I love [name_f]India[/name_f] the country, have always been fascinated by it, it’s history, people and culture. My husband and I have travelled there, fallen in love with it more while there and we both long to return one day.
I am now pregnant with a baby girl, and my husband and I agree (for once!!) on [name_f]India[/name_f] as a name for her. We both love it and since I suggested it, we haven’t even considered any other names. I feel like she is already [name_f]India[/name_f].
But I find I am also second guessing myself… [name_f]Do[/name_f] people of [name_f]Indian[/name_f] heritage find its use offensive? Would it sound pretentious on a middle class white girl? Is its long history of use enough to make it not seem strange or like we are trying to be exotic? Is the fact that the name [name_f]India[/name_f] actually comes from the word for river a saving grace, or am I clutching at straws? [name_m]How[/name_m] is it really any different to any other place name? We are Australian and kids are often called [name_u]Sydney[/name_u], [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f], Tasman, Airlie (a beach), [name_u]Eden[/name_u] (a town here), not to mention names like [name_u]Taj[/name_u], [name_f]Savannah[/name_f], [name_u]Dakota[/name_u], [name_u]Memphis[/name_u], [name_u]Paris[/name_u], [name_f]Florence[/name_f] etc.
I say use it. It’s beautiful and exotic and familiar. You have been there and love it, and your spouse loves it. People use place names all the time, I don’t think it would actually be offensive - some people want to get up in arms about the British colonization of [name_f]India[/name_f] and then weirdos try to make the name of your child into a race issue and freak out about whites vs colour & political correctness… but you are not British - you live in Australia and the brits colonized that too. I think in your case (and in most cases) its really not an issue. If you like it, go for it.
I also say use it. I find it a bit odd to use place names that are of no importance to you, but clearly [name_f]India[/name_f] is very important to you both so it would be perfect. It honestly isn’t different to any other place name, although the majority you mentioned are genuine names ([name_f]Florence[/name_f] being Latin, [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] being a variant of the [name_m]German[/name_m] [name_f]Adelheid[/name_f], [name_u]Eden[/name_u] being Hebrew, [name_f]Savannah[/name_f] being Spanish, [name_u]Dakota[/name_u] being [name_f]Sioux[/name_f] etc.)
@tfzolghadr “Ok, there is the issue of cultural appropriation. Essentially, many people choose the name India because of the exoticness of India. Yet using it is almost using the name, without really having a claim to the culture… and tends to just keep perpetuating the idea of an “exotic” other. Ok, so this is the first argument.”
This and yeah I probably would find it a little pretentious. Thing is westerners sometimes use [name_f]India[/name_f] as their backdrop for personal spiritual exploration in a weird way and aspects of [name_f]Indian[/name_f] culture are often torn from their original meaning as part of some new hipster trend. Naming your non [name_f]Asian[/name_f] child [name_f]India[/name_f] is not equivalent to naming a child [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] since there is [name_f]Aurora[/name_f], [name_u]Colorado[/name_u]. I’m not very good at explaining things but hopefully that made some sense. So, I personally would not use a place name with such history but it’s really up to you and how comfortable you feel using it. If you’re still unsure maybe you could use a name inspired by the topography of the place or something like that.
Personally, I don’t see anything wrong with [name_f]India[/name_f] as a name. As you’ve said, it’s well-established as a name and I’ve heard it quite a bit on girls and women of all ages (it’s reasonably well-used in the UK), and it seems to wear just fine.
I’m not [name_f]Indian[/name_f] so I can’t vouch for how “offensive” it is perceived to be, but I can say that I’ve never heard of any controversy surrounding the name. I’ve heard it enough on enough different people that I don’t find it exotic or particularly pretentious, though it does strike me as a bit of an “upper/middle-class” kind of a name. Professional snob [name_f]Katie[/name_f] Hopkins (who famously bashed geographical names on TV as “working-class”) has an [name_f]India[/name_f], but I also know several nice, normal Indias and Indies who are in no way snobbish or pretentious.
I think if you both love the name, feel a personal connection to it, and already think of your daughter as an [name_f]India[/name_f], then that’s the name you should probably go for. It sounds like you have a gut feeling about it. Try not to worry too much what other people will think - no name pleases everyone and you just have to go with what you love. We did and I’m sure plenty of people think that [name_f]Juno[/name_f] is the epitome of pretentiousness, but she was a [name_f]Juno[/name_f] well before she was born and I can’t imagine any other name which would fit her.
I wanted to add I think Xavier, Elijah and India would be a beautiful sibset.
Also, I have to say being from Canada which has little history of its own and which is SO multicultural I don’t really get the nationalistic outlook people in other countries sometimes seem to have. The attitude I pick up from people sometimes is like “how dare you enjoy/use ______ from _____ culture, that is OURS” and I find that really annoying/don’t understand it at all. In Canada we are generally proud of the way so many backgrounds have come together and regularly mix/use/take aspects from various cultures and adopt those pieces into our multicultural tapestry.
Thanks for your insight. I am not usually a fan of place names either, but I do love this one. If I do end up using it, I hope that people can see that it comes form a genuine love/affection for the country, and not because I’m trying to look cool…
You raise some good points. It’s funny because if someone were to name their child Australia, I wouldn’t necessarily think that was strange. It’s definitely not my taste, but I would just think it was cool that their parents loved my country enough to actually name their child after it.
I see what you mean about possible future negative associations, but it’s the same with all names, whether they are place names or not. There have been plenty of people commit horrendous crimes in the past, and there would be countless people who share their names, and there’s nothing that you can do about that either…
[name_u]Baby[/name_u] naming is fraught with potential dangers, but I guess we can’t help which names we fall in love with!
Thank you, and I love [name_f]Juno[/name_f] by the way!
It’s so hard to try not to ruffle feathers when naming a baby. You know, the funny thing is that my Grandmother, of all people, actually likes the name [name_f]India[/name_f]!! She turned her nose up at both my boys names and she has a tendency to be quite racist (as many older people can be), so it’s kind of ironic!
Thanks, I think it fits well with my boys names too.
Australia is quite similar to [name_f]Canada[/name_f] in many ways, and the multicultural aspect is definitely one that I think would allow for use of the name [name_f]India[/name_f] without too much fuss. People are generally fairly liberal and accepting of borrowing from other cultures.
I’m from Australia, and [name_f]India[/name_f] doesn’t seem like a strange name to me because I’d say it’s not exactly common but it is a familiar name here. I know a few [name_f]India[/name_f]'s. One of the characters on Neighbours had a baby named [name_f]India[/name_f]. I feel like cultural appropriation doesn’t matter as much here, because we are SO multicultural (well, I’ve never encountered it much in my experience, except maybe in regards to the Aboriginal culture). That’s my two cents anyway. I think you can definitely use it
If I were of [name_f]Indian[/name_f] heritage, I would find the given name [name_f]India[/name_f] tasteless and offensive. It does sound pretentious on a middle class white girl. [name_f]Adelaide[/name_f] and [name_u]Sidney[/name_u], unlike [name_f]India[/name_f], were established names in the Western world before they were given to Australia cities so I would not regard them as place names. I do find place names pretentious.
