What are your thoughts on changing family names to be more contemporary? I live in the US and have been doing a lot of family history research. I’d love to honor my (and DH’s) ancestors with a namesake baby, but I worry that their names are “too ethnic.” What do you think about “Americanizing” these:
[name_f]Natosha[/name_f] >> [name_f]Natasha[/name_f]
[name_m]Sebastiano[/name_m] >> [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m]
[name_f]Giuseppina[/name_f] >> [name_f]Josephine[/name_f]
[name_f]Amaliya[/name_f] >> [name_f]Amelia[/name_f]
Savario >> [name_u]Sam[/name_u]
[name_m]Pietro[/name_m] >> [name_m]Peter[/name_m]
Also, are there any other examples you can think of?
I think it’s fine if that’s what you’re more comfortable with and like better -plus it gives a child their own name
I know someone who was [name_f]Annie[/name_f] after an [name_f]Anne[/name_f]
For me, it comes down to the fact that one aspect of my family’s heritage was kind of suppressed/Americanized during my grandma’s generation so they’d fit in better in [name_u]America[/name_u] and continued through the generations to follow. [name_m]Even[/name_m] my grandma’s last name was Americanized, which makes me sad. And while there have been plenty of honor names sprinkled throughout my family, none have honored the Italian side of my family with actual Italian names.
I want to embrace that so at the moment I’m into letting them be in their original forms. However, my Italian side doesn’t really come across and I find a lot of Italian names very ~much~, so I’ve left them in tact in the middle name spot. That way they stay alive but I can call the kids more ‘accessible’ names, for lack of a better term.
(Coincidentally I just switched [name_f]Josephine[/name_f] to [name_f]Giuseppina[/name_f] in my signature.)
I think it’s a good idea. It’s a creative way to honor your family. I think for [name_f]Giuseppina[/name_f] you could use [name_f]Seraphina[/name_f].
I like this idea. You get to honour somebody but your child still has their own name.
My middle name is [name_f]Alyse[/name_f], after my great grandmother [name_f]Alice[/name_f]. I think it’s cool, I get to have a name that is my own while still being connected to someone my mother loved. I am considering a similar idea by using a female name connected to a male name.
I don’t think there is any kind of dishonour is adjusting a name to suit the place or the time or just because you love it.
I don’t really see the connection between the names, other than -ina. They’re different in origin and meaning, plus I think [name_f]Seraphina[/name_f] is just as uncommon as [name_f]Giuseppina[/name_f], no? I know it’s popular on NB, but at least where I live, it’s pretty out there.