Guilty pleasures of yours from another culture?

I like the name [name_f]Shoshanna[/name_f] a lot, but I cannot use it because I am not Jewish.

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Most of the names that I like :sweat_smile: [name_f]My[/name_f] rule for if Iā€™d be comfortable using a name is that it needs to fall under one of these categories:

  1. Either me or my partner is a member of the culture the name is from
  2. Either me or my partner is fluent in the language of that culture
  3. I am currently residing in a country where that name is used
  4. The name is used in many cultures and isnā€™t strictly tied to just one

So for that last point, I would use [name_m]Valentin[/name_m] even though Iā€™m not Romanian, because itā€™s also used in [name_u]French[/name_u], Russian, etc., but I wouldnā€™t use [name_m]Sorin[/name_m], because itā€™s only used in Romania! This means thereā€™s a lot of names that I love but would only ever be guilty pleasures. Some favourites include [name_f]Madlenka[/name_f], [name_f]ErzsĆ©bet[/name_f], Cătălin, VukaÅ”in, Oihana, [name_f]Hedvika[/name_f] and Žofie.

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I would still use [name_m]Sorin[/name_m] even if I am not Romanian because it follows exactly Italian phonetics and it would not feel like too ā€œculturally inappriopateā€ in [name_f]Italy[/name_f], same for [name_f]Bluma[/name_f] for example. But I would not use [name_f]Klementyna[/name_f] for example.

But I would not use [name_f]Shoshanna[/name_f] because it does not follow the Italian phonetics therefore do feels clearly Jewish when I am not.

I would still find it odd myself :sweat_smile: Japanese phonetics and Greek phonetics are often the same, but I would still find it incredibly strange for a non-Japanese Greek child to be named [name_f]Misaki[/name_f], for example. Itā€™s the same line of thinking for me. But I understand that this is an individual and complicated issue and everyone has their own feelings about it!

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I love Japanese names but they are very particular about who can use a Japanese names (which I totally understand!). But they convey so much more in their morphology than [name_f]English[/name_f] does!

Natsumi is so lovely
[name_f]Nanami[/name_f]
[name_f]Midori[/name_f]
Chinatsu

All so lovely!

As for [name_m]Sorin[/name_m], itā€™s also used in several other cultures (although I usually see Soren) so I donā€™t think itā€™s wrong to use it.

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I love [name_f]Runa[/name_f] but Iā€™m not sure if it would be weird to use it in the UK.

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There are so many Jewish and Hebrew names that I just love! [name_f]Zipporah[/name_f], [name_f]Hadassah[/name_f], and [name_f]Zahava[/name_f] to name a few.

[name_f]Yelena[/name_f] is another that immediately comes to mind. Iā€™m not Slavic at all, but I love that name.

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I would use [name_f]Zahava[/name_f] in a heartbeat if I was Jewish. [name_m]Alas[/name_m] I have zero connection to Judaism so it remains a guilty pleasure.

I also really like [name_m]Salvatore[/name_m], which isnā€™t really unusableā€¦ Iā€™m just not Italian at all so it would be a little strange. :joy:

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[name_f]Nadira[/name_f], [name_u]Isra[/name_u], [name_m]Ashwin[/name_m], [name_m]Taha[/name_m], Shankari, Nayyarah, [name_f]Nayelli[/name_f], [name_f]Nazli[/name_f], [name_f]Nasrin[/name_f], Lujayn, [name_f]Aida[/name_f], and [name_f]Nour[/name_f] :slight_smile:

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I donā€™t have many, but Zsofia (Hungarian) and [name_f]Aleksandra[/name_f] (Russian) are some. I like several more Slavic girls names too, mainly [name_f]Inessa[/name_f], [name_f]Veronika[/name_f], Sofiyaā€¦

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ahh, shoshannah is mine as well <3

as well as asha, leilani, aviva, miray, + dalila (with dah-lee-luh)

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I love Devi but I heard it once and the e made an ay sound (It sounded a little like Davey), so there is a small chance that it might confuse people.

Iā€™m also too far from Middle Eastern heritage to use it.

Edit: Fixed a typo.

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[name_u]Akari[/name_u]

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Rivka, Tzipporah, Zahava (Hebrew)
Ilya, Vanya (Russian)
Ptolemy (Greek)

On the flip side, a name I love but wouldnā€™t use because Iā€™m from that culture is Lillemor / Lilimor, since I speak enough Danish that the odd meaning is a bit too glaring to use.

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[name_f]Priya[/name_f] has been a favorite for long time, itā€™s so so pretty but I wouldnā€™t use it unless my partner has a tie to that culture. I love seeing others use it though I think it sounds so lovely!

Others are [name_f]Zoya[/name_f], [name_f]Ginevra[/name_f], Ludmilla/Ludmila, [name_f]Luz[/name_f], [name_f]Soraya[/name_f], [name_f]Yeva[/name_f], [name_m]Oren[/name_m], [name_m]Wilhelm[/name_m] and definitely more that Iā€™m forgetting

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I remember seeing [name_f]Saoirse[/name_f] years ago on a game (a players username) and I was intrigued.

I put it into a translater on the internet (the only way to learn a nameā€™s pn back then as it was before I even knew of nbā€™s existance) and loved the way it sounds. Itā€™s still pretty to this day.

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[name_m]Newton[/name_m]
[name_u]Murphy[/name_u]
[name_f]Nimue[/name_f]
[name_m]Otso[/name_m]
Einari
[name_f]Lilja[/name_f]
[name_m]Krzysztof[/name_m]
Kazimiera
Nadzieja
[name_f]Anastasia[/name_f]
×Ø֓יבְקÖøה (Rivka)
ŠŃ€Ń‚ŠµĢŠ¼ŠøŠ¹ (Artemiy)
Š¤Ń‘Š“Š¾Ń€ (Fyodor)
Š’ŠµŠ½ŠµŃ€Š° (Venera)
Š­Š½Ń…Š½Š°Ń€ (Enkhnar)
ŠŠ°Ń€Š°Š½Ń‚ŃƒŃŠ° (Narantuya)
Eldor
Feruza
ŠŃ€ŃŠµŠ½ (Arsen)
Š—Š°Š¼ŠøрŠ° (Zamira)
ę‚¦å­ (Etsuko)

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