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ashadelic.livejournal.com posting in

I was thinking about a name I have long loved but am not sure I'm brave enough to use. In college, I had a professor who'd spent many years in India as a missionary. She was a freakin awesome lady! Having learned much about the Indian culture, she fell in love with a name and gave it to her oldest daughter. The name is Mitanjeli (prn. mih-TAN-juh-lee). In Hindi, it means "Sweet handful of blessing from the Lord." At the time I had this professor, her daughter was only about 8 or so years old and her mom figured that when she was older, she would probably go by Anji for short. The daughter is now a teenager, and I've just found out she goes by Mitzi. I'm not a big fan of Mitzi, but I LOVE Mitanjeli. I think it rolls off the tongue absolutely beautifully. I think it's gorgeous, and couldn't rave about it enough... but what do you guys think of the name Mitanjeli? The nicknames Mitzi and Anji?

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From:

peach-rose-girl.livejournal.com

If a person who is not Indian uses the name, it's cultural misappropriation, and therefore offensive.

If a girl who comes from an Indian-American family wants to "Americanize" her name as a teenager, that's something all together different, and Anji or Mitzi are perfectly fine, IMO. They're both cute.

From:

rawness.livejournal.com

Thank you.

From:

ashadelic.livejournal.com

I, along with many of the members of this community blatantly disagree with the above comment. For more, read the post concerning it.

I, however, would really like to hear someone voice WHY they believe it's horribly wrong. Maybe you'll reply to the post discussing it.

From:

rawness.livejournal.com

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&q=cultural+appropriation&btnG=Search

From:

ashadelic.livejournal.com

I understand what cultural mis/appropriation is. I don't think that using names from a culture that is not your own (in good taste obviously, excluding religious names/names that have a specific strong meaning only in that culture-- Saoirse to the Irish for example) is inherently wrong. I'd be interested to see if you can voice your opinion outside of a link, as the link doesnt really clear up anything about WHY you think it's wrong.

From:

rawness.livejournal.com

I think ripping off someones culture because you think it's "cute" is horrible. Just because the name doesn't have a "specific" or "strong" meaning to the culture in your opinion doesn't mean it's not deep or sacred to someone else.

From:

ashadelic.livejournal.com

First of all, I'm not going to use the name Mitanjeli for one of my children. I love the name. I think it's a beautiful name. I love the meaning behind it most of all. I'm not planning to use it. There are lots of names I love that I would never use, and it has nothing to do with the culture from which they came. If I did use it, it's my prerogative and I dare anyone to tell me they're offended by it. Too bad for them. (And that is strictly in reference to the name Mitanjeli)

Second of all, who are you to judge that the name was chosen because I thought it was "cute" or that anyone who chooses a name from a different culture does so simply because the name is "cute." I'm not saying that "cultural misappropriation" doesnt happen in the choosing of a name sometimes. I'm saying that my American self naming my daughter Mitanjeli is NOT cultural misappropriation. I'm also saying that you aren't the judge of that anyway.

Finally, there are plenty of names that have deep and strong meanings to me and if anyone (black, white, purple, orange, green, American, Indian, Hispanic, German, Irish, African... what have you) wants to use that name, regardless of reasoning behind it, it is not MY name/word to be offended for. And if other people can't deal with that, they just need to stay inside their homes and live in their own world being pissed off.