Question about African slavery...

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

Now I know most slaves took the last name of their masters, hence the reasoning why most African Americans have european last names...

But what about those who didnt? I mean, i know Malcolm Little changed his last name to 'X' in rebellion to this, but I have a few friends with african last names. My first inquisition was, ok their family may have immigrated to this country, but that's not the case entirely. Their ancestors have been in this country for many generations.

Does anyone know the answer to this? If not all the slaves took the last name of their masters, then what happened? How'd they keep their original last names, if that is the case?

[Hampton]

Slaves would be given simplified versions of their names becuase the master either couldn't say the name, it was considered unchristian, or they wanted to cut that link to Africa off completly. (Roots and Kunta Kinte are an example)

But not everyone got the name of the master. Sometimes the slaves would be known as Johnson's Tom or Carver's George and they would change that around to Tom Johnson or George Carver when they became free. Others were given a last name based on their profession such as Smith and that slave would be the blacksmith. While others got the last name of the master.

The Nation of Islam had the idea or replacing it with an X for the lost last name that did not know.

How people today have African last names and have not come from Africa, they probalyy changed their name, at the time when Roots came out a lot of people were doing what Alex Haley did and trying to finds their ancestors back in Africa and a stong sense of love for Africa came about and that was their way of being closer to it.

But you could always just as them too.