What about all those American girls names that sound like boys names, place names or surnames?

WFV, we all know that loads of Americans have strong links to their country of origin and visit that country and are in touch with relatives and speak that second language etc...

But you have to admit that in Ireland and UK nobody would say I'm Canadian if their Grandparents were Canadian! My paternal GPs were Canadian, they left Canada in about 1930 and my eldest uncle and his children could get Canadian passports I think, BUT, we just never, ever say "we are half Canadian" because it's not the way we look at things here. With my Dublin accent people would just fall about laughing if I said "I'm Canadian" (I have been there twice btw! I have seen my Great grandparents gravestones! cheerful ey?)

willowthewispa - I think you aren't generalising enough about Americans. You left out that we are all loud, obnoxious, ignorant, etc etc. I mean, come on, you can do better than simply stopping at insulting Americans of mixed heritage who actually DO know something of their homeland/s. Jaysus. Can you be any more ignorant yourself?

I love that Americans consider themselves Italian/Hungarian/Irish etc - despite never having been there or met anyone that's been there, never mind having been born there themselves. It does seem to be a peculiarly American thing, I would never dream of describing myself as Irish, despite having an Irish grandparent and an Irish surnam

And whoever mentioned Lynette's children on Desperate Housewives - yes, they're horrible! Isn't it Parker, Preston and Porter? Sounds so bizarre to my ears.

I work in a nursery, and we don't have any weird names I think - lots of Sam, Ben, Jack and Sophie, Lucy and Charlotte type names (and a couple of Bettys too!).

The two children I have who can speak have Scottish accents. One is 3 and already has one. I guess it's because I'm the only American voice they hear so they speak like everyone around them.

I absolutely love DD2's nursery teacher's S. African accent, though. It's gorgeous!

David Tennant. She finds David Tennant fanciable?!

The RobinHood chap I could understand that, he's a nice looking kid.

But DT?!

I'm frankly horrified.

Well, she probably doesn't know many boys from Houston!

It's an interesting point though -- what sort of accent does a toddler have? That of their mother? DD kind of sounds like Peppa Pig

Re spelling: I knew a girl at High School named, 'Shivaun' and her (Irish) mother said it was to spare her a lifetime of having to spell it (Siobhan). As someone with a very unusual surname, I totally understood.

You suck, Salty!

OMG, DD1 has completely betrayed her maternal heritage. The other day, after seeing an advert with DT, she said, 'I'm going to marry that bloke who plays Dr. Who because I like his eyes and I like how he talks.'

I said, 'But he's from Paisley!' (not pointing out that he's a) beyond minging b) about 30 years older than she is).

And she shrugged and said, 'Aye, but so's mah wee brother.'

EEEEEEEEewwwwww.

She also wants to marry the chap who plays RobinHood because, 'I like the look of him,' so there's hope for her yet.

Chaya, well, you may say "who cares?" but tbh, I do. For hundreds of years Finley and Rory (just to use 2 examples) were boys names.

chaya, Biblical names are fair game for any country with a Christian or Jewish background. I guess spellings reflected whichever translation of the Bible was being used at the time - English scripture has been translated from several different languages, including Greek and Hebrew, you are bound to end up with evolved spellings

Don't go trying to blame the Welsh for cultural imperialism, btw, they have NEVER oppressed anyone. (Unless the Patagonians got up to something I don't know about...)

Why not? Honestly. What is seriously wrong with spelling a name differently?

I suppose it is similar to Dylan. My American friend sent us a card saying Dillon. She then rang me to say she thinks she spelt his name the American way and she was very sorry.

Edam - that was the point i was trying to make. The name Eilidh is a Gaelic one, and if an American wants to use it then they shouldn't change it to Aylee.

Edam - have you read any of my posts? Who really cares if cultures use name from the other. The British have been using Hebrew names (and changing the spelling etc) for decades. If a culture is strong it should withstand others borrowing and adapting from it. Personally, I wouldn't care if the Chinese use English names (or vice versa)however they want. To feel otherwise indicates a clear insecurity.

Ahhhh, Expat you aren't my best friend in disguise are you??? She came round today and spent half an hour telling me how much she loves David Tennant, how awful it is that he is not going to be the Doctor anymore and when she has a boy he is going to be called David Tennant. I'm sure she is really 12.

(Apart from Chinese Americans of course, who may do that already.)

lastbox - point is Bryn is a Welsh male name (and the word for hill). If Yanks want to adopt it, fair enough, but they should pay attention to the culture they are raiding and not fuck around with the spelling. You are currently top dog nation until the Chinese take over, other countries have no chance if you start messing with their language.

Wonder if the Chinese will start mis-spelling American English names in a few decades - or maybe Americans will be calling their children Jung or Ming or Gileng?

Everyone on here knows that the only other sites Expat posts on are "davidtennantisverysexy.org and Ilovedavidtennant(therealonenottheonemadeofrhubarb).co.uk, so no way can tampons have seen her anyhwere else

I was going to say that this is very like MN.

Obviously not the breastfeeding v formula threads

Flings baby dust at BALD.

Nope, never been on FertilityFriend because I've never monitored my fertility.

'your' is both a singular and plural pronoun.

'This is so unlike Mumsnet.'

PMSL! You've missed some classic threads on here.

Anyhow, Gunnerbean, you sure do know how to start 'em!

I thought throwing around peurile insults was very MN. What threads have you been on?

Welcome to the thread BoysarelikeDogs...

Can I make something clear - I don't follow Expat anywhere. We're both American expats living in the UK and we both post fairly frequently on another website especially for expats abroad. I've noticed her posts on the other board because she's got the same screenname for both. I don't, which may be why she didn't recognise me - or maybe she's just never noticed me before.

This all has nothing to do with this thread and I'm very sorry to the original poster to have been involved in such drama and chaos. Can I suggest we return to discussing whether or not we think names that might be considered "American" - especially the tendency towards first names as last names - will catch on here?

I disagree.

The thread went south when the poster lastboxoftampons divulged that she follows expat around the internet, taking note of her various postings on different parenting sites. Creepy.

Prior to that it was an interesting discussion.

Honestly, this thread has got so nasty. Seems to have got that way when Expat arrived on the scene and started throwing puerile personal insults around the place about "eijit" Americans etc. People please. This is so unlike Mumsnet.

urrrr a stalker

go away lastboxoftampons you are v creepy