My husband and I are learning Polish and recently discovered the name [name]Jacek[/name] (pronounced YAH-tsek) which is the Polish form of [name]Jack[/name]. We are the only ones on either side of our family who speak Polish though, so worried friends and family might think its a bit strange. So I was thinking we could cal him [name]Jacek[/name] in Polish and when speaking in english call him [name]Jack[/name].
So I guess I just want a second opinion on the name and what people think about using a different name for each language. Has anyone else done this? We also love [name]Merrick[/name] [name]Liam[/name] (americanized spelling and pronounciation of Polish’marek’)
I’m a bit confused. Are you or your husband Polish? If no one you know speaks Polish then why would you speak it in your family if it’s not your native language?
If either of your families is Polish, then even if they don’t speak the language I would imagine they’d be familiar with some of the common names there.
If your family is not Polish, then I don’t really understand–it seems like just a passing fancy.
I think [name]Merrick[/name] would make more sense in your situation since you and your husband are the only ones who speak Polish among your family and friends. [name]Merrick[/name] [name]Liam[/name] is very handsome.
I don’t think there is anything wrong with the name…BUT I would consider where you live and the fact that your son will probably have it mispronounced every time it is read and spend his life correcting pronounciation/explaining his name. Having had a marginally difficult-to-pronounce last name growing up, I would advise against it, sorry.
Yea, I know, I just think it’s a bit … odd. If my sister and her husband suddenly decided they wanted to learn Japanese I would think that was cool, but if they wanted to give their children Japanese names when they were barely learning the language and had nothing whatsoever to do with the culture I’d think that was very strange.
[name]Just[/name] sayin.
[name]Merrick[/name] [name]Liam[/name] sounds handsome.
I like these combos:
[name]Liam[/name] [name]Kade[/name]
[name]Kade[/name] [name]Merrick[/name]
[name]August[/name] [name]Merrick[/name]
[name]Merrick[/name] [name]Elijah[/name]
[name]Elijah[/name] [name]Kade[/name]
[name]Oakley[/name] is a great name-maybe [name]Oakley[/name] [name]Augustus[/name]? Like most of the names you have picked out.
Which name would be on the birth certificate, then? [name]Jack[/name], or [name]Jacek[/name]? I think [name]Jack[/name] “[name]Jacek[/name]” is fine–if the rest of your families don’t speak Polish, I can imagine it would be a nn just used by you and your husband.
For what it’s worth, I can totally understand the appeal of using Polish names–if a language and culture is meaningful to you, why not? I think it’s great to broaden your horizons and to know more languages than the average American.
Thanks for the input! I dont think it is weird at all to give a child a name from a differeng culture/language. Especially here in [name]America[/name], where, unless your child has a native american name, it will always be stemming from.a culture that is probably different than or only partially yours.
That being said, my husband DOES have a Polish heritage, and I have some [name]German[/name] down the line, its just that no one speaks the language anymore. I do like the idea of [name]Jack[/name] being on the certificate, with the nn [name]Jacek[/name] rather than [name]Jacek[/name] with the nn [name]Jack[/name]. Seems to make a little more sense! What do you think about this?
My grandparents were born in Lithuania, and my grandfather as well as some of his relatives used American versions of their names once they came to the U.S. Juozas became [name]Joseph[/name], [name]Jonas[/name] became [name]John[/name], etc. So I think it’s perfectly fine to use an Americanized version in day to day life. [name]Jack[/name] seems more like a nickname to me than [name]Jacek[/name], too.
It’s not bad, but I think putting [name]Jack[/name] on the birth certificate and using [name]Jacek[/name] as a nn for you and your husband to use is a better idea.
[name]LOVE[/name] [name]Merrick[/name] [name]Liam[/name]! (I think I like [name]Marek[/name] better, but there would be more pn issues with that…) [name]Callen[/name] [name]Thomas[/name] and [name]Kade[/name] [name]August[/name] are great, too.
Sorry I was not more clear! I was just simply trying to say that, living in [name]America[/name], it is a bit of a mixing pot! Where as if you live in [name]England[/name], your ancestry could be english. If you lived in [name]Italy[/name], your ancestry may be Italian. But ‘American’ isnt really a culture, unless you are Native American. So in [name]America[/name], it seems that many children are given names of a differe/t cultre. For example, [name]Kai[/name] is HUGE right now. I am the sixth generatio/ 0orn in hawaii, and kai is a hawaiian name. But now you see all diferent cultures using the name [name]Kai[/name]. Also, you could name your child [name]Isabella[/name], or [name]Savannah[/name] and not be of Spanish decent. I know this is a bit different from [name]Jacek[/name]/[name]Jack[/name] because the former examples are more widely used. But Im just trying to see that I dont think it is at all weird to want to give your child a name from a different language\culture. ESPECIALLY if you have a special interest in the language\culture and plan on speaking it with your children. In fact we plan on teaching our kids a few different languages if possible-polish primarily but also english, (of course), and maybe spanish and italian, as we know those languages as well! We say the more culture the better
I totally get what you mean. [name]How[/name] many people naming their kids [name]Aiden[/name]/[name]Aidan[/name] are actually of Irish decent? I think it’s perfectly acceptable to use a name from a different culture or language especially if you have a special affinity towards that country/language. A friend of mine who is very much White has always been obsessed with Japanese culture and she went to college for Japanese studies, speaks fluent Japanese, has traveled to Japan dozens of times… if she were to choose a Japanese name for her child, it would make total sense to me.
