(no subject)

[missmaxattax.livejournal.com]

Would you name your child a name that's primarily considered of a certain ethnicity if you had nothing to do with it?

For example...
Hiroshi if you're not Japanese, Antoinette if you're not French, Gianna if you're not Italian, Juan if you're not Spanish, Hannelore if you're not German?


What if you pronounced it different?

Comments

[krosp.livejournal.com]

It would have to be one that either had already been used by people in my culture to some degree.... or else, wasn't too out there in terms of it belonging to a culture that I knew nothing about or a culture extremely different from my own. It also depends a bit on the intercultural relations- some cultures might find it really arrogant or offensive if a white Westerner uses one of their names, but others might be really proud or honoured. I'd want to check all that out first at least.

I can't say yes or no as a general rule, but probably more likely to do it the closer the culture is to my own (in terms of similarity as well as relations between the cultures)

[th3-unicorn.livejournal.com]

No, I wouldn't. I find it silly to bias a kid's future with a name that doesn't belong to him. People would forever assume he's from that culture, or at least that he has something to do with it, and it's just silly when he/she has to explain that he just had exotic-feeling parents.

I also think it's proper to acknowledge a mixed child's origins, for example, I'm half italian and half american, and I'm happy that with my italian last name I have an american (or "cosmopolitan") first name, Jessica.

I would not have liked to have a completely italian name, even if I was born in Italy, because I don't feel that would have reflected who I am.
I feel bad for those kids who are mixed and have only one root to speak for them in their name.

[lovelylittle.livejournal.com]

The couple that named their kid Francois did have a tie to France although I can't remember what it was. I want to say the husbands family is French &/or they lived there for a while. I know they also have a french nanny and are teaching the boys to be fluent in French! So it wasn't all that weird.

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

From mccordvankempen.com:
I was born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia to an Australian mother, Elaine (neé Reeve) and Dutch father; Francois van Kempen, and lived in various cities and towns in New South Wales and Queensland while growing up.

So, Francois was named after his grandfather.

Yeah...I think this is kinda long. Sorry.

[moobiewons.livejournal.com]

I think it's highly dependable on where it is you are living. In the West, I think it's perfectly fine to switch around names from different countries. French, German, Spanish, etc.... Regardless of which country in specific you live in.
From personal experience, it's not always that great for the child or person in general to have a very distinctively "ethnic" name in the West. It's hard to pronounce and much more subject to teasing. I have many, many friends who were given Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, etc.... names and the majority of them either went by another name in public, were teased in school, or were very frustrated by mispronunciations. Granted, there were some that liked their names or didn't care but those were a minority.
I think it's much easier in other parts of the world for a child to have a Western name though. In fact, many people from several countries tend to adopt a Western name along with their original name even if they don't have Western roots or have never been to Europe or the US or wherever. (At least in the different countries that I've visited. I don't speak for all countries but I know it at least applies to several.)And of course if it's a name based on that specific country itself, then well, yeah of course it's fine.
I don't really think much about cultural roots when I think about giving names. It's interesting, but I think that overall with globalization, a name isn't necessarily AS definitive of a person's ethnic or cultural heritage as it once must have been. Uma Thurman's name isn't indicative of her ethnic background and Lucy Liu's name isn't either.
Basically I guess what I'm saying is that I don't think it matters much what ethnicity the name is originally based on. You should go for whatever name you like best. BUT be wary of pronunciation, as you always should.

Re: Yeah...I think this is kinda long. Sorry.

[moobiewons.livejournal.com]

Er yeah, I just read through my post and it didn't seem to make too much sense. It sort of sounded like in the beginning I was saying it depended entirely on where a person lived but yeah. I think I was just trying to say where foreign names were more common and less prone to teasing or mocking, etc...? Yeah...it didn't make much sense. Sorry. I just woke up from less than 3 hours of sleep so of course I'm slightly incoherent.

Re: Yeah...I think this is kinda long. Sorry.

[perfectcherry.livejournal.com]

I had the same experience. I had a friend whose name was "Rong-Rong," but in Chinese the name is very pretty with both a soft r and soft g sound that Americans just cannot seem to manage, so she eventually just adopted an American name. My husband had a Vietnamese co-worker who just accepted that Americans could never pronounce his name properly, so he just learned to respond to the mispronunciation.

[krysteener.livejournal.com]

It depends on the name. I tend to like Irish/Italian/Spanish names and I'm none of those. In real life, if I were to use one, I'd use a name that wasn't super ethnic.
From your examples, I'd use Antoinette and Gianna and not the others because the others seem very ethnic to me.

[quite-rosie.livejournal.com]

Sure, why not. A lot of names we consider, "American" have roots in different ethnicities anyway. The name's I'm looking at for my upcoming baby range from Spanish, English, Italian, and Irish descent. Mostly.

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

It depends. Here in The Netherlands (and maybe also in the rest of Europe) we hardly distinguish 'other' names from Dutch names anymore, Some are so common here (Sophie, for example) that it almost feels as if they are Dutch names.
Some non-Dutch names sound very out of the ordinary here (Alan) but others don't (Ashley). Either way, in my experience, people get used to 'different' names really easily, and I don't think anyone really considers the ethnicity/origins of a name here the way people in the US do, unless it's a non-European name.

I don't think I would give my kid an African or Asian name, for example, unless I really liked it. And even then I would be hesitant. I think it's just a little weird to name your child Hirokazu when you are not Japanese. Although I think it also depends on the sort of name...Aina is also Japanese, but would not be as weird to use on a white/black/hispanic child as Hirokazu would be.

That said...I'm all for using names you love. I'm only saying I would be hesitant if it was a name that was super over the top ethnic.

[nothingtolose19.livejournal.com]

I have to agree with what most everyone said already - if the name was super ethnic sounding, I wouldn't use it. For example, I used to love the name Pierre, but I don't think I would ever use it, because I have no ties to France, and to me, that sounds very French. But as for your example, Antionette, I don't see that as sounding 'as French' (don't ask me why!)
Anyway, long story short - it all depends on my own interpretations of the name and how ethnic it sounds to me.

[perfectcherry.livejournal.com]

While I would probably not give my child an Asian name unless she had some Asian descent, I don't have a problem with French, Scandinavian, Spanish, or Italian names, although there are limits there, as well: I probably would not use a very unusual ethnic name, especially if the spelling and/or pronunciation would often be butchered in the U.S.

[fireyirishangel.livejournal.com]

No, I wouldn't. It was my excuse against a number of names that my fiance suggested during my pregnancy, all of them decidedly Greek in origin. Neither of us has a drop of Greek in our known family histories, and it just seemed silly to me.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

My favourite boy name is Beau, and I'm not French. I would have no problem using it.

On the whole, I see nothing wrong with naming your child a name of a certain ethnicity that I had nothing to do with, but I think that it does depend on the name. Names like Mi-Rae, Chikezie, or Hiroshi or Juan, they're distinct, and very ethnic.

I think for me, since all of my family is from Europe, it would probably be safer to stay in the European area, where cultures are more similar and perhaps less distinct and less obvious as to what the name is. I'm not saying that they're not obvious at all, but there's a big difference between Gianna and Hiroshi.

I don't know if any of that makes sense. I don't see a problem, unless there's it's such an obvious name that it would look/sound weird/stupid on your kid.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I think some names like this cross ethnicities better than others ... for some reason I think a Japanese or Spanish name would be more awkward to use if you were of a different ethnicity than Antoinette or Helga or something. And then there are names that were initially from a particular ethnic background, but they've been used so widely that you don't even know/recognize them as being from that ethnicity any more.

That being said, if you were going to use a name from a really obvious background, I think it would be weird to use another really obviously ethnic name from a *different* background on another child.

[so-there.livejournal.com]

well, I wouldn't leave the continent. I'm entirely of European descent, so I might give my kids a name from a european country that isn't a country I'm descended from, but I wouldn't go asian or indian or anything like that. and I'd avoid anything too *overly* spanish or greek or anything I'm not. I used Germaine, which is french, which we're not, but I don't think it's overkill. I don't think Antionette is too much, either. my mom's best friend had that name, and she's entirely polish.

[ringsandcoffee.livejournal.com]

How do you pronounce Germaine?

[so-there.livejournal.com]

jur-maine. accent on the second syllable.

[ringsandcoffee.livejournal.com]

That's what I guessed, but I wasn't 100% sure. Thanks.

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

Most likely no. The one exception to this is that I absolutely adore Hebrew names and I'm not Jewish, but I would use the Anglicized versions of the names (ie, Rachel instead of Rivka) which are much more common outside of the Jewish community. So I guess that doesn't really count, although I still think Levi and Micah are a little less common among the general population than say, Noah or Jonah or Hannah.

[freezemyazaleas.livejournal.com]

Rivka is Rebecca, not Rachel.

[adamantplatypus.livejournal.com]

Yes. It's just a name and nearly every name has an origin - even if it's just "biblical".

Would you name your child Amy if you were not French? Sarah if you were not Hebrew? Douglas if you were not Scottish? Sean if you were not Irish?

[alexandria-skye.livejournal.com]

i don't think it's too outlandish. i'd be careful about pronunciations though. if you're going to use the name, say it correctly. and if you think it's going to be a nightmare to pronounce, use a different name.

[daydream11.livejournal.com]

I honestly don't mind it, because a lot of my own loves are of different nationalities/ethnicities, but I think that it should be taken into consideration. The name should "fit" the child, and that includes the name's racial background. One does not have to be restricted, but at the same time, an African-American Hiroshi is a bit weird...

Luckily for us average Americans, I think only full-out Asian names are the only questionable bunch...

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

It depends on how strongly tied the name is to the culture. I am only about one-fourth Irish, and unless I marry someone Irish, my kids will only be one-eighth. However, I love Irish names like Killian, Brendan, etc. for boys.

[isoldereverie.livejournal.com]

No, I would not use a name that is predominantly associated with another culture or ethic group besides my own. To me, the first name should be somewhat culturally related to the last name. I think it looks ridiculous to see a little girl named Svetlana Hernandez-Benitez or a boy Juan Chu-Li. I see this so often at work and, I know it's silly! but it really bugs me.

[aqualectra.livejournal.com]

im having a similar dilemma. Way back in my family great great great great great grandmothers name was Salome (SAL-o-may), and i love the name but it sounds very ethnic to me. My name is Giselle (my mother was learning french..)and my daughter is Ceilidh (very Gaelic, as her father is Welsh) but my current partner is Jamie and so using something like Salome seems to really stick out as awkward. its a shame though cos i do love the name.

[kolink.livejournal.com]

Eh not something way out there like indian or chinese, but Italian or french or irish or greek, something like that. I'm VERY irish and german
If its in my blood sure, or if I REALLY love the name, but typically not way out there

Ethnic Names

[crossingthesea.livejournal.com]

I'm thinking of the "Seinfeld" episode where he's all excited about dating an Asian woman, Donna Chang, and it turns out she's not. Of course, that's a last name.

I really like the names you use as an example, but I think it depends on the name(s) you're thinking about, what they mean to you, and the greater context. Did you have something specific in mind?

Personally I really like traditionally African American names (Tyrone is a favorite) and Spanish ones (Teodoro, for example) that are out of my ethnic context. I wouldn't name my own child them but it doesn't stop me from liking or admiring them nonetheless.

Good question.

Re: Ethnic Names

[crossingthesea.livejournal.com]

As for the second part about pronouncing it differently: it makes me nervous. You have to take the risk it would be perceived as "wrong." Then again, assuming you are American, Americans bastardize a whole lot of names, so it may be less of an issue.