Asian or English names?

Malik / Malika

If you're keen to include a nod to your partner's heritage, maybe you could look for a middle name that has a connection with his place of birth, or an aspect of the culture in which he was raised? There are a lot of beautiful names with connections to Pakistani culture without being overtly associated with one faith or another.

If neither of you are practising Muslims then it probably wouldn't make that much sense to give your child an overtly Islamic name, although if you wanted that association there are lots of names which have English versions, eg. Michael, Noah, Mary.

In terms of UK legal issues around names, if you aren't married (with a legally valid UK marriage), I'd suggest using your last name for your baby. It makes a lot of things easier if you and your baby have the same last name, and gives some additional protection in case of a relationship breakdown. You could then change both your last names after marriage if you wanted?

In Islam, the main piece of guidance about naming a child is to choose a name with a good meaning which will set them up for a life in which they can find success and happiness and be a good and kind person. Pick a name that you and your partner love, that has a nice meaning and makes you both happy.

(But I'd really recommend not going with Azrael...)

Give any british name you like, but if child looks anything other than white british he will still be victim of racism.

I would do English first name, Asian middle name, if you will be living in an English speaking country. I have a name which does not match my cultural background and I have spent my entire life spelling it.... I am very careful to spell and pronounce other peoples' names right though!

I know of someone who named her child Gabriel to fit in with the Western Culture he was raised in, but the Middle Eastern side called him Jibreel and that worked for her family. I wouldn’t worry about ‘Gay’, gay isn’t an insult

Oh my gosh, please don't name your baby Izra'il or Azrael, that's the angel of death. I think your DPs family would also really not like that name!

Aliyah and Leila/Laila are Arab/Muslim names too, I think it's only now becoming more common for white people to use these names.

Honestly, it doesn't matter what your baby's name is. There are so many weird and wonderful names these days that nobody will probably notice, as well as mixed cultural names. Pick something you and him both like - the fact that baby's surname will be Pakistani will probably give away their race anyway!

Agree with @takeme2insanity

Micheal is the spelling often used in Ireland.

My friend is Scottish and her two have Celtic first names and their Dads Asian surname.

Pakistani origin here, mixed couple but both Muslim. So dc have dh’s western last name but have muslim first and middles muslim name because we are muslims.

So what stands out to me is that neither of you are muslim and it really makes no sense to have muslim first names when you aren’t. Given your situation I’d choose an English name that you like rather than muslim name that you are going to anglicise that looses the sense of the name, a lot of people of mumsnet suggest that as an obvious solution but it’s not great.

Pakistani-German friends whose parents weren’t married were given German 1st name then Pakistani (muslim midddle names) and then German last name to be changed on marriage but never did. They’ve always said the middle name gave them an actual cultural link but not everyone’s business.

In terms of a last name, as you aren’t married I wouldn’t give my dc my dp name unless we were married.

I really don’t think you should go down the rabbit hole of what your child’s skin colour or tone will be. What ever it will be it will be perfect and you will do the best for him or her regardless.

OP if you are choosing a name familiar in English please use the most common spelling eg Michael not Micheal. You cannot imagine how infuriating it is to have a normal name with a not normal spelling, you spend your life correcting people, altering forms etc.

I have come across people using names that can easily be anglicized eg Karenjit and Sharonjit (yes I know they are Sikh names).

user97533676 is not unusual in having a nickname, it's quite common with people from Hong Kong and works well.

Anyway congratulations on your pregnancy, you may find you take a look at your child and they look like a particular name.

OP if you look on baby name lists of Muslim names there are plenty of names which are instantly recognisable and even if they have different spellings you can recognise them by their pronunciation. While some of them aren't English they won't stand out as being Muslim as they are common in other European countries e.g. Ireland, Greece, Russia.

I know plenty of people who have such names which they don't realise. And when I was looking for names for my DD I deliberately choose a middle name that fitted within those parameters due to my wider family culture.

You basically Google for a list of Muslim names. Check any names you like have variations in other cultures, look at the spelling variations for that name and choose an Anglicized spelling.

For example just did a Google now for Muslim girls names and it threw up the well-known names Anita, Alisha, Ariana, Amelia, Amber.....

Also wanted to say, OP, I was in a similar situation, dad was Muslim, mum wasn't.
Different races but not the ones you mentioned.
I was given an Islamic name with an English nickname.
Everyone used the English nickname.
In the end I changed my name legally to the English nickname but that wasn't entirely because of the name.
Something like that may work for you.

I’m going to be really blunt. I live in Aus and it’s quite a racist place (moved from London). I find it’s extremely white and segregated in general- most non white people tend to be Chinese, Indian or south east Asian and live in their own ethnicity areas. I would give them a western name.

User, I just thought it was somewhat relevant since my DP was raised but not practising Muslim, and I am picking Islamic angle names. I supposed I wanted peoples views on us using them as much as anything else.

Sorry I meant it was interesting you used "identify."
I've never heard as someone identifying as a Muslim.

Completely off topic I was just interested that you described you both as identifying as a follower of something.

I've just realised you didn't actually say a boy. Girls we know.

Jenna(h)
Sara (in various Zara, Zarah, Zahra, Saara, Saraah forms)
Selina
Aliyah/Alia (I also know two girls with English parents with this name)
Leila
Tania
Isla/Aiyla/Ayla
Maria
Diana
Dinah
Aida

Rafail is also an angel I think (Raphael) and Rafa or Rafi for short which is fab. Mikhail/Michael is nice as Mika. Gabriel is lovely.

Mixed couples we know (and we are mixed Asian and English/Middle Eastern) have gone for things like

Noah (not Nuh)
Elias
Zak (in various long forms but all known as Zak)
Adam
Sami
Ryan/Rayan
Aaron/Arun
Ari (a Jewish Asian couple)
Daniel/Daniyal

Re: surnames, I think that is personal choice really. I let ours have DH's because his was easier to spell (we are also married). I gave my surname as a second middle name (due to aforementioned spelling ballache).

that should have said
easier all round if DC has the same surname as their mother

Sorry to be negative, but it's easier all round if DC has the same surname, and of course, it can be changed when you get married

Friend of her friend had her fingers burnt by a DH who had dual nationality. She was married but he buggered off back home

Micheal (fada on the i and a) is an irish name, approx. pron., Mee-hahl.
It was probably a typo upthread