AIBU or is baby name cultural appropriation a thing?

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I'm ready to be told I'm being silly BUT am I right in thinking there's a level of.. appropriateness? Inappropriateness? In using names from other cultures.
For example.. would it be strange for an English couple with no discernible links to any other countries or heritage to name their child Priya, Otto, Etienne or Niamh, among many other names.
To be honest I flip backwards and forwards between thinking there are so many lovely names in the world, why shouldn't they be used by whoever likes them, and then that it's just a bit strange if no link!
Happy to discuss, I have no strong feeling either way just intrigued to see what opinions there are.

You definitely thought he was joking then had a crafty wee google, didn’t ya 😂

The only time I recall thinking anything along those lines was a MN thread years and years ago, where a non-Jewish poster wanted to call their son Cohen. Nothing would dissuade them, I recall. On the thread anyway!

My sister was weirdly worried about this when she had her daughter. She thought a Spanish name would be weird even though we're half Spanish and speak the language. She said it would be 'too far back' and it would be silly for the kid to have a Spanish first name and British last name. So odd. I think if there's a family connection, even back as far as grandparents, it's absolutely fine. If no connection, a bit odd but I don't think it's really appropriation either. There are loads of Amelies and Elodies around and Francesca has been big for years.

Oh gosh, doesn’t it just depend on what the parents like and how appropriate it is in that context?!

My partner and I named our children after family names. Names that have been used in previous generations and we are British. One of those names is one mentioned in the OP. But it’s a family name that DPs grandfather was called. The other is also a family name but is an Irish - in fact THE most common Irish name for boys - but it’s also my uncles name and is also Celtic and English. And we’re English so…..?

Are we all just not mixes of our ancestors?

I feel like this is one of those unspoken things where noone is ever specifically told where the line is but most know it naturally. Hence why people naturally seem to feel that Luca is ok but Mohammed is weird. You can never come up with a comprehensive list of what is right and what is wrong, but people just socially get it.

They are both translations of the Hebrew name Yeshua.

Maybe after the granny chic trend the next naming trend will be Anglo-Saxon names once the current young generation start having children.

Neither of those examples are appropriation. Appropriation would be doing yoga and saying “namaste” at the end, divorcing the word from its original meaning and use in order to exoticise your whiteness. Or claiming to be the world’s sushi expert when you’re not Japanese, and benefiting financially and otherwise from your sushi expertise as the expense of Japanese people.

The right to self expression really isn’t king when your self expression can cause harm or detriment to others.

But in Islam these people are prophets. Jibril / Gabriel, Nua / Noah, Isa /Jesus so no reason on Islam not to.

This is a very interesting thread for me, learning the different origins of the names of many of my DC friends and neighbours DC.

I have misspelled Jibril many times as Jubril. I love the name.

@LesGiselle Cohen also has Irish roots.

I’ve just read that the word “namaste” has no single translation in English so please explain why saying it within the context of practicing yoga creates harm or disrespect to others. Why does someone from a different culture becoming an expert in an aspect of a foreign culture signal cultural appropriation to you? Non-Japanese Sumo wrestlers spring to mind; non Koreans teaching Taekwon Do…
How about all the non- Trinidadians playing the steelband at the Platinum Jubilee parade? As someone with a very multi-cultural background, I personally think accusations of cultural appropriation are from ppl with a misplaced sense of offence. There are more serious things in the world to focus on.

Unlike France, in the UK, You can name your child wharever the fuck you want to; however, this means we have 'Chardonnay' 'Paris', 'Chyanne' and other such car crashes.
But, it is a free country, and a free country allows freedom of expression
More important issues in the world

This is just stupid. There's nothing wrong with saying namaste after yoga ffs.

I do so wish I could meet someone who thinks namaste is cultural appropriation. I only ever encounter sane, rational people. It would be such fun to be around people this earnest and frankly, nuts 😀😀😀

Cultural appropriation really shouldn't be applied to ordinary boring people just doing their own thing. I don't think it's anyone's business what you say after yoga.

Wasn't there a US college that banned or wanted to ban sushi? 😂

Try this: amp.smh.com.au/lifestyle/why-white-people-need-to-stop-saying-namaste-20160401-gnw2xx.html

or this: www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2020/01/17/406246770/how-namaste-flew-away-from-us

Just call your children whatever you want, someone somewhere will turn up to be offended.

I think this is woke gone mad tbh. Plenty of names are borrowed from different cultures.

Call your babies whatever you like.

I just question does anything good come from being offended by someone enjoying something from a different culture. Very few people are going to be making money or gaining large amounts of admiration from doing so.

Do we really want to live in a world of people in their little boxes only allowed to do/say/wear their cultural things? Sounds like a really boring and insular world.

The idea of Cultural appropriation is fair for exploration but can be corrosive in practice - thoughtful people are afraid to engage with things that aren’t from their culture and worry endlessly about causing offence, and people who appropriate cultures to make money or satisfy their own wants are thick skinned and it won’t stop them. Has anyone else noticed this?

I agree, and as someone whose heritage spans several cultures but looks white British, where does it leave people like me?

We’ve got to just use a bit of common sense. My white male friend used to sell a specific ethnic food in the UK, he spent years in the country learning his craft, he is a fine ambassador for the culture the food is from and has been embraced by the expat community from that country. He says it wouldn’t be viable today, because criticism from (white middle class) potential customers about cultural appropriation and not being invited to cater at events because his ethnicity does not match his food. It’s this kind of thing that gives ammunition to the far right.