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.

While I don't agree it's a cultural appropriation issue a name chosen from an unknown culture can also have other impact.
I've heard of children mispronouncing their own names because a parent picked an Irish name from a book and didn't know how to say it properly - Siobhan pronounced si-o-ban. Also I know an old gent with a very Scandinavian name who has had to explain to every person he's ever met he has zero links and his parents just liked it. I imagine that gets to be a tedious icebreaker after 40 years

My daughter's name is the French version of an English name. You're being ridiculous. Names are names and unless you're going to dress little Etienne in stripes with onions around his neck how is it possibly remotely offensive? YABU

I don't really think it is for other people to judge the appropriateness of names or whether in their opinion there is any appropriation.

My daughter has a name from another culture. I'm from a multi-cultural background (one parent foreign and the other English). If you were to look at my husband (completely English) or I the judgmental would wrongly assume appropriation.

I currently have a little Alan in my class...he's a 6 year old Nigerian Muslim...I'm off to start a Cultural Appropriation claim right now god dammit! 🤣

I agree with this. It’s not as clear cut as saying ‘never use a name from another culture’ or ‘it’s absolutely fine to use any name whatsoever’. There is nuance.

As a white British person there are some namss I would not use even if I really liked them (and Mohammed is definitely on that list)

I agree with people saying how far do you take it - my name is originally German. I’m not German. My sons names are Hebrew and DDs name has french origins. DC are Indian and British. Should we only have used names from our immediate heritage? 🤷🏻‍♀️

My DC dad has a non-english background and to me that gave us "permission " to use names from that culture which I never would have done otherwise. I'm glad they have unusual (in England) names that link them to their heritage. To me it would have felt weird to use names that no personal cultural significance.

But saying that I wouldn't care if someone else used a name that was from a different culture, I would assume that they had some link or appreciation for a different place that I wasn't aware of. I do think it's odd that people just pluck a name out of thin air without thinking about its heritage or meaning though.

I also have a Chinese Peter...today is going to be interesting when I speak to Al and Petey's parents 🙌🏼🤣

Ming is a beautiful name in East Asian countries, but it means something totally different over there. She’ll be called minger at school :( it’s the same for people who are bilingual and are mixed race or dual nationality. There are “white” names that sound like words in other languages, some do not have nice meanings.

Yep - Laura means penis in Hindi, for example! Sometimes names do not translate well.

I'm waiting to see it applied to food next

MigsandTigs there was a thread recently in which a poster (more than one, maybe) said that chefs should not cook food from other cultures than his/her own.
So no point British chefs training abroad since they shouldn’t cook what they learned.

cultural appropriation to me is about dominant cultures adopting minority cultures’ sacred, spiritual, religious or culturally important practices for entertainment or gain: so white girls wearing Native American war bonnets at festivals, Gwen Stefani wearing a bindi, white fashion designers sending kimonos down the catwalk, white chefs becoming famous and profiting from a country’s food: “Rick Stein’s India” is a book title that always makes me do a horrified laugh, it ain’t yours mate! And it’s full of recipes that “improve” India’s originals, and glossy photos of poor brown people to bring authenticity to Rick’s profits.

or the Spice Girls doing the Haka.

Nuance? On MN? Good luck 🤣🤣

Cultural appropriation is a ridiculous idea. Cultures have always mixed and merged, its how humanity came to be. If you like a name, use it.

@Ozgirl75 I have a very old fashioned English name and a Chinese name. My Dad did this as it was an attempt to fit in plus hardly anyone can pronounce my Chinese name. My children were given English and Chinese names they are however mixed, their English names are the names commonly used.

As an Irish person I think there’s a special kind of offensiveness with British people using Irish Gaelic names.

Cultural appropriation seems to be a catch all term that includes:

Cultural appreciation
Cultural imbrication
Cultural exploitation

Cultural exploitation is the issue, but be hand wringing over appreciation and imbrication only serves as a tool to divide us IMO.

I know plenty of people with parents from another country who if you met their parents and or them you could easily assume they're white English, though they're not. You can't know a person's cultural/ ethnic history without being told, so one shouldn't just assume it's what you consider to be cultural appropriation.

There are plenty of instances of race based prejudice, discrimination and exploitation that are worthy of attention. IMO focus on these non issues just dilutes serious issues.

you are being silly. As long as the name you select won’t embarrass your child when they grow up - I really don’t see what the problem is in selecting a name you like. It’s no one else’s business. Would you rather we have a list of pre approved names The woke committee have selected for you based on your cultural heritage and someone else’s political leanings? Shall we ban religious names? My parents gave me an English name - as they didn’t want me discriminated against, I think it’s very sad. Why should I seek the approval
of others in such a personal matter?

Surely it's better that names aren't strictly policed by race.
Makes it harder for CVs to be rejected due to racism if there are fewer 'foreign' names.

Is this why the baby names board is full of ridiculous proper noun suggestions?

My name is of German origin too.
I recently made a thread on here because I was worried we'd named our baby a name that is nothing to do with our heritage. Kinda knew I was being silly and was probably just postnatal woes but this thread has made those feelings come back😔 never even considered that people would be bothered before. As others have said though, surely depends on the name - but where do you draw the line..

Otto is a very old fashion Germanic name, we had a couple of medival kings called like that in Northern Germany and one was married to an English princess.

I agree with this. My Dc are mixed race but two of them are pale and look white - they have “European” names anyway but the point is you shouldn’t assume someone’s ethnic heritage just by what they look like.

These women clearly have something lacking in life. To look for offence on behalf of others all day every day shows a chronic sadness and sense of loneliness. I feel.really sad for so many of these posters. It also reinforces my knowledge that working, even when away 2 weeks at a time sometimes if preferable to stagnating at home with nothing but child stuff.

Glad you are the minority (I think)

Hmmm.... I think POC and Chinese people pick Western names because often nobody can be bothered to pronounce their real names, plus having an "ethnic" name is an disadvantage in the job market. Thus Siddharth becomes Sid, Mohammed becomes Mo, Anjali becomes Angie and so on...

That said, I am not too pressed if white people "appropriate" my culture by borrowing the names, wearing bindis, cooking the food, and so on... There appear to be larger problems in the world.