Winona is my partner and I’s top name right now for our daughter. We adore the nickname Winnie but do feel she should have a fuller name option and love love Winona. There isnt a single other “win” name we both like. No gwens, or rowans, or elowyns either. Even if we did like other names we are so in love with the idea of having a daughter named Winona. Neither of us have Native American heritage and we know Winona has Dakota Sioux origins. We are both caucasian. It has the meaning “firstborn daughter” and we would only use it for a firstborn girl to respect that meaning. I was hoping to get some thoughts. I’ve done a lot of research and it seems like the general consensus is that Winona has become more mainstream and since it is a derivative, it’s okay to use. It’s also a city in Minnesota (we dont have any connection to it though). But I would love to hear some more current answers. We do not want to be disrespectful or insensitive. We love the name and love that it has a beautiful meaning and origin as well. Not sure if there will be anyone of Dakota heritage that is willing to share their feelings but we’d love to learn. For others, would you feel comfortable using this name? We understand that it’s different than just using a name with french or german origin since there is a lot more history in our country between white people and Native people. Is this a name we can use simply because we find it so beautiful? Thanks for any thoughts in advance!
I am thinking this leans more into ‘crossed into mainstream’ catergory - especially since it has now been used in various different contexts - the city, the university, [name_f]Winona[/name_f] [name_m]Ryder[/name_m] (named for the city), [name_f]Wynonna[/name_f] Earp, [name_f]Wynonna[/name_f] [name_m]Judd[/name_m] - and it has ranked in the US Top 1000 in the late 19th to mid 20th century and is now back again. A little like [name_f]Tallulah[/name_f] and [name_m]Dakota[/name_m] (though the former does have [name_m]Irish[/name_m] origins too).
However, I don’t have [name_m]Dakota[/name_m] heritage, and I don’t want to say any of that with complete certainty - and like you, would be very willing to learn others thoughts!
I’m not of [name_m]Dakota[/name_m] heritage however I would lean towards this being more ‘mainstream’ as well. Personally I think many would (& possibility naively) assume that you had links/memories with the city or were a fan of [name_f]Winona[/name_f] [name_m]Ryder[/name_m] before considering the [name_m]Dakota[/name_m] heritage
I am not [name_m]Dakota[/name_m]. [name_f]My[/name_f] thoughts are that it’s a name that’s been used by white Americans for a long time (e.g. [name_f]Winona[/name_f] [name_m]Ryder[/name_m], [name_f]Wynonna[/name_f] [name_m]Judd[/name_m], the city) so I don’t see it as being particularly controversial. I would compare it to [name_f]Leilani[/name_f], which is Native Hawaiian, but is now used all over the world due to popular culture. Some people might find that insensitive, but at the same time it’s still a fairly popular/mainstream name that’s chosen by many parents.
This is tricky!
Personally I do find that [name_f]Winona[/name_f] is used across the board and is accepted to be used across the board with famous namesakes such as [name_f]Winona[/name_f] [name_m]Ryder[/name_m] which makes the name feel more mainstream. I feel [name_f]Winona[/name_f] has similar feels to [name_f]Leilani[/name_f] as @choupette said. However I am not of [name_m]Dakota[/name_m] heritage so I would be interested to hear what people who identify with this heritage feel on the name.
I would say its crossed into mainstream.
However if you decide its too uncomfortable. Winoa is a even more distanced version of [name_f]Winona[/name_f], and [name_f]Winola[/name_f] & Winora are of [name_m]German[/name_m] and [name_f]English[/name_f] descent.
(Fwiw we went through the same thing when trying to decide on a ‘full’ name for our Winn¹e, so if you would like more suggestions [name_f]Ive[/name_f] got a long list!)