Never seen this boys' name before

[RainCheckMate]

Tamir. What do you think?

It sounds like a North African name like Tamar or Tariq

Just looked it up. It’s a Hebrew name meaning “tall” apparently

Are you muslim or arabic?

In the UK,the -ir will be probably pronounced as ee-uh not as eerr

You've never heard of Tamir Rice - the poor kid who got shot dead by the police in the US.

@DropYourSword I did actually hear of that happening, but didn't associate the name.

That was horrific, and also my first though when thinking of people called Tamir.

It wouldn't put me off using the name, but I would avoid it if I weren't from a Hebrew/Arabic background.

Tamir is a fairly common name among Israeli Jewish men. If you look on Wikipedia, almost all of the famous people who have this name are Israeli (though Tamir Rice is a high-profile exception).

It might be usable for your family, but I personally wouldn't use it because I don't have the heritage to back it up.

but I would avoid it if I weren't from a Hebrew/Arabic background.

Comments like these are really odd. These days we advocate for freedom to choose our own sexuality, religion, gender. Yet you can't select a name from a different background to you.

What backward thinking. I wonder what generation you're from.

"These days we advocate for freedom to choose our own sexuality, religion, gender. Yet you can't select a name from a different background to you."

It's not about can or can't, obviously anyone can call their kid (almosy

Post fail. Anyone can call their kids (almost) anything. The problem is if the name feels foreign and out of sync to your own life and circles, and then using it just feels weird.

If I take myself as an exemple, I've travelled and lived in various countries. I have used Russian names for my kids because I lived in Russia and speak the language so the names felt natural and familiar and a nice connection between my (and my family) history and my kids. I could also have given them a Turkish name as that is the country where they were born so there's this connection to it. But using, say, an Indian name when I've never set foot in India would feel really strange and foreign for something as intimate as my children's names. Not to mention the hassle of everyone asking/assuming they are Indian or half-indian.

So it's not so much about background as it is about connection. That is important to many people otherwise there would be no such thing as "family names" or "a certain class names".

OP forgot to mention there's a series of books called the Tamir triad, if I remember correctly, but the Tamir in those books is a woman.

I’m a millennial and I agree with that comment. There’s a difference in saying that you wouldn’t pick a name from a different background and that no one should. I love the name Jean-Baptiste. Personally I would feel ridiculous if I used it, as I’m not French, don’t speak French and have no connections to France at all. I think poor JB might get tired of ‘no, not French my mum just liked the name’. Someone else might feel differently but it’s not backward thinking on my part.

There’s also the problem with cultural appropriation of names. Whether you are concerned with this issue personally or not, many are (especially from younger generations) and as you are naming a human I think it’s better to give your child a name which is uncontentious.