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.

I gave my child a name from my parents’ tribe in Nigeria. It also happens to be a fairly common Irish name.

I have had quite a few people ask me why I gave my child an Irish name. At least they have the good sense to be embarrassed when I tell them that actually I named my child a name from my family tribe- it’s not uncommon for names to pop up in several cultures and lots of assumptions can be made. Better not to assume.

I think it’s only appropriation when the meaning of the name has a specific cultural, religious or spiritual significance- it bugs me when people name their child those type of names but have no clue of the meaning. In many cultures and religions the meaning of name is more important than the sound of the name, and people believe the given name manifests its meaning on to the child each time it is spoken (i.e a name meaning wisdom, the child will become wise). So to “borrow” a name from a culture/religion and not even know what it means is very ignorant.

Are you sure your Nigerian colleagues have English names and not bible names such as David? Bible names are popular in Nigeria and many names we associate as English names actually are originally Hebrew or Greek names.

I think some names stand out more when used by people not of that origin culture. Probably due to lack of exposure to the names.

Luca is Italian and so popular in the UK that nobody bats an eyelid but Salvatore would stand out if used.

I find it fascinating when totally standard names translate poorly to other cultures - Pippa is one. Totally normal in the Uk but not so useable in a few other European countries.

You live a sheltered life and aren't being particularly nice.

The use of French names for children in England has been happening for centuries thanks to the Normans and later French immigrants.

No, it’s not appropriation. A name is a name, it’s not owned by anyone or any one culture. Taste in names changes and evolves.

In Victorian England there was a huge trend for Old Testament biblical names. I’m assuming not many people in Victorian England had links with Palestine.

Stop inventing things to be worked up about.

What a mean girl friend

Baffles me that people can say anyone with Welsh/Irish/Scottish links can use a name but for someone like me, with only English heritage known, I can't use certain names - I'm limited to a shortlist. Somewhere down the line we've all got mixed heritage - how far up the tree does it have to be to be deemed acceptable to use a name of that origin!?

In Victorian England there was a huge trend for Old Testament biblical names. I’m assuming not many people in Victorian England had links with Palestine.

@VestaTilley poorer Victorians named their kids after random items. There are jokes including in Horrible Histories that show this.

I don't know how helpful the concept of cultural appropriation is with English names given how few original Anglo-Saxon names have survived to modern usage.

Aldith or Edric anyone? If we all only use names from our own culture then these may still have been popular today. Instead we have an amazing and huge choice of names.

Apart from a few like Cohen and Saoirse which have obvious strong religious or political associations I wouldn’t consider any name off limits. As a caveat to that I believe that if you are using a name from another culture you should make an effort to pronounce it the way the you have taken it from do.

I don't see the issue tbh as long as the name isn't a religious name. Dd1 has a Turkish name dd2 has an Iranian name. We aren't from either culture but are Muslim. We based our decision based on the meanings of the name, well dh did as he chose our dd's names and I chose our son's.

I do love the names Isaac, Joseph, Gabriel but am Muslim so wouldn't use them, I could use the equivalent name but then it sounds different so wouldn't.

Naming your children is a personal choice though so I wouldn't judge.

Flights from Aberdeen to Shetland have their own special area. Does that mean Shetland got "othered"?

Or aspirational.

Welsh names are common in the West Indies because Welsh pirates had a lovely time over there. So no cultural appropriation.😂

It seems to me that it's a question of assimilation- whether you choosing an English moniker to fit in or using a name that's been around in the UK for so long, it has become assimilated such as old testament hebrew or norman french names. Names not yet viewed as fully assimilated - much less comfortable.

I personally would stay away from names from other cultures that I felt might be viewed as appropriation, and faith names, especially. Old french and french, norse, greek, latin, german, hebrew etc, I would consider assimilated now. I would also personally stay from anything too obviously Scots, Irish or Welsh in case I did the pronunciation or spelling no justice although some are beautiful. By the rulez here I could give my hypothetical DC Irish names though; DPs family is quite strongly Irish on both sides and he has an Irish surname. He dislikes Irish names.

As an aside on non irish people bastardising Irish spelling; neither DP nor any of his siblings have irish names either- his parents learnt from the cautionary tale of his maternal GPs. His mum is first gen born in the UK and her fully Irish father registered her name with a very incorrect spelling. Think Saersha for Saiorse or Naiemh for Niamh type mispelling. It's one of the reasons DP wants to avoid Irish names.

The knife company will be claiming cultural appropriation!

I wouldn’t judge anyone for a baby name unless it was something silly or offensive, and even then I’d probably smile politely and think ‘poor kid’.

I’ve never lived in the country of my ancestors (of many generations) and only speak a little of the language, but I’d probably pick a name from my family tree for a baby because there are some nice names and I’d see it as a way to acknowledge my family heritage. The names do not appear to match my appearance. Would I as an outwardly English person be judged? Or be asked to justify my choice? It no one else’s business really is it?

I find it funny that people don't seem to like Anglicised names yet others countries do it and no one seems to mind. For example - Dafydd (obvious what name this Welsh name is a form of, I'm sure I don't need to say). I feel like other countries put a spin on names that come from elsewhere but England are not allowed to apparently - why is this..

No, I don't. And honestly I don't mind if I'm being seen to be nice or not.

When the kids older brothers have bog standard 'English' names, it's a really strange clash and a weird part of her latest obsessive behaviour with another country.

The person who posted about her friend pretending to be French the other day sounded terribly familiar.

@MrsToothyBitch why didn't he correct it?

One of my relations has two entries on the register of births about a week apart and his birth certificate was reissued as his name was spelt incorrectly when he was first registered.

Anyway as a result when I went to register my DD's birth I wrote her names down in block capitals on a piece of paper.

@HappypusSadpus I actually know parents who give brothers names from one grouping e.g. well-known English names and sisters names from a different grouping e.g. Irish names.

However unless you talk to the family, or there is more than one child of each sex it is not obvious.

Also I have relations and friends who are same sex siblings that when you hear their names alongside their siblings all the names seem randomly chosen as they don't belong in a group.

So yes you aren't being nice and actually being spiteful.

Some peopje’s herutage is

Eh? No it's not. Joshua is a separate name. Jesus is known as Jesus in English versions of the Bible.

Didn't you know that Nigeria used to be a British colony? The national language there is still English. Hopefully you aren't a teacher or that's rather embarrassing...