Foreign names - what is the MN view on their use?

My dd1's name is Persian, we picked it because we liked it. It can also be spelt a different way which is Irish and that spelling is very popular, due to there being an actress with the same name, which means that lots of people spell dd's name wrong. We named our dd1 before this actress became famous.

Dd2's name is greek, again we picked it because we liked it and funnily enough there is an actress with the same name, but we didn't name dd2 after her as people seem to think. It was on the list of baby names from when I was expecting dd1 many years before, again before that actress became famous.

I don't see what's wrong with using foreign names, if you like the name use it. My name is actually French, I'm scottish with a Scottish surname. I have Scottish, Irish and Swedish ancestry. DH's name is Scottish and his ancestry is mainly Scottish.

sleepsforwimps - What is your DD's name? I'm curious to hear which Turkish name isn't a "particularly foreign sounding name".

When I was flying to Norway some years ago[?10]I sat beside a mother with a baby named Kevin.She was Norwegian and told me it was becoming very popular there.

I don't know what you really mean by foreign names. Practically every name in use in Britain for centuries originated somewhere else, except for Alfred and other Olde English type names.

Lori73- a thumbs up to u huni

If you like the foreign name, I think you should just use it.
Having lived both in Australia and the UK and with lots of friends and family with babies in Australia/America/England, it is only now that I live in England that I have ever come across the attitude of 'don't use a foreign name if you are not linked to the name's place of origin'.
Thus, it strikes me as very odd that sometimes people on mumsnet say 'don't name your daughter Saskia if you are not Dutch/Freya if you are not Norwegian/Anastasia if you are not Russian/Luca if you are not Italian' etc. But I guess the reason why it strikes me as odd is because I never came across this attitude amongst mothers I know in other english speaking countries, so TBH it seems a bit narrow minded.
Isabella, for example, is the Spanish Elizabeth. I guess it's only because it's become so hugely popular that people who have named their dd Isabella here don't get criticized for choosing a 'foreign' name and told they should have called their dd Elizabeth!

I'm so going to enjoy this when it comes to babynaming as a French/English family who will probably spend time in various European countries. My name is mispronounced by everyone and I am SO keen to avoid this for my children but it means they'll never have typically 'English' names, but I don't like most French ones...So we'll probably go for a name from a culture than neither of us are actually connected to!

I think if you're an 'international' sort of person then it's fine - you would have good reason for it - but when it's done by English through and through, never leave the country, no discernible connnection however remote to that culture it's rather strange.

Marioandluigi, my Irish Doctor thinks DD has a great name, and has never mentioned us not being Irish. He does get annoyed at people spelling it Neeve though, and comments every time I see him that DD has a lovely name, spelt correctly!

I personally feel I'd like to have some sort of connection with another country to choose a name from there.

I think it's nice to have a name that has some sort of meaning or resonance for you or your family, rather than picking a name just because you like the way it sounds.

We deliberately chose a "European" name for DD, one which is used in several countries rather than a specifically "English" name. We are Catholics, and have some French and Italian ancestry and we felt DD's name reflected that part of our cultural heritage.

Mugglewump - snap! When I had her everyone asked if we were Irish, or if we had Irish connections. It was the same when I named DS Fraser - My scottish boss at the time took real exception to me 'stealing' a Scottish name

I gave DD an Irish name, and we're not Irish, never even been to Ireland.
It's Niamh though, so one of the more well known ones. I wouldn't have gone for an obscure one. She has to spell it out as it.

I dont think it matters i posted my own foreign name on here a while bk just to see what reaction i got frm it(didnt say it was my own) Got the reaction i expected not a good 1.Both my parents are english my siblings all have fairly normal names & i have a dutch name 1 that is hard to pronounce & all that. I do get complemented on my name even though i hate it but who does really like there own name lol.I do get the oh are your parents dutch ect the one good thing about it is when someone calls me i dont have 20 people all turning around to answer.

We are Scottish. I suggested calling our son Camillo (not sure why but I really like it). DH said no, and he's now called Hugo Hamish.....but I still really like Camillo. Would that have been wrong?

LOL @ English and Yourkshire not being the same thing!

I am dull and English; DH is duller and Yorkshire. DS has a trad English, Old testament First Name, to go with our trad Yorkshire surname. Probably in reaction to explaining my West Indian middle name seemingly about once a week.

My dad had a colleague who was half Scottish, half Japanese called Yakimoto Hamilton , which I rather liked.

I am British and my husband is German and our daughter's name is common in Italy and Spain. I think it's assimilated enough into both of our cultures for us to get away with it though!

Here right now there is an abundance of Kevins and the like. It did sound weird to my ears at first, but now I'm used to it.

My thoughts are if you like a name, use it!

sorry Ilse!

Lol at skihorse

And Bucharest is right too. One of the names on my short list was Ilse - had a lovely colleague with that name and also for me it has glam 'Casablanca' connotations. DH vetoed it on grounds it was equivalent to Aunt Agatha and said my colleague must have been named after a dying grandmother etc etc no way. On the other hand his grandmother was called - Melanie - and I'm sure she was born well before the 1970s! In Belgium its quite an 'old' name.

(And yes of course I have seen Agatha on here now. Maybe I should have insisted on Lise.)

My OH and I are both Scottish and we live in The Netherlands. We are open to "foreign" names, however we are looking for one which is easily recognised in other countries. We both have names which travel well - I'd hate to think that my darling child's name translated to "fat-faced pig" in Croat.

no,obviously not,i have an irish surname and an english first name as i am english but my grandparents were all irish. If i'd been given an irish first name then it would have reflected that and wouldn't look odd.
when there's no cultural link to the name i think it's a bit meh

thesecond, do you think Giuseppe Smith is bit wrong even when it reflects a mixed family background and is the name of a child who actually belong to two cultures (dual nationality, speaks two languages etc)?

• my DH has a foreign version of Guiseppe Smith (his parents come from 2 very different countries) and he has had quite a few comments over the years!

my sister lives in spain,her children are spanish-they have spanish names Miguel, Ines,Maria,Gabriel and Mateo.
We were in the trafford centre when her 2nd daughter (with pierced ears!) was a teeny tiny baby and some proper proper scallies came in the lift and were looking at the baby exclaiming about her 'lickle earrings' they asked my Dsis what she was called and she said 'this is ines and this is Miguel' to which the pregnant scally said 'NICE ONE-LOVE THE NAMES'

People (scallies mainly or very aspirationals which is a weird mix!)trying to sound different/continental are now using Andre (instead of andrew) stefan/stefano instead of Stephen Marco instead of Mark Luca instead of Luke and Carlos- they sound BEAUTIFUL in a manc accent i can assure you...

my view is that the names belong to a certain culture-although my dd2's name is one that is currently in the top ten in most european countries although spelled differently...horses for courses but Guiseppe Smith is a bit wrong imho.