[name_f]Pretty[/name_f] sure thereās an entire separate thread for it 
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Iām annoyed that on the Names We Missed Thread people suggest words that they think could maybe work as names but havenāt actually been used as such on any actual people yet.
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This is a hotter version of the same take but Iām also annoyed by asks to include a newly coined name after a singular use. Iām aware that there are many established names that donāt make the extended list (5+ uses a year in the US) every year. But I feel like a name should make that at least once or have at least minimal use in another language/culture or historically to be included on this siteās list.
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I agree a name canāt be owned but neither of these ideas are about ownership.
āAdopt a comboā is for when you lose interest in a combo but not enough to delete it completely. Someone else cherishing it serves as a middle ground between considering it for your child and not thinking about it at all - itās like knowing the combo is off to a good home.
āIs this anyoneās comboā might be about ownership, but to me it reads more as being unsure whether one came up with it on their own or just read it somewhere, half forgot about it and now thinks they came up with it on their own. Itās not about the original creator not wanting someone else to use it, but about the asker wanting to know if theyāve been unintentionally uncreative.
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@kmdharrington Ohmigosh, Beatristan is so so cute?! I actually really like it 
@leafygreens Yes, someone mentioned [name_m]Viator[/name_m]! And even though I know I specifically asked for a masculine version, [name_f]Viatrix[/name_f] is really growing on me haha. Thank you!
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Agree! Though it certainly might depend on how long and unique the combination is. A member recently welcomed the adorable [name_u]Light[/name_u] [name_f]Alifair[/name_f] [name_u]Loveday[/name_u], where each individual name is uncommon enough on its own. Iād find it hard to believe all three would be paired by chance again, though itās certainly a beautiful name.
All of my top name options (ranging from common to debatably unusable) DEFINITELY have and will belong to other children though lol. [name_f]My[/name_f] name certainly was uncommon when I was born ( [name_u]River[/name_u] [name_u]Rain[/name_u] ) but Iām far from the only one! And the internet wasnāt around for options to be āstolenā at that time.
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Beatristan is actually so adorable!! It reminds me of Barristan, a name I love a lot.
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I agree with this. The chance of anyone using the same comboās I used for my children is pretty slim, I know, but if it happened I wouldnāt be offended. I do feel a little protective over their names because they all hold personal significance for me, but that doesnāt mean someone else canāt use them for the same or a completely different reason.
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I donāt even know if this is a Hot Take, just something I wanted to get out there.
Using names from other cultures that you donāt have any relations to. Maybe, your grandparent or spouse, even your spouseās grandparent belonged to that culture, then I suppose itās okay to use names of that particular culture.
This has been a really controversial topic on NB since long. [name_f]My[/name_f] opinion would be too long to write, and I have to get back to things so at the moment I will opt to be neutral. What exactly is cultural appropriation when it comes to names? I really want to know where the Berries draw the line. Is using a Hawaiian name or [name_f]Indian[/name_f] name offensive when you donāt belong to that culture? I would love everyone elseās opinions on this.
Note: I donāt want to hurt anyoneās sentiments. If my words came across as potentially upsetting, Iād like to make it known that this was definitely not my intention and that my apologies are present in such a case. Thank you.
Itās a complicated question. I must be a bad person, but I donāt see it as much of a problem. Personally, it doesnāt bother me in any way when someone uses the name [name_u]Sasha[/name_u], even though it clearly doesnāt belong to English-speaking culture. The exception is names from a foreign religion, which can be taken the wrong way.
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Maybe youād be interested in this topic:
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Definitely a complicated question.
One thing Iām sure of is that it would have to be decided case-to-case. [name_m]General[/name_m] rules like āyou need at least x% blood heritage to use a cultureās namesā arenāt useful for a number of reasons: Itās possible to have 100% blood heritage and still no connection to the culture. [name_u]Or[/name_u] to fully live in that culture with 0% heritage. Many names have traveled the world and were already firmly rooted in several cultures before this question first arose. Others have independently been coined by several cultures. Others again are so associated with one that they almost feel synonymous to that culture/create a strong mental image of it. Some have traditions like only being used for babies born on specific days, symbolize something important (like that cultureās independence), or were not originally given names at all. And so on. There are just so many things that might influence the usability of a foreign name that itās impossible to make rules that fit all names, all cultures, or all situations.
What I think works best is to consider the reasons instead. Why do I want to use this name, why do some say I shouldnāt, why do others say I should? [name_f]Do[/name_f] these reasons make sense to me? There is no right and wrong here either. All we can do is to listen to different arguments and decide if we agree with them, just like, Iām afraid, with most things in life.
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Challenging topic on cultural appropriation of names. For me, if I saw someone name their child Hokulani for example and they had never been to or have no connection to Hawaii/Polynesia it would seem odd to me. There are certain cultural naming practices that happen in many cultures and when an unconnected person is not acknowledging that in their naming thatās when itās problematic for me.
I try to give the benefit of the doubt. While I would love to do a deep dive into someoneās naming practices, its simply just not feasible. I think people should be more aware of names for this reason.
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With the adopting combos thread, when it was first opened I took it more as āhere are some combos that I came up with and really like, still theyāre not quite it for me but they might be for youā rather than asking people if you may adopt a combo.
As far as combos go, I think youāve got to reach a point where you love the names so much that you donāt really care if someone else uses them as well as I find that assures that you actually love the combo rather than any āpraiseā that you might get for it. Still, we all like a bit of attention and Iād be slightly bummed if somebody Iām aware of used the exact same combo as I did (especially as theyāre at least three-name combos); however, thatās a me-problem not a them-problem and Iād never make somebody feel bad about it 
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For cultural appropriation of names, I think it depends on the name. [name_m]Antonio[/name] is a family name for my familyā¦who I am not genetically related to. This may change my level of connection to the culture in a way ā but another poster made a good point about people not always looking like you expect a member of a certain culture to look.
While [name_m]Antonio[/name] is definitely common in the culture it has so many different roots and the meaning isnāt so important that I think any of my (many) cousin or tio [name_m]Tonito[/name]ās would be phased. This holds less true for other cultures, where naming is very culturally relevant and bordering on (or actually literally is) sacred. In those cases I wouldnāt use the name because they hold a level of importance I canāt understand.
A different take: the older I get, the more I realize the popularity of a name shouldnāt ruin it, at least not for me. You can pick whatever name you want, but you canāt predict itās popularity over the course of your childās life, so what should be more important is that you love it and itās wearable. This seems especially relevant now that the older parts of Gen Z are starting families. The more of us that choose names we donāt think are ācommonā, the more common that name gets! [name_u]River[/name] is currently more popular than [name_m]Jonathan[/name] and so on. This doesnāt lower the value of either name to me.
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This may be a spicy take but to me cultural appropriation would be if someone is using names from other cultures as a way to make money, e.g. through books and websites, without contributing anything back to the original culture where those names came from. Similar to [name_f]Isabel[/name_f] Marant and other fashion designers stealing indigenous designs and charging thousands of dollars from them. E.g. someone who is not Native Hawaiian and is completely unaffiliated with Hawaiian culture publishing a book or website about Hawaiian names for profit. Thatās cultural theft. If thereās no money changing hands, then I donāt really see how itās harmful - or at least not as harmful as when thereās a financial incentive. A white American parent using [name_f]Leilani[/name_f], while some people probably disagree with it, isnāt making money from that name.
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I think month/season names should all be considered gender-neutral like nature names. I get thatās not culturally how theyāre perceived right now but itās wild to me to genuinely think of the month of [name_u]June[/name_u] or the month of august and go āthatās a boy monthā or āthatās a girl monthā like itās all just time? I think a big component of this for me is this general idea with āgender-neutralā names where a lot of it is just putting a masculine name on a girl and it never going in the opposite direction. Like I would LOVE to meet a guy named [name_f]Summer[/name_f] or [name_u]Winter[/name_u] or [name_u]June[/name_u].
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agree! august (g) is one of my most favorite names!
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it seems you arenāt the only one, at least on nameberry! i am honestly feeling like a bit of an old lady for still loving august for a boy 
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i love august on a boy as well! thereās no need to feel like an old lady; we all have different styles!
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