Donte / Dontae for a white british boy?!

[emmagreen481]

I'm 23 weeks pregnant with a boy and I am really struggling with finding a name. I've looked at almost every possible name on this planet and I don't like any of them. The only one I've considered is Donte / Dontae pronounced don-tay however everyone I've spoke to about it has told me it's a black man's name, is this true?! and does it even matter?
Before anyone mentions it, I have thought about the name Dante instead and I don't like it

My son's father is quarter Chinese and has olive skin, also my mum is Italian so it's highly likely our child will be tan with dark hair and dark eyes

Not a fan of Dawson as I know someone with that as a last name. The other ones I've thought about are Dalton, Tate, Lucas, Theo and Bobbie but there's issues with all of them.

I like 'nickname' names

Are you looking for a name with (say) Latin/Italian heritage or did you like the sound? What about Darius or Devon?

Nope, just saw a character off a TV show years ago called Dontae! Although I do like 'foreign' names. I had Alya picked out for a girl which is pronounced ar-lee-ar which is Arabic

Do you like Luca - which I believe is an italian boys name.

Dante is pronounced Dan-tay

I am in the US where Dante is pronounced Dontae/Dontay, and I would say that 99.9999% of the bearers of the name are African American. The Italian poet connection is a sideshow, to the extent that you might even be accused of cultural appropriation if you used it as a white person of Italian heritage in the US.

I know a young Dante and a young Dontay. Both white.

I read it as Donate.

The comments on this thread have really annoyed me. I knew they'd be like that when I read the thread title.

Heaven forbid a name should be too black or too Irish or too working class for some MN posters.

If you like it - choose it. It's not a name with offensive connotations that could cause upset for you child in the future. Don't listen to the handful of bigots with their faux concern about people assuming your child is...black. Who cares if they do ffs?

There are many African American people who look askance at white people using traditionally African American names, and consider it cultural appropriation. In that context it might cause offense. It's not out of concern that a child would inadvertently be seen as black that some people have objected.

The issue of cultural appropriation can't be lumped together with 'too working class' or other concerns.

My late DFs middle name was Danton whIch is a bit like Dante. He was white.

Dante is pronounced like enchanté it not a hard A sound like Dan. Dontay or Dontae , no.

I remember watching a crime programme about twins involved in armed robbery called Dante and Donte. Only time I've seen Donte!

The Italian poet connection is a sideshow, to the extent that you might even be accused of cultural appropriation if you used it as a white person of Italian heritage in the US.

Interesting! It reminds me of Andre – both in pronunciation and usage almost exclusively by African Americans in the US, considering both Dante and Andre are latin-based names. Growing up in Europe, I only know caucasians with these names. And plenty of them.

Surely Donte is a derivative of Dante which is Italian and therefore not Cultural Appropriation?

Yes it is, SleepingStandingUp, but the names Dontay, Dontae, Donte and Dante are so identified with African Americans at this point that explaining that you named your Italian American baby after the poet Dante would be met with incredulity.

The name really has passed into the vernacular of another culture and at this point using it in the US would be considered cultural appropriation by many.

Dantes/Dontays/Dontaes/Dontes sometimes have prefixes Le or La attached. DeAndre is a variation you might see too.

explaining that you named your Italian American baby after the poet Dante would be met with incredulity but surely that is there problem. You haven't appropriated anything of theirs, Dante is hardly some obscure 4th century poem who only Literature boffs know about. Dantes Divine Comedy is on sale in any decent bookshop.

Although actually I'd assume they watched that school programme in with the kid in it who was called Dante and knocked it from there.

But either way Dante and any spellings there of isn't only an African American name.

Maybe its a England / America thing but increasingly few culturally identifying names

Just to be a bit pedantic, the Italian pronunciation of Dante would be more like Dun-te. Dun rhyming with sun. And the ‘te’ said like in Ted.

Not Dan to rhyme with Pan.

Frankly I’m glad you’ve gone off all versions of it. Tell your son in ten years and watch his face!

I read it as donate too. I thought this was going to be a crowd funder

Hilarious name. What about Donti?

Theo and Lucas, or as PP said Luca, are lovely.

Alya or Alia is correctly pronounced A-lia not ar-lia.

And Dante is not pronounced Dan- tae but as people have said, Don-tay

Lucas is a lovely name but will get shortened to Lou or Luke.

Children give each other nicknames regardless of what parents want.

Urbanbeetler

Accents differ ;)

explaining that you named your Italian American baby after the poet Dante would be met with incredulity

I'm not arguing with your main point, but just wanted to point out that plenty of Italians (and Spanish/Portuguese speakers) still use the name Dante. It's not just about naming a baby after the poet! It's just using a normal name in those countries.