love my name. It’s different and you don’t hear it often. More importantly I’m named after my grandma who helped raise me.”
- "My name is Dixie and I think it’s great that you’ll support her in changing her name! growing up with the name Dixie was really embarrassing for me as a kid for 2 reasons. 1. it’s an extremely common dog name and 2, there’s lots of inappropriate jokes that can be made about the name.”
- "Everyone should get one free name change. Not just at marriage."
☝🏾 I agree 100% with the comment how everyone should be able to change their name once, without question or hiccups because: what if you hate your name or your name gets hate? Like in the above case of the girl formerly known as Dixie.
I think 🤔 Dixie would actually be a cute name (a la 📛Pixie) if not for the unpleasant history behind the name. I love her new name — Skye — it's pretty popular (#480 on the Most Popular Baby Names of 2024 for girls) and plain ol' pretty. The name 📛Skye is not the limit — it's really great former Dixie will soon, legally have the first name she wants, as well as the name her mother originally wanted to name her.
☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Dixie: 👎 OR 💗/ 10
☔📛IRN RATING OF 📛Skye: 👍 OR 💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗/ 10
