(no subject)

[smallandneedy.livejournal.com]

Lately I've come to really love the name Tala for a little girl. I looked around a bit, and it can mean Wolf in Native American, but it can apparently also a form of Natalia which makes it Italian. Mostly I've seen it used as an Arabic name.

Now, I'm neither of these things. I'm Norwegian, and I normally like names like Amanda, Andrea, David and Daniel, and I'm just thinking:

1. In general, using ethnic names when you're not that ethnicity, is that considered weird? Do you think it's strange when you see a name that holds a specific ethnicity in your head on someone who doesn't fit it?

and

2. Does it look strange to give siblings first names that obviously doesn't have the same ethnic background? (For example: Brittany and Sitara)

I know Tala itself isn't that bad compared to my other names, because we do have a girls name in Norway that is Tale (or Thale) and people stick a's in the names when they want so it's close enough, but yeah, it just made me think.

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

1. I don't know. Each person is different but personally I don't think I'll go way outside my ethnicity when choosing a name. Although, I will tell you that religious names bug me because I LOVE the name Ezra which is jewish I believe? I'm not jewish which is why I'm hesitant using the name.

2. I think it does, definitely.

[ohhvelocitygirl.livejournal.com]

tale is way better, but tala is cool.

[gregariouspeach.livejournal.com]

My daughters name is Priya which is Sanskrit for 'beloved'. I named her after a close
Indian friend but I'm in no way Indian. My husband is Filipino and I'm white australian. It doesn't bother me that her name is outside our ethnicity. I like variety and I believe a name is name and if you like it you can use it. I'm pregnant now and if it's a boy he'll be Hiro which is Japanese. If it's a girl she'll be Amélie which is French. I like these names for their meanings, and their origins, I don't think I should be limited to only Indian names since we gave our first baby one. I think it's okay to pair names from different cultures, but I'm sure some people hate this.

[moldycelery.livejournal.com]

1. Yes, if you don't realize that "Native American" is not a language.

[tiphanism.livejournal.com]

My gut reaction is that you shouldn't choose names wildly outside your own or the child's ethnicity / cultural background / language, particularly if it's going to cause spelling or pronunciation problems: but names do become assimilated. I'm Naomi, and not remotely connected to anything Hebrew or Jewish, but it's a common name in the UK.

In your case I think Tala is fine as it's straightforward, and similar to a Norwegian name anyway: but please don't go saying it's "Native American" - find out what language it is first.

[monkey-fruit.livejournal.com]

1. It depends on the name. Some names are obviously of one ethnicity and others aren't. I find Tala kind of subtle, so it probably wouldn't bother me much, but...say, a Japanese/Chinese name on someone whom obviously isn't of that ethnicity...that probably would [bug me].

(Lol, makes me think of that Seinfeld episode with Donna Chang; everyone was interested in her until they discovered she wasn't Chinese.)

2. Yes! Very much so.

[lind-saay.livejournal.com]

THANK YOU. I was just going to say that.

[smallandneedy.livejournal.com]

I do realize native american is more than one language, but I only did a quick search for a meaning, and at babynames.com it said "Wolf - Native American". It was only used as an example, didn't think people would be so picky about it.

[lind-saay.livejournal.com]

TALA: Baby name books claim this means "princess of wolves" or "stalking wolf" in Cherokee. This is false. There isn't any word "Tala" in Cherokee, there isn't any word for "princess" in Cherokee ("Cherokee princess" is a white myth), and the word for "wolf" is "Wahya" in Cherokee. Furthermore, it's highly unlikely that a simple word like "Tala" means "princess of wolves" in ANY language, but particularly an American Indian language, where words tend to be longer, not shorter, than English ones. It's possible that the word means "wolf" in some American Indian language other than Cherokee, and the rest is an embellishment. More likely, Tala was the name of a Cherokee heroine in a Western or romance novel, and her name was given a completely fictional meaning like "princess of wolves" in the story.

from: http://www.native-languages.org/wrongnames.htm

[smallandneedy.livejournal.com]

well thank you. :) That makes a lot of sense.

[shortbutfast.livejournal.com]

i don't think one has to exclusively use names of one's own ethnicity. i find that pretty small-minded, actually. if you really love a name, why not use it? i like all kinds of so-called 'ethnic' names but then i'm also not from an anglo culture where people seem to be rather stuck on their own culture's names. [i'm swiss-german]

i think sibling's names should match in a roundabout way, e.g. don't pick one that's completely boring and super common and another that's unusual.

that said, i think tala has a really nice sound to it. it's kind of 'mysterious' and actually rather neutral-sounding to me in the ethnicity department. one wouldn't immediately know where to place it and that's a good thing in my book. :]

[loanwords.livejournal.com]

I think it really depends. For example, when my fiance and I have kids, the name we like for a girl is decidedly Japanese, which I'm OK with, since she would be half Japanese. She'll have an English middle name, and she can decide which she would prefer to go by with her peers and so forth. But if we had a boy, his first name is more American with a Japanese middle name and again, he can decide what he'd like to go by in public. I do think it'll be a little funny to have the names mismatch that way, but I love the names.

In the case of my future children though, I'd definitely NOT give them Japanese names if my fiance was not Japanese. It just seems odd and too "I'm trying to be unique" to me to go WAY outside the child's background. But I want them to have some attachments to both sides of their background and something easy for both sides of the family to say (since my future in-laws speak limited English).

I actually really love the name Tala and I don't think it sounds "too ethnic" at all. Just uncommon.

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

http://www.native-languages.org/baby.htm

If you like a name, use it. But don't use it because of what it allegedly means. Name sites are notoriously awful with name meanings. So many names simply are names and don't have a real origin... just an association with a mythical character or some such thing.

I would be cautious to make sure that you aren't naming a child something horrible that would make you uncomfortable, but a good solid google should clear most things up (and, if not, try emailing a name historian somewhere).

But, if you feel really strongly about meanings and cultural authenticity, then ask for help. I don't think names have to mean something, though.