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Baby names

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Original poster

A black child with an Eastern European name ?

66 replies

Namerci · 23/06/2022 08:48

Hi! I have been thinking about this a lot , and would like to get some opinions.
My husband is half Latvian half Black British and I am Black. We are expecting a little girl and we both like the names Karlene and Anya, which are latvian/Russian names. But our baby will probably look fully black ( Since she'll only be 25% Latvian). Would you find that odd or shocking if you met a black person with an Eastern European name ?

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Etinoxaurus · 23/06/2022 08:57

Not at all.
Vaguely related to the topic, I think it’s very cool that Idris is Welsh and Arabic.

Chaoslatte · 23/06/2022 08:57

My neighbours are black and their daughter is called Sasha which is Eastern European and I’ve never thought about that until now

GroggyLegs · 23/06/2022 08:54

I wouldn't give it a second thought.

(I think Anya is a lovely name)

Anothernamechangeplease · 23/06/2022 08:54

Agree, Anya is beautiful. Would the surname be Eastern European as well, OP? If it's just the first name, I doubt it will even occur to most people to think about it.

Chaoslatte · 23/06/2022 08:54

I wouldn’t think twice about either of those names. I’ve never heard of Karlene before (only Charlene) so wouldn’t have known that it was Latvian and Anya is popular generally. I only know one but she’s just white British with no Eastern European heritage.

OneEyedPenguin · 23/06/2022 08:54

I wouldn't find it odd at all, I don't think I'd even notice.

Pegasushaswings · 23/06/2022 08:53

Who cares? MN can be weird about names but they are pretty names just use them, I didn’t realise Karlene was Lativian anyway, Anya is a name that seems to be timeless so would be a good choice too.

RichardOsmansXraySpecs · 23/06/2022 08:53

Nah. Go for it.

villamariavintrapp · 23/06/2022 08:52

No, wouldn't think it strange. Both of those are international names though, not limited to Eastern Europe.

Mytoddlerisamazing · 23/06/2022 08:52

Not at all. If I thought about it is probably guess they had Eastern European heritage somewhere. Tbh the names you've suggested I wouldn't even think were Eastern European. I like Anya best 🙂

Luxa · 23/06/2022 08:51

I wouldn't think twice about it.

Anothernamechangeplease · 23/06/2022 08:51

No, I wouldn't find it strange, I would just assume mixed heritage.

Enko · 23/06/2022 08:50

I like both would not put a lot of thought into the persons colour before I met them.

PAFMO · 23/06/2022 08:50

Nope.

BakeOffRewatch · 23/06/2022 08:49

I know someone called Karlene who is black and Anya is a common name across cultures. I wouldn’t think twice about it.

RandomDentist · 23/06/2022 08:49

Not at all. Black people have all kinds of names.