They were forced to use the last name of their slave owners to enable the slave owners to know what plantation the slave belonged. Causing them to lose track of heritage and ancestry. Whole families were separated.
Where Does African Americans Last Names Come From?
The majority used the last names of the slave owners, others used names of famous people they admired. Later emigrees already had names that were theirs. There were a very few slaves that were able to keep the memory of their heritage and ancestors and used those memories and names once freed. Sadly so much heritage has been completely lost to time. Though this isn't entirely an african american phenomena although with them it was forced. My grandfather, from denmark, purposefully, did not teach my dad about his heritage in an effort to "americanize" him. Luckily I'm only one generation removed so it's not difficult to get a lot of information. The ancestors of slaves aren't so lucky.
Well my last name is Clarke notice the "E" at the end,commonly knowned by the English