Basically, I’m non-binary and I have been thinking about going by Cian/Kian (haven’t decided on the spelling but leaning towards [name_m]Kian[/name_m] because I live in the US so it’s an easier pronunciation). I was talking to a friend about this and she was saying how it’d be cultural appropriation because I have no connection to the culture. Which she’s right, I know absolutely nothing about [name_u]Irish[/name_u] culture but I thought it’d be ok because there are plenty of names from different cultures that people use (my deadname is a Hebrew name and I’m not Jewish) and because I am partially [name_u]Irish[/name_u]. [name_f]My[/name_f] dad is like 50% [name_u]Irish[/name_u] and idk about my mom but she has said that she’s somewhat [name_u]Irish[/name_u] as well. I don’t want to give myself a name that other people would find offensive or anything so I just need to know if it is so I can move on to a different name. Thanks!
Hmm, I think [name_m]Kian[/name_m] might be fine - it feels like one that has become fairly well used outside of [name_u]Ireland[/name_u] - but perhaps someone fully Irish/in [name_u]Ireland[/name_u] could be more helpful
I doubt the [name_u]Irish[/name_u] would mind very much. But if you’re looking for a gender neutral name, [name_m]Cian[/name_m] isn’t the right bet.
I don’t think so. [name_m]Kian[/name_m] is widely used outside of [name_u]Ireland[/name_u] so it doesn’t seem out of place. K also isn’t in the Gaeilge alphabet which distances it even more. Names like [name_u]Fionn[/name_u] or [name_m]Oisin[/name_m] I’d say wouldn’t really be appropriate.
I will say I’m not [name_u]Irish[/name_u], I’m [name_f]English[/name_f].
Eeeee….
I mean… I have a [name_m]German[/name_m] first name and a [name_u]French[/name_u] middle, and I’m not from these countries. I honestly think that this is not a problem.
It’s not an issue in my opinion. 
I think you’re fine, especially because you do have [name_u]Irish[/name_u] heritage.
I think it’s definitely fine, it’s already a popular name outside of [name_u]Ireland[/name_u], and on top of that you do have a connection to the country through your own heritage, even if you don’t know much about it yourself, that doesn’t make you less [name_u]Irish[/name_u]. Though I agree it’s not exactly a very neutral name to me, I do like it though
I’m not [name_u]Irish[/name_u] myself, but I’d think it would be okay given you do have [name_u]Irish[/name_u] heritage? I’ve considered [name_u]Irish[/name_u] names for my own children, and honestly they’re probably only an eighth [name_u]Irish[/name_u] at most, with [name_u]Irish[/name_u] ancestors having not actually lived in [name_u]Ireland[/name_u] since 1890 or so!
But even if they’re not culturally [name_u]Irish[/name_u], it’s still a part of their heritage - one of the many threads - and maintaining a bit of the [name_u]Irish[/name_u] [name_m]Roman[/name_m] Catholic culture, only marrying other [name_u]Irish[/name_u] Romsn Catholics, seemed to stay on that side of the family until quite recently. So other family also have [name_u]Irish[/name_u] kinda names.
Being in the melting pot of the US, I think it would be totally fine! I feel like most people here don’t know what names are from which country anyway.
Maybe if [name_m]Kian[/name_m] was a culturally significant name for the [name_u]Irish[/name_u] (which I guess I don’t know if it is), it could be cultural appropriation. But since it’s just an [name_u]Irish[/name_u] name, I don’t see how it can be cultural appropriation.
It is totally fine. But Cian isn’t gender neutral, if you were searching for a gender neutral name.
Qian/Chien (pronounced chien), by the other side, is a gender neutral name but pronounced on different emphasis in based of the meanings and the gender leaning. It is a Chinese name though, so I am not sure if you want to use it.
Below are some ideas:
Sam
Robin
Alex
Sasha // Sacha
Charlie
Sol
Vanya // Vanja
These names are commonly gender neutral in many countries.
As someone who has [name_u]Irish[/name_u] family members, and has lived in [name_u]Ireland[/name_u] - [name_m]Cian[/name_m] is a masculine name in [name_u]Ireland[/name_u]. It’s not gender-neutral. And insisting that it is may offend.
That said, most [name_u]Irish[/name_u] people don’t care about the idea of people of other nationalities using [name_u]Irish[/name_u] names.
I’m always kinda bothered by the argument that you can’t use a name from an ethnic group you have an genetic link to if you don’t feel any connection to the culture, because a lot of times the reason people have no ties to said culture is because their immigrant ancestors felt social pressure to suppress their cultural identity, often because of racism and xenophobia. So the idea that you can no longer truly be part of that ethnicity, which is what this argument seems to imply, just doesn’t sit right with me, and I think it’s ironic that most people who believe this think they’re being progressive and culturally sensitive when in my opinion it’s quite the opposite.
All that being said, I am not [name_u]Irish[/name_u] so it’s not really my place to comment on the implications of that name specifically.
(Sorry to go off, I don’t usually post things like this but I felt it was a part of the conversation that should probably be brought up)
@AveryExtraterrestria I did bring up that argument in a previous convo so I’ll say that to me, feeling removed from a part your ancestry because of assimilation IS in itself a link to the culture. It is something you feel in relation to a culture that was stolen from you. Wanting to renew with that culture is a perfectly valid sentiment.
It is different from feeling like you have to choose a name from a culture you wouldn’t even have known you had ties to if not for a DNA test, over a name you love, because of an ancestry you have no feelings towards or history with, apart from, your ancestors abandoned their old ways to create a new group with its own culture.
Not all cultures have the same position, to some genetic heritage is important, to others, cultural heritage is more important.
That’s a very American view and many people in Europe, including Ireland, would disagree with that sentiment.
However, that doesn’t make Kian any less usable.
Fair enough, I am going by my perspective as an American and the percentages that they gave, them being at minimum 1/4 Irish, had it been like 10% Irish my opinion would be different
this is a correct statement but the fact that Europeans would see it differently doesn’t make the American view any less valid. my ancestors who moved to the US most recently did so over 100 years ago. they died before even my dad was born. they came from Poland and the only connection I have to Poland is that I call my grandma on that side Babci. cultural appropriation is fuzzy when it comes to names and it only gets fuzzier when it comes to white Americans and European names.
I won’t derail this discussion beyond that clarification. I would argue that it doesn’t even matter if OP has any Irish ancestry, if the name isn’t sacred or important to the culture.
I’m aware that it’s not a gender neutral name. I’m only uncomfortable with using feminine names, masculine ones are okay for me.
It’s more about being culturally [name_u]Irish[/name_u], I think.
Unless you grew up in the country or the culture due to you parents, you’d be American to Europeans.
Because the person specifically asked about how appropriate it is to use the name, I assumed it was about how people in [name_u]Ireland[/name_u] might think of it.
Now I’m not [name_u]Irish[/name_u], but having come across this conversation quite a few times with different nationalities involved, the consensus mostly seems to be that it’s totally fine to use 99% of names for basically anyone and that involving “percentage heritage” makes it more complicated because once you mention it people from those countries will expect you to actually know things about the culture.
OP said they know nothing of the culture and don’t really have any personal connection to it, so having “Irish blood” likely wouldn’t really matter to an [name_u]Irish[/name_u] person when answering the question of appropriateness.
Fair, I should have clarified that I don’t think you should only be allowed to use names from cultures that you have a genetic link to, and I also don’t think there’s anything wrong with just not feeling interested in your far back cultural heritage. I was mostly referring to the argument that even somebody who does want to renew with a culture they feel way stolen from them still cannot ever truly be a part of that culture if it wasn’t something they grew up with. And I’d view an appreciation for names from that culture as a genuine interest and desire to rekindle with it, even if they wouldn’t consider their heritage a huge part of their identity.
Also, adding onto some of the other points that have been brought up, I think there’s a big difference between white Americans who mostly just use their heritage for clout (for example people who make a big deal about the fact that they’re “Irish” on St Patrick’s [name_u]Day[/name_u] when 99% of the time that’s not something they’d think or care about), which understandably bothers a lot of Europeans, and those who feel a genuine passion about reconnecting with it.