Normally, I’d argue that cultural appropriation is a non-issue and that the real problem is more in ignorance, but with the term thrown around so often now, and with names like [name_f]Priya[/name_f], [name_f]Jemima[/name_f], [name_f]India[/name_f], etc. all at the centre of it (those three all happen to be names I love too), I’m actually questioning a few names on my list, since they don’t originate from my culture.
The names are;
[name_f]Layla[/name_f], an Arabic name, meaning ‘light’.
[name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f], an Arabic name, meaning ‘highborn’
[name_f]Yasmin[/name_f], a Persian name, meaning ‘jasmine’.
Would it be wrong for me to use these names, or is am I overthinking?
I don’t think origin matters nearly as much as how mainstream the name is. For example, [name_f]Layla[/name_f] is a pretty well-known name so no one will blink an eye if you were to use it. I think same with [name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f]. I actually know a couple with a little pale, red-headed girl named [name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f]. When she was first born I thought the name was a strange choice but apparently I was the only one!
The only one I might see people raising an eyebrow to is [name_f]Yasmin[/name_f]. I think the only reason is its not as mainstream as the others, that’s all. I wouldn’t let that stop you from liking or using it though. I personally think it’s a really pretty name.
Well every name had to come from somewhere. Unless you totally make it up, it probably exists in some other culture or part of the world. [name_f]Layla[/name_f] and [name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f] are both well-known and used in the US for non-arab children. Both names are in the top 50. [name_f]Yasmin[/name_f] is less popular, but still very recognizable. Use what you like
I don’t see why it would be “wrong”. I was reading another thread the other day in which this question came up (I was looking at comments about one of my favourite names, [name_f]Zosia[/name_f] - a potential for a second daughter despite the fact that neither I nor my husband has Polish heritage). I was quite surprised - and disappointed - to see how many people thought it unacceptable to use a name from a different culture. Lots of people seemed to feel that it was somehow disrespectful. Well, I personally don’t see why that should be.
Surely it’s a sign of acceptance and admiration to want to use a name with foreign roots? I think @bskelton makes an excellent point: all names came from somewhere, and most of the very “traditional” anglophone names are actually foreign imports. OK, so names like [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] and [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] have been used in English-speaking countries for a lot longer than [name_f]Layla[/name_f], [name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f] or [name_f]Yasmin[/name_f], but I don’t think that makes it any less legitimate to use them. I think it’s great that you know and are interested in the origin and meaning of these names, and I also think the fact that you are worried about this issue shows that you have nothing but respect for these cultures.
Cultural assimilation of a word or name doesn’t degrade the host culture in any way [name_f]IMO[/name_f], in fact I think internationalism of this kind promotes open-mindedness and mutual respect. Of course, your decision to name a daughter [name_f]Yasmin[/name_f] isn’t exactly going to change the world, but the fact that these names can be freely used and that people want to use them is only a good thing in my eyes.
That’s generally what I think too, I think I’m just paranoid, haha. I know a few girls named [name_f]Yasmin[/name_f], and only one is actually of Persian descent, but these girls are from the UK, where the name was very popular when they were born, so it’s a bit hard to say. Thank you!
That’s also true! I’m working on using what I like, but I have this strange obsession(?) with pleasing everyone over myself, so I find it hard sometimes.
This is usually how I see it too - [name_f]Acadia[/name_f] is perfectly fine for use, even though it was a [name_m]French[/name_m] colony that the English forced out of [name_f]Canada[/name_f] and the US in the 1700s, and that’s entirely thrown out the window, but the minute someone who happens to be English wants to name their daughter [name_f]India[/name_f], it’s appropriation and disrespectful?
I agree whole-heartedly with you though, it is something good in my eyes too. And for what it’s worth, [name_f]Zosia[/name_f] is gorgeous.
I think all of the names are mainstream enough that it would be OK to use any of them. I don’t think they send any type of message about what the child should look like or what culture the child is from.
I think as long as the name is not offensive it is fine. For me the one that I see that stands out to me is [name_f]Gypsy[/name_f]. I have seen a few others but pregnancy brain has be drawing a blank. Like pp’s have said I think if anything it shows a respect and admiration for the culutre you draw your name inspiration from. I honestly think it is a way to bridge cultural divides. There is a man that works with my dh and he keeps offering my husband names he likes from [name_f]India[/name_f] for our baby girl (many are truly beautiful and being considered) and we are not of that background.
I can totally see why [name_f]Gypsy[/name_f] would be offensive, and, while I disagree with the reasoning for [name_f]India[/name_f] being so racist as a name, I can sort of understand it, but there’s a lot of names I don’t understand how they’d be disrespectful, even though it’s said that they are. I agree though, I always liked to think of it as a way to bridge two cultures, especially if you’re using the correct pronunciation, meaning and not making up a meaning or origin/being misinformed.
One of my favourite names from [name_f]India[/name_f] (I believe, but I may be wrong!) is [name_f]Priya[/name_f], actually! I think it’s so pretty.
Personally I think its wise to step carefully around choosing names from outside your own culture - but this is because you don’t want to choose something that offends an entire group of people - like [name_f]Jemima[/name_f], [name_m]Cohen[/name_m], [name_f]Gypsy[/name_f] ect.
However, since all of these names are of middle eastern origin it might be best to ask a few people who come from that part of the world to form a real opinion on if you think they are “acceptable forms of appropriation” (that seems like an oxymoron) or if they could be considered offensive. I know a Iranian girl named [name_f]Heidi[/name_f] - being [name_m]German[/name_m]-American I don’t find offensive as much as odd (considering her siblings have culturally traditional names – now if someone had named their son [name_m]Adolf[/name_m] I would probably feel differently.)
Yes! thank you for more examples, these names are ones I sort of cringe at. I brought the name [name_f]Dixie[/name_f] up to my husband and he said it sounded too ‘confederate’ to him and he didn’t want anything that would portray racism as a name for our daughter. I had never thought about it, but I asked a friend and she said she asocciates [name_f]Dixie[/name_f] with the confederacy and would find the name racist. Blew my mind. So in conclusion, yes, I think when in doubt, ask someone of that particular culture for their thoughts.
I don’t think [name_f]Layla[/name_f], [name_f]Yasmin[/name_f] and [name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f] would offend anyone. I also don’t think [name_f]Priya[/name_f] would but I can see how [name_f]India[/name_f] could (in [name_m]Britain[/name_m] especially) and [name_f]Jemima[/name_f] could (in the USA), because [name_f]India[/name_f] was treated terribly when they were occupied British - and there are still issues from it today (the Koh-i-noor, for example, and all the issues of stolen wealth) and [name_f]Jemima[/name_f] was the name of a character that romanticised the slavery of African Americans (though I didn’t know about that until I found out myself, so I doubt you’d hear much of it outside of [name_u]North[/name_u] [name_u]America[/name_u]). However, while the names I said could potentially be offensive, none of these are really cultural appropriation (apart from India, perhaps).
Cultural appropriation is different from cultural exchange or acculturation, which is what you seem to be talking about when you say cultural appropriation is a “non-issue” (I would say it is an issue, actually, and I wrote a major essay on it examining all perspectives that took me about a month so I think I’d have a basic grasp on it by now). Cultural appropriation (or misappropriation, which is the term I personally prefer) is the adoption of cultural elements in a colonialist context where they are taken by a dominant culture and elements are used outside of their original context, therefore losing its actual meaning, history and, especially if a part of a belief system, become desecrated. It’s especially offensive if a particular culture has struggled to overcome historical oppression, like Native Americans or Canadian First Nations or Aboriginal Australians, and when, for examples, credit or profits made from cultural appropriation do not go to its actual creators.
You seem to have taken it (as so many people on the internet have because no one actually bothers to actually do proper research anymore) to mean that you can take part in no other form of culture ever, including names. Really the only name I can think of off the top of my head that would be considered cultural appropriation is a non-Jewish person using the surname [name_m]Cohen[/name_m] as a first name, because [name_m]Cohen[/name_m] is a significant part of the Jewish faith and a non-Jewish person using it would take away its meaning and alter it’s deep-seated religious history.
So yeah, I probably wouldn’t go around saying cultural appropriation is a non-issue when you don’t actually seem to understand the difference between it and cultural exchange or acculturation.
I have never before heard about [name_f]Jemima[/name_f] being anything more than an unfortunate biblical name tied to a racist image on a syrup bottle, to be honest, and I like it thanks to a Welsh heroine from the Middle Ages, who essentially saved her entire village (a la [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] de Versailles in [name_m]Quebec[/name_m]).
I do actually know the difference, thank you. I was more referring to the idea that I have seen numerous users on this site use as criteria for ‘cultural appropriation’. The name [name_f]Acadia[/name_f] could also be considered cultural appropriation if you are not an Acadian descendent, actually.
I think there’s nothing more than a miscommunication here, but next time, I’d prefer it if you PMed me for clarification, rather than assume that I don’t ‘actually seem to understand’. I’m actually part Canadian Six Nations (also a form of Aboriginal descent), so I do know what cultural appropriation, but the definition that is normally thrown around on Nameberry, with names like [name_f]Priya[/name_f] (as I previously said), is a non-issue in my eyes.
