[name_m]Hi[/name_m] all, I have an earnest question to ask about naming my cat. That first sentence already sounds silly, but I actually would love to hear some genuine responses.
I have recently adopted a cat and have been searching around the internet and thinking of names for her. There are several names on the short list and one name that I particularly favor is [name_f]Aziza[/name_f]. I am however from a white family with no connections to any of the cultures that the name is a part of. I wanted to find out if naming my cat [name_f]Aziza[/name_f] would, in a general way, be considered okay or not okay? This is not a trick question where I will try to argue a case or make a statement or anything, I am just concerned that this might be one of those privileged white people things to do where I’m reaping the benefits of another culture without having ever been a part of one, or ever having been oppressed. Or possibly some other reason entirely. Or maybe that isn’t the case at all and I should stop worrying about it. I truly do not know, which is why I’d like the internet to tell me.
I have other names on the shortlist so this isn’t my only option, so if it turns out it wouldn’t be a good idea, I can move on to something else. I just like the name, so I didn’t want to give it up without research and advice. I’ve done a lot of internet research trying to find out if this is okay or not, but I still wanted to post and ask about it. Perhaps the fact that I cannot come to a conclusion about this on my own means that I should avoid the name as I would rather error on the side of caution than risk causing any problems. I know there is a general rule that if you have to ask or have any doubts at all then it’s probably a bad idea, but here I am possibly asking an obvious question anyway. I know hardly anyone in my life will even know the name of my cat, and that it’s not the same as naming a child that will eventually venture out into the world, but I still want to be right-minded about it anyway, especially in case I ever mention her name when I post pictures of her on social media sites (as I’m sure will probably happen at some point).
Okay, to summarize, I just wanted to find out if [name_f]Aziza[/name_f] is a name that’s appropriate to give my cat. If it’s not a good idea on my part then that’s totally 100% fine, I just won’t give the cat that name. The reason I ask is simply because I like the name a lot, more than the other names on my (very long) shortlist, but I have no other good and meaningful reason.
Thank you in advance for your help.
