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Original poster

A mixed race Seamus?!

39 replies

UsernamesHarderThanBabyNames · 15/12/2014 17:46

Seamus is one of the only boy names we both like. I have Irish-ish roots and he's black/mixed-race. The baby will presumably be quite dark and we have a French surname so can we pull off Seamus? Family seem to think it's a ridiculous idea and picture a ruddy cheeked old Irishman not a mixed race baby but surely this doesn't matter?!

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Fuckmath · 27/12/2014 18:24

Re Kevin above, it's actually a pretty usual name in France

KenDoddsDadsDog · 27/12/2014 06:49

Brilliant name !

TheFirstSolo · 27/12/2014 05:11

The name is fine! and just to add. I'm mixed race white English/Indian and I'm olive skinned and Dd's father is mixed white English/black Caribbean and has black skin...Dd however, is snow white, blond hair and had sky blue eyes until they turned green at almost 5 years. Little Seamus might look very Irish! :)

CheerfulYank · 27/12/2014 03:36

Love Seamus. Do it! :)

mathanxiety · 27/12/2014 03:31

And I know a French Kevin whose surname is 'very' French - starts with silent H..

mathanxiety · 27/12/2014 03:29

I knew a black Seamus years ago (70s/early 80s) in Ireland and also a Nollaig. Irish names for babies who are not red haired or freckle faced is not a new concept.

Fuckmath · 24/12/2014 09:10

It's absolutely fine. Was considering Niamh for mixed race DD!

TooManyMochas · 21/12/2014 21:26

I was going to mention the O'Halpins too (Fijian-Irish). You really can't get a more Irish name than Sean Og O'Halpin Grin. Ireland has become much more diverse in the past twenty-five years, so there's a new generation of non-white Irish people growing up.

weegiemum · 19/12/2014 09:06

I love Seamus (one of ds's closest friends is Seamus. He was ironically referred to by mil as "the famous Seamus" and it's stuck!).

Arudonto · 19/12/2014 08:59

Sean og and setanta O'halpin are both famous GAA amd rugby player and mixed race.No harm in recognising all of the babys heritage.
Be prepared for Seamie(shay-me) or Shay as a nickname though as its a name often shortened for some reason.

CMP69 · 18/12/2014 17:19

Phil Lynott was mixed race, you don't get more Irish than him Wink

florascotia · 18/12/2014 17:16

Tarquin was an Etruscan name, from central Italy, before the Romans. So the original Tarquins would probably have had typically Mediterranean dark hair and eyes and olive skins. Later, the Roman empire included people from a very wide area, from the Scottish borders to North Africa, Turkey, Iraq and beyond.

squoosh · 18/12/2014 11:05

I would expect a Tarquin to be white but I wouldn't be surprised to meet a West Indian Walter as West Indians often favour quite traditional names like Winston.

Chocolateteacake · 18/12/2014 08:20

Oddly I wouldn't think twice if I met a Seamus, but a black Tarquin or Walter would make me blink. Even Hamish would be lovely.

Beangarda · 17/12/2014 23:57

As a pp poster said, there are black and mixed-race Irish people! I know a black teenage Cormac and a mixed-race baby Diarmuid.

MehsMum · 17/12/2014 21:25

Yer wot? Of course it's fine. How is it any less fine than a Black Martin or Monica, or a white/Asian James or Isabel? Those are all people I have known...

DramaAlpaca · 17/12/2014 21:14

It's Shay-mus.

TheScenicRoute · 17/12/2014 21:13

May I ask how you pronounce it? As its spelt? Sea-mus or is it Shay-mus?

FranKatzenjammer · 17/12/2014 21:12

I teach a mixed race Seamus. It really suits him.

TheScenicRoute · 17/12/2014 21:07

I cannot see a problem on any level, I can see how other people have an idea of what a name represents and can't move on from that, but once baby is here it will become completely normal to them.

Chocolateteacake · 17/12/2014 18:27

I've worked with a few Seamus's and I like it as a name. Is the surname very very French, or French as in St something? I live names that 'dont match' DS being a perfect case in point!

moxon · 17/12/2014 17:49

Loooooooove Seamus.

SunshineAndShadows · 17/12/2014 13:07

Surely by your family's 'logic' that limits you to only traditional black-African names Confused Very odd
Seamus is lovely Smile

MrsRhettButler · 16/12/2014 00:00

My cousin is a mixed race Seamus, it suits him Smile

squoosh · 15/12/2014 23:56

I know mixed race Irish babies called Oisín and Cormac. They carry their names with aplomb as your Seamus will.

Seamus is a great name, it does have a farmer image but there's a whole new generation of Seamuses being born