I'm just wondering what people think about giving a baby a name which, whilst popular in other cultures/ countries, is not popular in your own?
I really like some typically Asian names - I love the name Zeeshan for a boy and it is my favourite name out of my shortlist by a mile but I have never met a boy who was not of Asian or Middle Eastern heritage being given the name.
For a girl I was trying to decide between Priya (Indian) and Sakura (Japanese) - I travelled Asia on my gap-year and all of the names on my list have some sentimental value for me, but when I told my parents my names they said I was being ridiculous to suggest 'such non-white names' for my child and would be setting him/her up for a lifetime of trying to explain why they weren't given a 'normal British' name.
This hadn't worried me but now I am starting to second guess myself and think maybe people will think it very strange to give my child a name which, when people first hear it, will make them assume s/he is going to be of a different heritage and that this could matter for my child.
Baby's father is not on the scene so decision is mine alone but really wondering what other people think - do you think it would be very unreasonable/unfair to give baby a name that, for his/her heritage, would seem very unusual to some? Or do you think that these names will become more popular outside of their cultures in a few years anyway as more people come to know and thus consider them for their children?
Would be really grateful for anyone's thoughts and opinions - I accept that whatever name I choose for my baby not everybody will like it and the important thing is to choose names I love, and I don't care if people think I am pretentious as the names genuinely hold a lot of meaning for me, I haven't just chosen them to be different, but I would hate to choose a name that would make my child's life in any way difficult when they start school etc.