Would you use a regional name without being able to 'claim' it for your own?

[GinPalace]

We have got the name Angus on our short list for ds but neither of us are scottish (except several generations back).

I'm wondering what the mn jury is on using a name with strong associations which you cannot 'rightfully' claim....

'Fine, it's a name and if you like it why not?' Or 'a very english Angus is just all wrong'...???

DS1 has a Scottish name
DS2 has an Irish one
DDs is Welsh.

Only the Welsh one has any kind of authenticity :)

I don't care.

Yes, if you like it just use it

Thanks for replying. :)

If you like it, use it. But people will often ask you what the Scottish connection is, which might get a bit irritating after the umpteenth time!

I have 3DC one 'old english', one irish saint's name and one ancient greek name. With only a claim to the old English. People raised eyebrows for all three but on the grounds of literary pretention rather than heritage I think.

My own name has Latin origins and my older brother has Ancient Greek origins but they are both as average 1970's names as you could imagine. So much so that I was one of 4 with my name in my class at school.

If you like a name use it.

Yes. Go ahead. We had Angus for a boy, but had a girl. We were going for a Scottish name because DH is Scottish. Our girls name of Heather got rejected and DD has a Swiss name (no regional connection).

If you like it, go for it. There are always a few Scottish names that are popular in England and Wales, currently Finlay, Callum and Cameron - in previous generations things like Donald, Douglas and Malcolm. So choosing Angus should be fine.

Yes I would.

My top choices were Hamish, Rufus, Angus, Fergus.

Unfortunately my husband wasn´t so keen.

But it wouldn´t have occurred to either of us that we "couldn´t" use the names.

Maybe we´re just arrogant

Sure, you can use any name you like. People may, however, ask whether he's got any Scottish connections. We have a very Scottish surname (I'm German but dh's family is originally from Scotland) and people often ask/comment about it. It is nice to be able to talk about that cultural heritage.

If you like it, use it.

It does get a bit daft when people go for names from completely different languages and cultures that they don't even know how to spell, or pronounce, or whether they are male or female. If you are English but rather taken by an, I dunno, Farsi name, do look up how to say it and write it!

lockets please tell us what your DC's names are I am very curious.

My parents named all six of their children arabic names, even though they are both English. We did live in the Middle East though for most of our childhoods so it seemed pretty normal to us kids.

My DCs both have very biblical names, and DH and I are atheists!
Pick a name you like.

DD has a Greek first name (traditional name in my family, but we have no Greek heritage) and a middle name which is used in both Japan and China (she was born in Japan but no genetic connection). It didn't occur to me that we weren't somehow entitled to use either of the names. I'd go for it. After all, there are plenty of Callums etc around who are just English - lots of names end up crossing into general rather than regional use.

Pick any name you like, just don't go changing spellings or pronounciation if you do pick one from another culture/region.
Both my dds have Irish names (we are Irish) but dd1 always asks why we limited ourselves to Irish names,she would have preferred a more popular common name.
That's actually no help sorry!

Do people really ask? I gave DS1 a Scandinavian name when I'm Welsh and DH is Irish. Not one bugger asked why we'd chosen it

I think it's a bit weird to use names from different cultures/countries when you aren't from there, but that may just be my hang up.

I have a Welsh name because I'm Welsh, but is very commonly misspelled with the masculine spelling by people in England/US/Australia. Drives me nuts, so if you do go for a foreign name then do get the spelling/pronunciation right.

Rednellie - I've met a few Aussie females called Bronwyn and it annoys me too. I just try to see it as an Australian name unconnected to any Welsh roots it might once have had.

Ha ha, you caught me out - that is my name, but I spell it RIGHT!

(But you are right, it's just a different name, it's just a different name and repeat and breath.)

rednellie and exexpat, the only Bronwyn I've ever met is an Australian woman - I had no idea it was actually a male name. How is the female version spelled/pronounced?

Anyone has the right to use a name from any culture - however, I do think it is the responsibility of the name-chooser to make sure their spelling and pronunciation etc are accurate, if they are not from that culture/speakers of that language themselves, otherwise it's just rude. I'm very dubious, on the other hand, about half-assed 'Oh that sounds pretty, but I'll use the male form/anglicise the spelling with letters that don't exist in the original language, and add an extra syllable.'

I think it's fine as long as you know how to spell and pronounce the name.

I don't speak Gaelic, but I presume the common pronunciation of Angus passes muster.

DS2 has a Scottish name - we are not Scottish
DD has an Irish name - we are not Irish.

If a name is from a language where they don't use English letters then there will be no 'correct' way to spell it in English, so you won't get the spelling 'wrong' however you spell it.

Just look at the name Mohammad, it can be spelt quite a lot of ways and still be correct. Or Yasmin.

There was a thread not long ago about a DH who wanted to choose a traditional English name - Uther, or Cedric or whatever. Everyone was saying - oh my god no, they're awful. Just goes to show that you can't please everyone.

For what it's worth my name is anglicised hebrew and no one has ever commented on the misspelling or mispronunciation.

HardCheese - the proper (Welsh) version for girls is Bronwen - names ending in -wyn are all male in Welsh afaik (I'm not a Welsh speaker but from a family with Welsh roots - and lots of Welsh names inc Bronwen).