My friend is being told the name she picked is too 'white'.

[Paige1991]

My best friend is originally from Africa. She's pregnant and wants to call her little girl Lilly.....she has had the snide remark however, that it is too much of a 'white' name. So she wouldn't 'suit' it!

So my question is do 'you' believe that names have a place regarding the colour of skin or culture of a person? I think you should be free to call your baby whatever. I once knew a Matteo (sorry if the spellings wrong) and he was in no sense Italian!

I've never heard of something so silly and horrible!

I associate Lillies with whiteness. SoWhite Tigerlillies are orange, so conjure up a different picture.
I'm very blonde and would feel ridiculous introducing myself as Ebony. It's nothing to do with the meaning of the name (eg the name Melanie means dark/black but lots of people wouldn't know that; everyone knows ebony wood is black)

Nothing to do with culture really, but with colouring.

I have a blonde haired, blue eyed 20 something dd called EBONY.
Shoot me now!

Morning - she's not a psychologist is she? I've never come across another one.

OP: I think your friend's family are wrong. Lily is a biblical/botanical name. Yes it can be used in the phrase lily white but it doesn't mean white, and has been used by non-whites the world over.

As for Marcus, the only ones I've met have been white (usually upper-middle class) but I would also associate it with Afro-Carribean communities, as I would Winston (who I would expect to a 50+, black Londoner if we are going to stereotypes). Doesn't mean other communities don't use the name, just that it is particularly popular in certain communities.

I know a little African girl called Lily.

I had the opposite, which was strange. My children are mixed race and my eldest is called Dexter. My family (who are white) were most taken aback because apparently it's a name reserved for elderly Caribbean gentlemen

Pfft!

Unbelievable! Why do people think they have the right to comment on a child's name. Lilly is a beautiful name, I couldn't care less about her skin tone.

Would you believe this happened with my cat - I called my black cat Tigerlily and I've actually had some people say, but she's not orange, and I'm like, eh??? I like the name!

Some people must be very delicate if this sort of thing sends the world off-kilter for them