Cultural appropriation?

[snowynovemberr]

So I have been a bit curious about this for quite some time. I have always been very much against cultural appropriation and just wanted to hear everyone's opinions.

Would you say it's ONLY cultural appropriation if the name is from a usually oppressed culture? Or any culture apart from your own?

Names like Sergei, Soren, Stellan, Linnea, Anouk seem to be gaining a lot of popularity but for some reason I just can't be fully on board with them being used left and right with no connection to the origins of the name.

This is completely personal though and everyone is free to choose the name they like the most.

I don't think it matters whatsoever. Names are just names.

For some reason I'd find it more disrespectful to use a name that was closely associated with a religion I didn't follow than just a nationality. I'm not religious at all, but I'm English, and a lot of names with Christian or Jewish origins are popular enough here that they no longer feel as if they have any specific religious significance. But I wouldn't use Christian (although I like it), or Judith (which means "Jewish girl") - that feels like pretending I'm something I'm not. And I probably wouldn't use any name that originated in one of the other world religions like Hinduism, Sikhism or Islam, unless it had already been used more widely for a long time. (Something like Ayesha might be there already - Noor or Sayeed definitely isn't.)

Where religion isn't involved, until now I would not have thought of using a name from another country as controversial or disrespectful, but in the case of countries the UK has ever colonised or oppressed, that would quite often equate to a name from another religion anyway. I wouldn't have any qualms about using a French or Finnish name if I loved it, unless the pronunciation was going to cause lots of problems. And I guess according to the hierarchy mentioned above, that would not offend anybody.

I find the religious names strange too. I can understand that names like Andrew and Peter are not considered all that religious, but when names were suggested for friends' children there was definitely a unwritten rule of which names were suitable.

I think that the OT names are now used by people who aren't necessarily aware of the origin.

Another Romany lad I went to school with was called Sherren which is a name I've never come across before either. Possibly the name may have had Irish origins as he had an Irish surname, although he actually didn't have an Irish Traveller accent.

I personally like Russian names which are quite often used in the UK anyway.

Like Tamara, Tatiana, Maria.

Also either my (I thought English) great grandparents were guilty of cultural appropriation OR there was a German influence from somewhere when they named their children.....

For example I had great uncles called Carl & Joseph Gustav.

Tamara and Maria originate from the Bible.

"Congratulations! Why Hanash?"
"Well darling the Iraq invasion really inspired me and I just love how it sounds."

If you're white and give your DS a Ghanaian name and your DD an Indian name and change your name from Beth to Anandmurti because you do yoga now and change your surname to Cohen because you like how it sounds and wear your hair in dreads because you listen to Bob Marley then you just might have gone too far.

I say just use common sense and ideally steer clear of religious names up to a point, don't use names from countries Britain colonised that are still suffering, don't use names from a culture you have zero connection to.

Names like Anastasia, Adam, Peter etc. are fine to use imo. I personally feel the same about Soraya and Arielle but someone else might feel differently so🤷🏼‍♀️.....whatchagondo

I think it's important to be sensitive but not PC mad otherwise we'll find a reason to cancel at least 50% of names.

I think it depends how obviously its linked to another culture.
I have a name that is specifically identified as belonging to easten europe. I find it really difficult when people comment on it, i either get where are you reallllly from type comments, or people being really excited im from that culture when im not.

For that reason i would avoid names that are clearly not my culture.

My sister also has the Welsh spelling of her name and hates it as she has a similar thing of people asking if she is welsh (we arent)

The cultural appropriation is stronger if its linked to names of great significance to another group eg names like deities.

DD1 has a Greek name we have no Greek Heritage (its also in the top 15 list)
DD2 has a French name we have no French Heritage
DS has a Germanic name we have no German Heritage
DD3 has a Irish name We have no Irish heritage.

We do however have a European heritage & our children have 4 names dh and I love.

BTW I have a English name.

Just no one has ever heard of it so I keep being asked " whats that short for?" (nothing) and also so where is that from is it Danish? (where I grew up) err No its English. and yes its Unisex and no I don't like it much

Personally I think it’s only cultural appropriation if the names belongs to an oppressed group or has very strong religious significance that you do not belong too. For example I think naming a baby Lorenzo is fine even if your not Italian but naming a baby Mohammed and your not a follower of Islam is wrong

@Terralee

Another Romany lad I went to school with was called Sherren which is a name I've never come across before either. Possibly the name may have had Irish origins as he had an Irish surname, although he actually didn't have an Irish Traveller accent.

Romany and Irish Traveller aren't the same though. I know the person you're describing may have had links to both heritages, but your post makes me wonder if you're conflating the two groups. I've come across Sherren as a surname in Ireland, but not as a first name.

I think that the Sherren I knew had links to both groups although his main heritage was Romany.
I know Romanies & Irish Travellers are separate but some people in those groups do have links to both due to intermarriage, one example is Tyson Fury.

The average British person has around 37% British ancestry. Apparently there may be a few (perhaps less than 10) people in the U.K. who have 100% British Ancestry- apparently we have one right here on this thread which is very unusual. But the rest of us are an interesting mix from countries and cultures all over the world:

www.ancestry.com/corporate/international/press-releases/DNA-of-the-nation-revealedand-were-not-as-British-as-we-think

Genetics are irrelevant. It’s not genetic appropriation or ethnic appropriation. It’s cultural appropriation.

Just choose names you like. If the professionally offended don’t like it that’s their problem.

@Terralee
Yes, I agree some people will have links to both groups of course.
I think Tyson Fury's background is only Irish Traveller, and not Romany, though?

I had never heard the term 'cultural appropriation' when we were naming our children over 20 years ago, but it wouldn't have felt right to me to use a name obviously from another culture.

Biblical names are slightly different, because although they come from another culture they have been incorporated into ours over centuries. Even then, I think some names are more 'Jewish' than others and I wouldn't personally have used them. For example, as a non-Jew, I would have happily called a son 'James' but would never have picked 'Isaac'.

The popularity of biblical names is something that has changed a lot since I was a child. My school was full of boys called 'Simon, Peter, David and Andrew. When my children were young, there were lots called Josh and Noah. Now, names like Isaac and Reuben seem to be very popular.

I also would never countenance a name that I couldn't pronounce in an authentic way (which would rule out lots of Irish ones).

@bridgetreilly

Would you say it's ONLY cultural appropriation if the name is from a usually oppressed culture? Or any culture apart from your own?

I think there's a sliding scale:

1. From a culture your own nation is currently oppressing
2. From a culture your own nation has oppressed in the past
3. From a culture currently being oppressed by your political allies, if not directly by your own nation
4. From a culture currently being oppressed by anyone.
5. From a culture that has a long history of oppression.
6. From a culture that your nation has historically been in conflict with (but with relatively even power balance).
7. From a culture that your nation has never been in conflict with.
8. From a culture that is a politically dominant one.
9. From a culture that is currently oppressing your own.

I would avoid names in categories 1-5. I think it's fine to choose names from categories 6-9. It's worth noting that if you're English, then Welsh, Scottish and Irish names are not in categories 6-9.

What about if you're a descendant of the many Lowland/Protestant Scots who fought on the Hanoverian side at Culloden? Or were landowners carrying out clearances? Like some of my husband's Scottish ancestors. Are you also banned from using names in categories 1-5?

Or if you're a descendant of the many Irish Catholics who worked in the British Empire or fought for it? Like some of my ancestors. Banned from categories 1-5?

Or, if like many people in Britain, you have a mishmash of Irish/Scottish/English heritage?

Who ever said Yusaf, isn,t that Joseph. Maria, Marie = Mary. Marta = martha.
A lot of names will cross cultures due to the three Abrahamic religions. Ofcourse i would not call my child Muhammed as every one would assume I am from islamic tradition like wise Fatima. But other names can easily cross cultures/religions.

@bridgetreilly By your logic, an English person could call their child Sergei, Stefan or Jean-Luc, but not Hamish, Seamus or whatever, even if they have some origins in Ireland, Scotland or Wales in the dim and distant past. I find that a bit of a stretch.

Fashions also,change. Names such as Noah and Eli were once only used only by deeply religious Christian people. No they are fairly mainstream.

Noah

Noah -not in top 100 names prior to 2000 and in top ten names in last ten years.

@oneglassandpuzzled see my post above. I don’t think this is about genetics, it’s about culture.