A couple of questions about Native American names

General Name Discussion
1

#1… I feel ashamed not to know any beautiful names from Native American culture. What are some that you know of/like?

#2… Would it be considered offensive for someone who doesn’t look Native American (although I have some in me) to use a name from that culture?

[name_f]My[/name_f] children will most likely have dark features, though very pale skinned. (I imagine them to be [name_f]Snow[/name_f] White look-a-likes as I have very fair skin and hair, but my SO is the opposite.) They won’t get my blonde hair, but they might get my pale skin tone. Anyway, I guess what I’m asking is, could I get away with it?

2

Good question. I have a bit of Native American, but I’m obviously Caucasian. I’m never sure how to acknowledge that part of my heritage. For what it’s worth, I think if you pick names from the particular tribe in your ancestry, it should be fine. It’s easier to find such names on other websites, but there are mistakes regarding origins and meanings, so do your research carefully!

3

I think that’s the main thing I’m worrying about, being misinformed. [name_f]My[/name_f] maternal greatx4 grandmother was full Cherokee (and likely my father’s side of the family has some Native American ancestry as well,) and I think it would be nice to honor that bit of my heritage in particular.

4

In your case I’d use a clearly Native American name as a middle if you want to honor your heritage, because I do think people might find it offensive if your children don’t actually look like being (at least partly) Native American.

Unfortunately I don’t know much Native American names either, but I like [name_f]Tallulah[/name_f].

5

Here’s a link that should help: http://www.cherokeeroots.com/

6

You would have to have a great portion of your ancestry be of native american decent. Having a greatx4 grandmother really isn’t enough (many, many white people in america can say the same thing and use this fact to take the bits of culture they find ‘cool’). because you’re primarily caucasian naming your child a NA name would be cultural appropriation.
Sorry. I’m not trying to be mean but I would definitely discourage you from this.

7

Thanks for the link, rkrd!

Yeah, I was thinking that myself, honestly. What if it were a name that could also be multicultural? (If there is one like that.)

8

I am not having children, but am interested in this topic.

Why is it considered by some to be cultural appropriation to use a Native American name but not a name of another culture? Why does one have to be that nationality? Why does one have to be fully that nationality? And who decides what is right and wrong in these issues?

What the US did to the Native Americans is horrific, but to tell someone she cannot use a name from her grandmother’s culture seems to me very wrong. I can’t imagine anyone telling the same woman not to use names from her grandmother’s culture if her ancestor were Japanese or Egyptian or Peruvian.

It also seems like there is a list of nationalities one is not “allowed” to use the names of unless one is fully that culture. And possibly it is not enough to be fully that culture, but one must also look like it, which makes me uncomfortable. People of a culture do not all look alike.

I continue to believe that one way of honoring a culture is to choose names from its history.

I would be very curious to hear which ancestries’ names are off limits and what authority makes it so.

9

@lesliemarion Very good points and thanks for the defense. :slight_smile: However, I know that this is a touchy subject here in the States and njordv’s reaction is probably the same one I would get if I asked a random person on the street. I’m not sure of the exact reason it has to be that way, it just is for a lot of Americans.

10

So I wrote this whole long post about about cultural imperialism, forced assimilation and suppression of Native cultures, and the romanticising and exoticising of cultures… and then my browser crashed. Oh well.

Basically–don’t. As a general rule, unless you grew up within the culture or have lived in it for many years, do not use names from it. Possibly having a distant ancestor who was Native American does not make you Native American. If you have no knowledge or understanding of their cultural traditions, you have no right to borrow from them.

Admiring them and wanting to learn about them, on the other hand? Totally cool. If there are any Native Berries I’d be very interested in hearing about their particular culture’s naming traditions.

11

I’m English and have lived here my whole life. If I follow your rules that leaves me with next to no names that I can actually use.

12

Yeah, but a lot of Western European culture is pretty similar, and the UK has been a bit of a melting pot of different European peoples (like the USA, but to a lesser extent). I’d say for us white English people, our “native” names could be Germanic, Scandinavian, Celtic, Romance (esp. Latin via [name_m]French[/name_m]) or Hebrew (Biblical), considering the history of our nation. Names from all these cultures have been fully naturalised into the English language. If you went into an English school and found a class where the boys were called [name_m]Richard[/name_m], [name_m]Eric[/name_m], [name_u]Owen[/name_u], [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] and [name_m]Adam[/name_m], there wouldn’t be anything to suggest that these weren’t kids from families which had been in [name_f]England[/name_f] for centuries.
If the name doesn’t look foreign, then you clearly aren’t using it for reasons of exoticism so you’re in the clear. If it does look foreign, you might want to think a bit about your motives for using it, whether you have a connection to that culture and if not, why do you like it? Because if you don’t know much about the culture or language, you just think it’s cool or exotic or intriguing, that’s a bit problematic. What does and doesn’t “look foreign” is of course subjective, but I think there would be a general consensus on most names. Since, as far as I know, I’m 100% white English with zero links to [name_f]India[/name_f], I wouldn’t be able to justify called my kid [name_m]Sanjay[/name_m]. It’s a nice name, but I don’t think I would have that right.

13

To be honest I really see Renrose’s point. I absolutely love Greek names, but I have absolutely no cultural connection; it still doesn’t stop me from wanting to use Greek names. Names that are from cultures I am actually a part of (South American, African and British) just don’t appeal to me, and the ones I do like are very popular, e.g. [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and [name_m]Theodore[/name_m]. I think if you really like a name, if it’s for how it sounds, or looks, or you can just imagine your child having that name, then you can use it. I was named because of how my dad saw me when I was born, and to be honest, I don’t exactly ‘suit’ my name, but after knowing someone with a certain name for a while, it will just be their name no matter what their background is.

14

[name_m]Alexander[/name_m] and [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] are both Greek, though? [name_m]Plenty[/name_m] of Greek names have been naturalised into English.

To be honest, though, I don’t think Greek is the same thing, because you don’t have all the post-colonial issues there.

15

I’m really over some people telling other people what they can and cannot name their children.

[name_m]How[/name_m] often on nameberry do you read something like this:

You cannot name your child ____ because it is not PC.
You cannot name your child ____ because it is exotic sounding.
You cannot name your child_____ because it is cultural assimilation.
You cannot name your child ____ because it is not a name.

Etc. etc. etc.

Now, I get that some places have laws against names, like Australia, [name_f]Sonora[/name_f], Mexico, and Iceland, apparently. I am very grateful to live in the United States, one place of many, in which there is naming freedom.

And that means freedom in all its beautiful and ugly guises. [name_u]Freedom[/name_u] to be tasteful or tasteless. [name_u]Freedom[/name_u] to be avant grade or traditional. [name_u]Freedom[/name_u] to choose a name beyond one’s heritage or from one’s heritage.

Heck, it even means freedom to name one’s child a lofty noun, like say, Freedom.

16

A lot of Western European culture is pretty similar?

This is easily the most condescending and hubristic sentence I have ever read.

Racism is racism, even when it is in reverse.

17

I know of little girls named [name_f]Soraya[/name_f] who are not Persian, and boys named [name_m]Joshua[/name_m] who are not [name_m]Christian[/name_m], as long as the name isn’t offensive to anyone (like [name_f]India[/name_f] apparently can be), then I don’t see a problem with it.

[name_f]My[/name_f] sister isn’t Greek but she wants to use the name [name_f]Athena[/name_f], she isn’t fully Irish, but loves [name_u]Rory[/name_u]. I’m not Irish, but I would love to use the name [name_m]Eamonn[/name_m] for my child. Are we being offensive? No. We simply like the look and sound of the names.

I’m English, Scottish, Welsh and [name_m]French[/name_m] - if I stick to those barriers, I can’t use a lot of names that I like. [name_f]Rosamond[/name_f] is Germanic, so that would be eliminated. [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] is Latin, that would be out. [name_m]Patrick[/name_m] is Irish, etc.

In this day in age, wouldn’t it be wrong to assume that someone’s aim when naming their child, was to offend? Wouldn’t it be wrong to say ‘you cannot use that name’ because it doesn’t belong to their culture? To me, it’s a bit racist, saying that a ‘white’ person (which is the word I often see used, the proper term is Caucasian if you want to avoid being racist, just saying) cannot use the name [name_f]Jemima[/name_f] because it COULD be racist, or it COULD offend, simply because the person is fair skinned. It’s basically saying that, unless you have consent from everyone of African descent in the world, you cannot use [name_f]Jemima[/name_f], because your skin is light in colour. Bit backwards if you ask me.

If I like the name [name_f]India[/name_f], I shouldn’t be banned from using it because of the colour of my skin. If a [name_m]Christian[/name_m] family feels as though [name_m]Cohen[/name_m] is the best name for their child, why can’t they use it? If a Muslim family likes the name [name_u]Messiah[/name_u], are you going to outright tell them that they are offensive for naming their son that? I seriously hope not.

I completely understand that some individuals can be offended by names - but in most cases, I think it’s gotten to the point where, it’s fine to acknowledge it, but we need to move on and let by gones be by gones. We’re now in the 21st Century - a place that’s supposed to be free. [name_u]Free[/name_u] to let men marry men, women marry women, coloured people become doctors and lawyers, racism and segregation are supposed to be slowly going out of society (I know they never will, but still), so why are some users on Nameberry still practicing it?

[name_f]Jemima[/name_f] and [name_f]Keziah[/name_f] are biblical names - not slave names. [name_u]Dakota[/name_u] is a place name - not just a Native tribe. [name_f]India[/name_f] is a place name.

Sorry for breaking away from the topic, and I am truly sorry if anyone’s offended, but I felt like that needed to be said.

18

[name_f]My[/name_f] thoughts exactly - I think it’s great to be sensitive, but I think quite a few users are far too OVERsensitive.

19

[name_f]My[/name_f] husband has a great-great grandmother named Neosha, she was Osage. I have a great-great grandmother named [name_f]Minnie[/name_f] who was Cherokee. Neither of us grew up in either of these cultures. I might name a child after one of our great grandmothers, but I would not just pick a Cherokee name or pick an Osage name. I would say that if you want to honor your x4 great-grandmother, use her name.

If you are interested in learning more about the Cherokee culture and making that more a part of your life, I would encourage you to seek that out. [name_u]Read[/name_u] books, join community organizations, go to a Cherokee cultural center or event. If you would be uninterested or uncomfortable doing those things, that is probably a good sign that you shouldn’t seek out a Cherokee name for your son or daughter.

If there is a particular name of Cherokee (or whatever) extraction that you love, I don’t see why you couldn’t use it. That is a different thing to me than specifically searching for a Cherokee name in order to honor or feel connected to an ancestry that you are otherwise completely unconnected to. Does that make sense?

Of course people may use whatever names they wish. Most people just want to be aware of when a name they choose would offend an entire group of people. Most people just naturally do want to offend others.

I would not tell a [name_m]Christian[/name_m] couple that they could not name their son [name_m]Cohen[/name_m], but if some of my fellow Christians asked me what I thought of them naming their son [name_m]Cohen[/name_m], I would explain the controversy with that name. Of course they have the right to name him that anyway, and Jewish people have the right to be offended about that if they want to. Everyone gets to feel their own feelings.

By the way, here is a very good explanation of why there is no such thing as reverse racism: Why there's no such thing as "Reverse Racism"

Please note, I am not endorsing that entire news source because I have not had time to read the whole site, I was just looking for a good explanation about reverse racism so that I wouldn’t have to type it all out here.

20

But… it is pretty similar. No, it’s not exactly the same from country to country, of course there are differences. But the big picture is that there are ton of similarities and a whole lot of stuff we have in common, shared histories and centuries of influence between us. There are so many cultural phenomenons throughout history that affected Western Europe as a whole, as a cultural unit - the Renaissance, the Reformation, the Enlightenment, the rise of Nationalism, the Industrial Revolution, the age of imperialism. Western Europe has tended to do things together, even though these things also have their own distinct history in each country. I don’t think it’s completely ridiculous or racist to say “Western European culture”, like that’s not a thing just because there’s also such a thing as [name_m]French[/name_m] culture as distinct from Spanish culture.

But OK, it’s a hot topic. I’m sure nobody has any intention to be racist. I just think if you’re in a privileged position because of your race or nationality (as I know that I am) you ought to check that privilege before taking something from a people that has been subject to genocide, colonisation, oppression, etc. Not necessarily don’t do it, just stop and think about your motives, and remember that ultimately you’re not the one who can say whether your actions are offensive or not. Of course nobody has the right to not be offended, but it’s just something to think about.