Hey Berries, I’d love to know your stances on this.
What do you think of using names that are very culture-specific? As in names that are very easy to hear and know what country they’ve originated from.
Of course, names like [name_f]Emmeline[/name_f], [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f], [name_f]Ivy[/name_f], [name_f]Olivia[/name_f]… they don’t pertain exactly to a specific crowd anymore, so I wouldn’t think it would be a problem to use them regardless of your ethnicity.
However to use a name like [name_f]Caoimhe[/name_f], Solveg, [name_f]Adelheid[/name_f], (and might I say, [name_f]Scheherazade[/name_f]?) when your family is not and your child will not be a part of that culture (or is not born into it, at the very least), what would you think? If you found a name you loved from a completely different culture (and very phonetically/soundly so), what would you do with it?
I think it depends on whether or not its usable where you live. [name_f]Caoimhe[/name_f] actually comes from my ‘culture’, since I’m Scottish, but I would never use it, because I don’t think very many people could pronounce it. I might however, use [name_f]Adelheid[/name_f], if I liked it, because more people could pronounce it, even though I’m not [name_m]German[/name_m], nor do I live in a [name_m]German[/name_m] speaking country.
Having said that, [name_f]Caoimhe[/name_f], [name_f]Adelheid[/name_f] and [name_f]Solveig[/name_f] are all familiar names to me, and I wouldn’t blink at seeing a person with those names, no matter where they were from. [name_f]Scheherazade[/name_f], I would never use because it doesn’t even look like a name, to me as a British person. It looks like some kind of [name_m]German[/name_m] compound word.
I think it kind of depends on the culture and the context of the name.
My SO is American Italian with some [name_m]German[/name_m], Austrian and Norwegian ancestry too, while I am Australia with English, [name_m]German[/name_m], Irish and [name_u]Roma[/name_u] ancestry. For us, it’s very difficult to find names that mean all of our backgrounds; but I love the idea of using names that honour these cultures as much as possible.
The interesting thing is I struggle with names like [name_m]Rico[/name_m], [name_m]Orlando[/name_m] etc. because I love the same, but as a very pale Caucasian girl, I can’t imagine actually having a son with the name. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though SO’s great grandfather’s name was [name_m]Guido[/name_m]. They just don’t seem to gel well with the boys names I like, so I tend to edge towards Irish or English boys names for the most part and [name_m]German[/name_m], Italian or [name_u]Roma[/name_u] names for girls.
I love the name [name_f]India[/name_f] and I know some people argue whether that’s offensive due to it’s usage during it’s time as part of the The British Empire; but the [name_u]Roma[/name_u] came from [name_f]India[/name_f], so it would be honouring my heritage that way. Ultimately, I think if you acknowledge and understand the country and context the name you chose comes from, that eliminates a lot of the issues. Simple things like spelling the name and country of origin properly, being aware of any stereotypes related to the name etc. are all helpful e.g I love [name_f]Angelina[/name_f], though in Germany, [name_f]Angelina[/name_f] was stereotyped as a lazy woman born in the 80s who never worked and relied off government support. I still love the name enough to not let it bother me.
I think it kind of depends on the culture and the context of the name.
My SO is American Italian with some [name_m]German[/name_m], Austrian and Norwegian ancestry too, while I am Australia with English, [name_m]German[/name_m], Irish and [name_u]Roma[/name_u] ancestry. For us, it’s very difficult to find names that mean all of our backgrounds; but I love the idea of using names that honour these cultures as much as possible.
The interesting thing is I struggle with names like [name_m]Rico[/name_m], [name_m]Orlando[/name_m] etc. because I love the same, but as a very pale Caucasian girl, I can’t imagine actually having a son with the name. [name_m]Even[/name_m] though SO’s great grandfather’s name was [name_m]Guido[/name_m]. They just don’t seem to gel well with the boys names I like, so I tend to edge towards Irish or English boys names for the most part and [name_m]German[/name_m], Italian or [name_u]Roma[/name_u] names for girls.
I love the name [name_f]India[/name_f] and I know some people argue whether that’s offensive due to it’s usage during it’s time as part of the The British Empire; but the [name_u]Roma[/name_u] came from [name_f]India[/name_f], so it would be honouring my heritage that way. Ultimately, I think if you acknowledge and understand the country and context the name you chose comes from, that eliminates a lot of the issues. Simple things like spelling the name and country of origin properly, being aware of any stereotypes related to the name etc. are all helpful e.g I love [name_f]Angelina[/name_f], though in Germany, [name_f]Angelina[/name_f] was stereotyped as a lazy woman born in the 80s who never worked and relied off government support. I still love the name enough to not let it bother me. Familiar names are easier though.
I can’t like [name_f]Scheherazade[/name_f], it reminds of a mixture of Gatorade and Schweppes.
I’m Spanish married to a [name_m]French[/name_m] guy, so I always try to use names that would fit into what are given as names in both countries. Lately I have been getting some complaints from my family about my children’s names being [name_m]French[/name_m] and not at all Castellano, which to them is like me turning my back to my roots. Which is not the case if ou look at how I raise my kids and how we all speak Castellano at home! But the family isn’t here everyday to see that, which is why I’m trying to find names we both love that can fit into both languages… it’s so hard because the [name_m]French[/name_m] names appeal more to me, so I make sure the names have very Spanish nicknames (or at least ones that are easy to say and are heard of in Spain, like [name_u]Theo[/name_u], [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_f]Lulu[/name_f] and several others).
It is very difficult to name children when you have 2 or more languages spoken in the family, I think. Probably if I were married to someone who was Spanish, my kids would all have very Spanish names and probably if my husband were married to a [name_m]French[/name_m] woman the kids would have very [name_m]French[/name_m] names.