why didn't parents who wanted to avoid originally European names take from actual African names, rather than minting new names
As an immigrant to the US I've been perplexed by this too. In the UK it's not uncommon to meet people with distinctly Black names, but they're clearly of derived from African languages. I people living in the UK and Europe also get more exposure to African names because of geographic proximity to Africa, meaning African politicians, business leaders and so on are mentioned more frequently in current affairs programming than they are in the US.
Things may have changed since I lived in the UK, but I can't recall any analog to the neonymous phenomenon in the US.
As an immigrant to the US I've been perplexed by this too. In the UK it's not uncommon to meet people with distinctly Black names, but they're clearly of derived from African languages. I people living in the UK and Europe also get more exposure to African names because of geographic proximity to Africa, meaning African politicians, business leaders and so on are mentioned more frequently in current affairs programming than they are in the US.
Things may have changed since I lived in the UK, but I can't recall any analog to the neonymous phenomenon in the US.