By Why Malcolm X Adopted His Last Name “X”
Malcolm X changed his name multiple times before finally adopting Malcolm X. Born Malcolm Little, he dropped his last name, little, and replaced it with X. Malcolm said he adopted the letter “X” to symbolize the loss of his family’s original African name during slavery.
In an interview with O’Connor and Hurlbut in 1963, Malcolm X explained why he adopted X as his last name.
O’Connor: Have you been to court to establish the story?
MALCOLM X: I didn’t have to go to court to be called Murphy or Jones or Smith. Excuse me for answering you this way. If a Chinese person were to say his name was Patrick Murphy you would look at him like he’s insane because Murphy is an Irish name, a European name or the name that has a Caucasian or white Background and a yellow person. Chinese is a yellow man and he has nothing to do or no connection whatsoever with the name Murphy. And if it doesn’t look proper for a person who is yellow or Chinese to be walking around named Murphy or Jones, or Johnson or Bunch or Powell, I think it will be just as improper for a black person or so called Negro in this country.
Malcom X explained that, during slavery the same slave master owned us out his last name on us to denote that we were his properties. So when you see a Negro today who’s named Johnson, if you go back in his history, you will find that he was once his grandfather, or one of his forefathers was owned by a white man who was named Johnson. His name was Bunch, his grandfather was owned by a white man that was named Bunch.
O’Connor: Would you mind telling me what your father’s last make was?
MALCOLM X: My father didn’t know his last name. My father got his last name from his grandfather, and his grandfather got it from his grandfather, who got it from the slave master. The real names of our people were destroyed during slavery.
MALCOM OMOWALE X
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