I really struggle with this sometimes when it comes to names. There are so many I would love to use but I just don’t want to ‘hijack’ them when I really have no relation to the origins of the name. I’m sure I’m not the only one that feels this way! Here are some of my examples
I love Japanese names! They have such a beautiful sound and often have gorgeous meanings too, but it would feel strange/disrespectful to use them when I have no Japanese heritage.
Some of my favourites…
[name_m]Hiro[/name_m] / [name_m]Hiroshi[/name_m] - generous
[name_u]Hikaru[/name_u] - radiance
[name_f]Sakura[/name_f] - cherry blossom
[name_f]Midori[/name_f] - green
[name_f]Umeko[/name_f] - plum blossom child
[name_f]Aiko[/name_f] - beloved child
Fumika - this is the name of my Japanese teacher
[name_f]My[/name_f] line for this sort of thing gets quite wonky… I’m comfortable with names that have strong Greek origins, such as [name_f]Eleni[/name_f], despite not having any Greek heritage but will shy away from names that are “too Russian” (and I do have a Russian great-great-grandmother!). Go figure
[name_f]Adhara[/name_f]
[name_f]Araceli[/name_f]
Auli’i (after the gorgeous Auli’i Cravalho)
Casiopea
[name_f]Chiara[/name_f]
[name_f]Eowyn[/name_f]
[name_f]Esmeralda[/name_f]
[name_f]Evgenia[/name_f] (blame [name_f]Evgenia[/name_f] Medvedeva for this crush)
[name_u]Indiana[/name_u] (this has offensive origins as a state name but I also don’t have a connection to the state)
Lilimar
Lilivati
[name_f]Liliya[/name_f]
[name_f]Natalya[/name_f]
[name_f]Noemi[/name_f]
Tua (also because I don’t want the association with football player Tua Tagovailoa)
I’m sure there’s more!
ETA: Oh, the lovely [name_f]Noor[/name_f] for me as well!
I really like [name_m]Hiro[/name_m] too. [name_f]My[/name_f] husband’s middle name is [name_m]Hiroshi[/name_m]. The funny thing is he’s not Japanese at all. He’s half Filipino (and a bit Chinese) and half Welsh (mostly). He was named for his dad’s best friend who is Japanese. I’ve wondered if it would be odd to use [name_m]Hiro[/name_m] as an honor name for DH since we don’t have Japanese ancestry and it’s already an honor name for someone else. I would totally use [name_m]Hiro[/name_m] in the middle spot if he wanted to.
I totally get this, but also your [name_f]Hermione[/name_f] [name_f]Rosalind[/name_f] is totally in keeping with [name_m]Hiro[/name_m]/Hiroshi… just sayin’.