[Verginius Rufus]

A boy named Booker Taliaferro (pronounced "Tolliver") decided to adopt the surname Washington. He wasn't alone in doing that.

In one of the WPA oral histories of ex-slaves, a man who had not had a surname as a slave explained how he chose his. He had always heard the white folks talking about Jeff Davis, so he figured Davis was a good name and picked that.

Some of the freedmen kept their existing surnames (not always that of their most recent owner) but many chose a different surname.

[MotorCityBuck]

Jefferson Davis. Lol.

[SpaceBar]

A boy named Booker Taliaferro (pronounced "Tolliver")...

Interesting. Somebody needs to contact a certain race baiting ex-talk show host in the bay area (KGO), and tell him how to pronounce his last name, since he wears it on his sleeve like a badge of racial honor.