[marcav]

I'm in the process of adopting an AA baby boy from fc. His birth mom named him a common Islamic name which I am considering using as his middle name for 2 reasons: One is because of possible racism based on assumptions about his name (e.g. job applications, no-fly lists, etc.), and also because I don't particularly care for it. I wanted him to keep the name though out of respect for his birth heritage.

Now the problem is that I like the name Malik which is also Islamic and would linguistically fit with his current name as a middle name. I just didn't think that it is as well known, and would get him off the hook for reason number 1. So yesterday I had a discussion about this with his AA day care provider who told me that Malik is just as common as his other name, and if it is my intention to spare him from covert racism, I shouldn't name him that either. I like the name, but want to protect him. What do people think?