Why do so many people object to...

My name is French (it's blody awful though and wouldn't wish it on anyone) There are no french in my family.

DS has a not too popular biblcal name.
DD has an Italian variant of a name (not common here)

unless its really out of the ordinary I can't see how it would be a problem.

Ah, see that's interesting. Names that are from one culture or another but might not been seen as such by the majority of people.

Even mroe interesting, names that might be seen as belonging to a particular culture if you are in England but not seen that way in America (or any other pair of countries/locations/cultures).

I always think of Sarah as a Jewish name, although many would consider it the archetypal English rose.

I honestly think live and let live with names. Everyone has the right to name their children as they see fit. Providing it isn't completely off the wall.

Blunter way of what people said above - sounds like you are trying far too hard to have a name that is interesting if you appropriate one from a culture to which you have no links.

Darwin or Dawkin!

Because it is poncey.

It's personal choice of course CaptainNancy :) (Agree Malachi is a great name though! :o)

I wonder if there are any "atheist names" which religious people try to avoid?

It depends on the origin of the name. Our proximity to Europe means it's inevitable that the majority of the most popular names near have origins in other countries.

But sometimes it just doesn't seem right. I know a little girl called Priya and as far as I can tell there are absolutely no Indian roots in her family. Beautiful name but it just seems a little weird.

horatia- of course, you're right, but I didn't want any religious overtones (though I love the name Malachi actually)

And of course (Godwin time, sorry) Nazis had to be called something too, but there aren't too many Adolfs around nowadays.

Well, I, my mum and my brother all have Hebrew names, though they're so assimilated into the English language that people forget their origin. None of us are Jewish, though we have Jewish ancestry.

All names of biblical origin, yes!

Plus, nothing beginning with R due to pronunciation issues for DH... or G due to surname issues...

DCs do actually have 6 forenames between them... there were some left!

The people in the Bible all had to be called something, didn't they? They're just names that people were called when the Bible was written. It's the people and what they did which are of most importance to Christians, not necessarily what their names were.

when I was pregnant with DD2 my ex wanted to call her India. I like the name but am white and british (as is her father) and have never been to India. He has tho it isnt anything of significance to him. We don't have any particular interest in Indian culture and I just thought I would look foolish trying to explain why we had chosen it for no other reason than the word is quite nice. Like antimacassar or peripatic or something equally random.

I think if you choose an unusual or less common name you are often asked what the reasoning behind it is. If you can only shrug and say, 'it just sounds quite nice' many people (me included) would feel a little silly. I also have the slight issue that these sort of names smack a little of trying too hard - to be exotic or different. And that just won't do!

Ha! That was my main requirement- NO biblical names (staunchly atheist)

Maybe, bulby it's not about being perceived as trying too hard, perhaps it's about not wanting to be perceived as claiming a heritage that doesn't 'belong' to you? My DH's father is Scottish, and my grandfather was Scottish - but when we gave our DS a Scottish middle name - my FIL just couldn't understand it. He actually asked why we had picked a Scottish name when we were English .

And, incidentally, I like Liesl, and I'd be less worried about choosing that than I would be about choosing Guisepina for instance.

I don't have stron views except for wincing slightly when I hear beautiful french names said in a blunt English accent.

Am - err - lee springs to mind.

My children have names which are more typically European than British (though there are plenty of British examples for each) and on the surface you might think it odd as DH and I appear 'British'... however our children have 7 nationalities between their 8 great-grandparents!

The meanings of their names were very important to us, and we gave them middle names that represented (some of) their origins, or were an homage to people who meant a great deal to us.

I think people should just choose names they love- they have to live with their choice for the rest of their lives, it needs to be something you love hearing!

I wander if some people think that in choosing a foreign name they'll be perceived as trying too hard or if people just don't think to do it, I really do think it's an interesting question though. I quite agree that people with obviously foreign sounding names will probably often have to explain it was just a liked name. (actually even though I knew I wanted Britishthe exception was I liked Liesl which dh vetoed simply because we're not German!)

There's such a sliding scale. eg, you see Dieter, and you know it's german for Peter. You might wonder why they chose it, but you might wonder why somebody chose Jack.

We are familiar with names from languages that have the same roots. eg Blanca, Bianca, Blanche we know tha tthey all mean the same thing. Who knows what's Kenyan or Korean or Maoiri for white?