(no subject)

[0telepsychola.livejournal.com]

I am not against naming children after fictional characters. Many good names got their basis in or were popularized by fiction. No issues there. But I've seen four separate boys named Noatak (prounounced Noah-tok) since The Legend Of Korra's last two episodes aired. While I agree he's a compelling character, his name was chosen by the show's creators to reflect his Inuit heritage. I can't help but wonder if it's culturally insensitive to utilize an Inuit name for white children because it was in a good story when it's clearly not part of your background.

On a similar note, my brother has a friend who named her baby girl Altair (pronounced All-tai-eer) after the protagonist of the first Assassin's Creed name. Leaving aside that it's a masculine name only, it's Arabic on a girl in a very anti-Muslim family. I don't sense this going over well in the long term.

Thoughts on grabbing names from the media and names that are not part of your heritage at all?

Comments

[brittmarie.livejournal.com]

It doesn't bother me, really. I know a lot of kids with names based off books/movies/tv or names their parents just thought were cute or pretty and they have nothing to do with culture or heritage. My own name is Brittany, which means "of Britain" and my family is Irish and Italian on my mom's side and German and Italian on my dad's. No British whatsoever. But I'm told the name fits me well, for whatever reason.

Personally, If I find a beautiful name I really love then I will probably use it regardless of where it originated.

[brittmarie.livejournal.com]

Although depending on where you look it says my name is a Celtic name. Others just say it is an English name. Very confusing.

[dustthouart.livejournal.com]

It's a place name. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brittany)

[lalonde.livejournal.com]

My name is Julianna, which is somewhat popular, and with this spelling is primarily Hungarian/Polish, which I may actually be considering the fact both my parents are partially German and their family's have only been in American for a few generations, with close contact relatives still living in Germany, somewhat miraculously on my mom's side. However its fairly unlikely, as my dad's is from the whole German/Swiss/Italian area and my mother is German-Jewish whose grandparents left during Hilter's rise.

Personally I like ethnic names, even if its not part of your heritage, especially if it has some sort of meaning or connotation to you that you want to pass on to your child. It may be a bit insensitive to just name a child after a fiction character, but if you've name searched and it just jumped out at you, by all means, go ahead.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I don't know about it being culturally insensitive, but in some cases it definitely seems silly. There are a lot of names that have equivalents in other languages, and somehow it seems okay to use them somewhat interchangeably, but when it's a name that really only exists in one culture (and it's not your own), like the examples you've given, it sounds funny.

Having said that, the only time I actually think of it as being a PROBLEM is when it's clear that the parents haven't done their research, especially in the case of your second example. There may be a very good reason for a white person to use an Asian name, for instance, and if it's clear that they know the name's background and meaning and everything, then that's cool, albeit unusual. People who just use a name because they liked a movie, or because it sounds pretty, without knowing anything about it, that's what I don't like.

[jessicamariek.livejournal.com]

Hell, I was named after a book character. No shame in the practice. :) But yeah, make sure it makes sense as a name on a modern person as well - Jessica worked well, Alia might have... Imoen (or whatever the princess's name was, it's been way too long) not so much. :P

[behindgrey-eyes.livejournal.com]

I don't people mind using names that are from different cultures/books/games/films. I mean, if I was to get annoyed at people using names from my country, there would be a shit load of names people couldn't use XD Mind you Scotland has a lovely heritage of being invaded a lot so most of our names probably came from a lot of other places :p

The second one did irritate me though. Altair for a girl to begin with and an ANTI MUSLIM FAMILY? USING THAT NAME? Clearly they're just idiots all round then :| Did they not even realise that that game is set in the Middle East which is generally a pretty Islamic place?! *facepalm*

[hilzarie.livejournal.com]

Don't know if this helps, but it's also a star.

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's the first thing I think of when I hear Altair, too.

[qtshorty1625.livejournal.com]

On one hand, there's been a lot of ethnic names which have become universal, i.e. Colleen, Shannon, etc. But at the same time, I would find it weird to see a non-Middle Eastern with a name like Noor, Reem, Ziad, etc.

[velkoria.livejournal.com]

I don't care about ethnicity and respecting names. Why? Because globalization. Name your kid what you want. Because if you reeeally think about it most of us are walking around with names not of our strict culture. Like my name Monica really, at it's core, has no business on a Hispanic woman. And names like Morgan/a or Mary have no business on people who are not Irish/Catholic

[elephantus45.livejournal.com]

I can understand why Inuit people could be offended by it, but I am not sure they would (I don't know any...). Now, in my experience, if a white person were to name their kid with a traditional Hawai'ian name then many Hawai'ians would be offended. They are very protective of their culture, and for good reason.

My name is Hebrew. Not related to my heritage at all. My husband's name is an ancient city in Iraq (or Iran I can't remember atm). We are both very white, but its not caused any problems for us at all.