my mother wanted to find a name that embraced her pride in being a Black woman, while also honoring her mixed heritage. She knew that her family was descended from Scottish and Irish immigrants (legend had it they were pirates) who had landed in Jamaica and settled there, and in her research, she’d learned that Kerry means “little dark one” in Irish, in reference to the southern areas of Ireland where the landscape and people are rich in darker tones. (Specifically, Kerry was originally Chiarraí; “ciar” means black, or sometimes dark-haired. The “Black Irish” are generally from County Kerry.)
