Tricks Trainers Trade

another simple idea that John Sleigh uses to add involvement to his training programs

Inclusive names

Gender Neutral

The following names are not gender specific and so are useful for case studies where it is important that sexual stereotyping is avoided:

Pat, Chris, Kerry, Robyn, Frances, Kylie, Sam, Joe, Bernie

The most common first names from other cultures include:

Chinese

According to www.logoi.com the most common Chinese first names and their means are:

1. Wen (culture, writing)
2. Zhi (will, intention; emotions)
3. Yi (cheerful)
4. Ya (elegant)
5. Ming (bright)
6. Hui (smart, wise)
7. Hong (great, wide)

African

According to Behind the name, traditional African given names often reflect the circumstances at the time of birth. Names such as Mwanajuma "Friday", Esi "Sunday", Khamisi "Thursday", and Wekesa "harvest time" refer to the time or day when the child was born. Other names reflect the birth order of the newborn, for example Mosi "first born", Kunto "third born", Nsonowa "seventh born", and Wasswa "first of twins". Some names describe the parents' reaction to the birth (such as Kayode, Gwandoya, Abeni and Monifa) and still others are descriptive of the newborn or of desired characteristics (like Yejide, Dada, Chiumbo and Zuberi). Vocabulary words are also often used as given names. For example: Sefu "sword" and Tau "lion" (masculine) and Marjani "coral" and Ife "love" (feminine).

Feel free to use this in your programs. If you would like to help build up this resource, suggest a trick for John to post.

© Copyright John Sleigh 1996 - 2008, but you may use it in your training programs. All other rights reserved.