Farida

[backformore]

Would this be an odd name to give to a girl if the family isn't Arabic-speaking or Muslim? I like the meaning and have some personal affinity with Urdu, but don't want to seem pretentious/appropriative! DH says it's too obviously Middle Eastern to work for us (we're both blonde-haired and blue-eyed, if it makes any difference). I'm wondering if it could work as Farah does, though (think Farrah Fawcett)...??

People will make assumptions and jump to conclusions. Now I know that’s their problem but your daughter will have to explain a million times why she has her name.

Although not Arabs, you do get blonde blue eyed native Iranians.

Aldi Asian but I don’t think I would find it offensive. Many members of my family have named their children typical European names. Farida is a beautiful name, although I have only heard it ever pronounced as ‘Fa- ree- da’. It’s gorgeous and it would not matter to me what colour skin the person had.

Lol also Asian not an Aldi Asian- more Lidl myself.

I really like Farida (Fa ree dah)

Although not Arabs, you do get blonde blue eyed native Iranians

And Iraqis too. I think it’s a very pretty name OP, and whoever made the point about Hebrew/biblical names is spot on. I’m not Jewish or from a Jewish country but I have a Hebrew name.

You say you "think" you know how to pronounce it? Don't use a name you're not certain how to pronounce.

It's a lovely name and for me I wouldn't place it as particularly Muslim or Arabic. I'm not sure why this would make it not a good choice. This is 2018 - you can choose any name for any child. Names don't belong to cultural or ethnic groups these day. Seriously. If you like it, choose it.

There is a Ferida in my daughters class at school. She's lovely. No idea what religion or ethnicity she is and I don't care!

"Lol also Asian not an Aldi Asian- more Lidl myself."

Ha ha - this made me laugh :)

Wolfiefan I'd pronounce it FA-rid-duh. (Farah can be FAH-rah, or FAA-rah, as I've heard it here in North America...)

Your post said you think you know how to pronounce it. Imagine how your child would feel if they grew up being called one pronunciation and then found out it wasn't right?
I wouldn't.

There are so many unusual names nowadays, I wouldn't think twice about a blonde, blue-eyes Farida. I would just assume that her parents had wanted something unusual. And it is a very pretty name - many years ago I knew a Fredella (YES - called after BOTH of her parents), which was unusual - indeed unique - but IMO rather ugly (apologies if she is reading this).

I you love the name - go for it. Personally I prefer it to Farrah.

You need to be certain how to pronounce it.

My girls have names that are very obviously Arabic. We live in the UK and they are white. The only comments they get are how unusual. What a pretty name etc.

Occasionally they get asked a bit more, but again it’s because they are unusual and people are intrigued.

It’s not the names that people look at the like it’s when they tell people their dad is from North Africa 😂 But surprisingly this doesn’t come up that often.

Wolfie - a name is pronounced/spelled the way the family intends it. Whether they prefer
FAR- idda
FAR-eeda
Fun-REEda
Far-EE-dah

whatever - THAT is the correct pronunciation.

It's like Irene - EYE-reen, Eye-REEN or Eye-REEN-ee - none are wrong. It's just preference.

My name has a correct pronunciation. You can't just decide to pronounce it differently.

There are conventions though. If someone called their child Elizabeth because they liked the way it looked but didn’t know how to say it, Ellie-za-Beth would sound a bit odd.

I think I’d say fa-REE-da or fah-ri-DAH but that’s a Persian spin. There is a Persian name ‘fa-ri-deh’ that means delightful.

Plus if its a translation of a name from the Arabic alphabet that can chance the pronunciation by the choice of roman letters.

Wolfiefan I'd pronounce it FA-rid-duh

I'm and Arabic speaker and my children are all native Arabic speakers. You'd be wrong to pronounce it the way you said you would.

Wolfie - a name is pronounced/spelled the way the family intends it.

No. When you are using a name from a culture that isn't your own, it's crucial to research the proper pronunciation.

Otherwise you look like an ignorant gobshite who saw a pretty combination of letters and then decided to slap their own pronunciation onto it and assume they are are right. You need to listen to the native speakers of a language, they will be aware of the correct pronunciation and will (or should) judge you for not even making the effort to pronounce it properly.

Love it also easy to pronounce as phonetic

I think that the argument about people with an Asian or Arab background using traditionally ‘English’ names is difficult in this instance.

Because these children are brought up in a country where names like Emily and James are very common. This argument would be very convincing if the OP did indeed live in an Arab country, imo.

It is true that names have crossed barriers (linguistic, cultural etc...)
Like the biblical names.
But biblical names have become part of our culture... and were originally used because people had a strong connection to the bible (I guess?). I’m not sure if the OP has a strong connection...
Also, our ‘bibilical names’ have been anglicised.
would I be surprised if I met English Christians named Judith, Gabriel, Hannah and Susan? No. But if I met a Yehudit, Gavriel, Channah and Shoshannah? Kind of.

So, idk.

I’m not saying that the OP should of shouldn’t use it. And I’m not against people using names that are from ‘outside’ their culture. Especially not if there’s a connection.

But I’ve never really thought about this (up to now), to be very honest.

If I was to choose a name from a culture or country I wasn’t familiar with I’d get a native speaker to suss it out in case of unpleasant connotations. Hmmmm Adolph or Gengis sound like nice names...

I have relatives who have 1) have family nicknames which are ‘Farty’ and ‘fatty’ in English (bit not meaning those words) and 2) be whose proper first name pronunciation is a horrible racist term, so her name is now always mispronounced on purpose since she moved to an English speaking country.

I think stick with the correct pronunciation otherwise you are effectively in danger of changing the meaning of the name (not that I can think of anything off hand). Besides if pronounced incorrectly she will have a life time of people correcting her. Think Max saying my name is Mehx.

I don’t have a problem with non muslims having a muslim name anymore than I’d have with an asian person having an English name. People have names for lots of different reasons.

It is an Arabic name pronounced as Fareeda, but it isn't a Muslim name. Many Arab Christians use it too, so no issue whatsoever with appropriation. I know more blonde haired Layla's than I do Arab ones, although it is an Arab name.

It makes me think of flour (farina). This is probably not a problem.

I know some redneck girls called Aleeyah or Alia which is actually an Arabic name and neither of them knew this there parents just liked the name.

I know a lot of white Christian or atheist Aleeahs or however you spell it whereas in the past I only knew of Muslim girls called Aliyah/Aleeah