A black child with an Eastern European name ?

[Namerci]

Hi! I have been thinking about this a lot , and would like to get some opinions.
My husband is half Latvian half Black British and I am Black. We are expecting a little girl and we both like the names Karlene and Anya, which are latvian/Russian names. But our baby will probably look fully black ( Since she'll only be 25% Latvian). Would you find that odd or shocking if you met a black person with an Eastern European name ?

Not at all. Black people have all kinds of names.

I know someone called Karlene who is black and Anya is a common name across cultures. I wouldn’t think twice about it.

Nope.

I like both would not put a lot of thought into the persons colour before I met them.

No, I wouldn't find it strange, I would just assume mixed heritage.

I wouldn't think twice about it.

Not at all. If I thought about it is probably guess they had Eastern European heritage somewhere. Tbh the names you've suggested I wouldn't even think were Eastern European. I like Anya best 🙂

No, wouldn't think it strange. Both of those are international names though, not limited to Eastern Europe.

Nah. Go for it.

Who cares? MN can be weird about names but they are pretty names just use them, I didn’t realise Karlene was Lativian anyway, Anya is a name that seems to be timeless so would be a good choice too.

I wouldn't find it odd at all, I don't think I'd even notice.

I wouldn’t think twice about either of those names. I’ve never heard of Karlene before (only Charlene) so wouldn’t have known that it was Latvian and Anya is popular generally. I only know one but she’s just white British with no Eastern European heritage.

Agree, Anya is beautiful. Would the surname be Eastern European as well, OP? If it's just the first name, I doubt it will even occur to most people to think about it.

I wouldn't give it a second thought.

(I think Anya is a lovely name)

My neighbours are black and their daughter is called Sasha which is Eastern European and I’ve never thought about that until now

Not at all.
Vaguely related to the topic, I think it’s very cool that Idris is Welsh and Arabic.

I don't think it would even cross my mind! Anya is a lovely name btw

Why would it be odd or even shocking though? However the skin tone of your child, the fact is that you wish to name her with a name from her heritage. Do so, and don't concern yourself with what people think.

It’s fine, and ok different spelling, but Carleen Anderson one of my all time favourites!

More derailing- I always thought of Sasha as a black name because I envied my friend’s black Sasha doll. Looking at them now they’re terrifying- Midwich cuckoos!

Not at all.

I've never heard of an Eastern European woman named Karlene and I would never have guessed it was Latvian. To me it looks like a name from the US South, similar to Arlene and Darlene.

Anya is fairly popular in the UK generally, so I can't see anyone being surprised by it.

To be kind here it doesn't matter what your child's skin colour is you have the right to name your child whatever you like;if people don't like/want to make assumptions then that's on them.

Both myself and DD's have names that are traditional in a particular Eastern European country;we've never been asked about our names and people don't know I have a great grandparent that came from that country.

Your name choices are lovely.

Thank you everyone. I feel more relieved.

Sorry, maybe I should've added it in the OP. I started thinking about it since my sister-in-law made a comment about it. Something like " A black girl with an Eastern-European name ? Strange".

Yes, her family name will also be Easter European.

I live in S London and any list of names from the Dc’ school, such as the 100s involved in the concerts or prizegiving demonstrates the fantastic global diversity of London.

Nothing would raise an eyebrow, not even slightly.

Polish-Vietnamese hyphenated surname? Bring it on. Etc.

emuloc I am not sure, but if the teacher reads the name , let's say Dimitri Siemonev and a black boy puts his hand up , people might find it strange ? I don't know