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 ?

By the way we live a town in France , so it's so not like London. Conformity is encouraged , " Oh in France act like French people" , they even had a dude who wanted to forbid non-French names run for presidency.

Not shocking, but might cause the odd query.

I know someone who has a very british sounding name but is mixed race, and whose looks suggest a different nationality, and it has caused a few issues.

Say there were two people and one was Jane Wilson and the other was Aisha Siddiqui, Jane would be assumed to be Aisha, even though she had no Pakistani heritage but was 7/8 Indian by blood.

My sisters name is French, she is not French.
My name is Russian, also not Russian.

You are over thinking it. Anybody can have any name they want.

Your sister in law understands that some black people are European right?

Unless she think that all black people are born in Kenya and move. 🙄

No. I'd just think she was a child with a lovely name.

I thought of Carleen Anderson from the Young Disciples too!

Both names are absolutely fine and wouldn't seem at all incongruous to me on a Black child.

To me, Anya is a fairly domesticated (and lovely) name in the UK, so if you were here I wouldn't think of it as being anything but British. Though I appreciate that may be different in France, even then people that raise an eyebrow aren't good folk.

Second generation Latvian here too - go for it and congratulations

My niece is Anya. Not strange at all.

My half Indian friend and her black husband have a son called Dmitri
I think it does raise a few eyebrows but it doesn’t seem really odd

I think in France it's very different, isn't it?

In the UK there's research that suggests 'white' names get called for interviews and opportunities more than 'black' names - which of course is massively racist and I very much hope will be eradicated by the time your LO is in the job market. Is that maybe what your sil is thinking about?

Whatever, Anya is such a beautiful name.

Quite a drip feed that the OP lives in France, not the UK.

For what it's worth (very little, as I live in the UK) I didn't know Karlene and Anya were East European names anyway. I've known a Carlene, and Anya has been in use for a long time. In fact there's a variety of potato called Anya, named after Anya Sainsbury who was born in the 1930s.

You really need to ask some French people.

Can you please tell me which issues it caused ?

That's my fear, that "Anya Dimitrieva" ( not real name) will be assumed to be a european/white girl/woman and she will forever have to explain herself. Or people will think I wanted a white child , or that she is adopted.

We are not going to live in France forever. So there's no "drip feed". I just added info as the conversation continued.

I think she'll get comments and questions on Dimitrieva anyway, no matter what her first name is.

Questions like 'Is it your real name or did you change it?', 'Are you adopted?'
Going for a job interview and being aware that the person is surprised by your appearance - they were expecting someone white and middle-aged.

All are signs of ignorance and prejudice, but i think that most people will have a mental image of what sort of person will look like based on their name.

From what I understand, France is more racist than the UK.

I honestly think any name goes now. People will often call their children Irish names without any heritage there. Same with German names. It’s a case of if you like it, use it, no one will give it a second thought.

For starters I don't think it's an issue. Secondly, I think it's cool to have a name that reflects your ancestors, despite outward appearance.

I live in Italy and know a little boy, let's call him Mick O'Reilly*. Mick has some Irish ancestors on the Dad's side but he is very 'Italian'. I thought it was brilliant when I first met him!

• His name is very 'stereotypical' Irish, which is why I used this example.

I wouldn't find it strange at all. Some white British parents choose European and Asian name's. I know an Aisha which is Asian and an Eloise which is French. Have a few names to pick from though. Sometimes when the child is born you might decide the name you had your heart set on isn't the name for her.

I wouldn't find it strange at all. Neither of the names that you've mentioned are obviously Latvian to me, and black people often have names that are somewhat different to the bog-standard names that you hear for white British people. I wouldn't bat an eyelid.

Anya is gorgeous.

I wouldn't even register that they are European names

Go for it.

If she’s going to have a Latvian surname anyway, she’ll be identified as having some connection to Eastern Europe even if you call her Jane. That’s because she has! I wouldn’t overthink it. She’s got a mixed heritage. Embrace it!

Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond to me. There is something I didn't think about and that some posters have pointed out : Yes her surname will be Latvian anyway , so it doesn't matter what name I give her. If she was "Chloé Dimitrieva" , her surname will still be from Eastern Europe. Thank you ; Merci to the posters who made me realise that.

I LOVE ANYA. I love it.

@MerryChristmasToYou Yup. I agree. If I read the name Mariama Diallo; I'd expect a West African/ Black Francophone person. If a white woman showed up , I'd think , Oh she has Malian/Guinean/Senegalese/ French speaking west Africa heritage.

AND YOU ARE RIGHT France is way more racist than England. I remember when I first went to England - I don't know about the rest of the UK, so only talking about England- I remember seeing diversity, I have never ever met Jamaicans or Indians before. Wow, I could get angry if someone was rude to me and people were OK with me not speaking English perfectly. Please, don't be offended; but before going to England, I thought I'd have to be polite with white people everytime, no matter what they say or act with me. they are not horrible to all black people though , you have the good and bad blacks. Americans are OKKK black folks , they are coooooool and welcomed. Then you have Black people from French Overseas territories , then Black Europeans and at the end Black Africans. Unfortunately ; you cannot always guess where people are from.

I'd suggest to any Black person visiting my town to wear a American flag tshirt and look like a tourist. It might different in bigger cities like Paris or Marseille; I don't know: Only talking about my experience. I've been to remote places in England and I WAS NOT FOLLOWED in any shops.

Hopefully, we'll move to my husband's country. He doesn't like France either.

Plus; I met my husbandin the UK so it makes it even better.

HAHAH LOVE your screen name ; but it should be " ma chienne" .

YUP; if your name is Marine Durand it's not the same as Aminata N'diaye or Fatima Osman. I am afraid she will lose job opportunies because of our choice and above all RACISM.

To my husband; his heritage is very important , he wanted a Nigerian , well his mum's ethnicity name, but I hate all the names he liked. I love Anya.

We can't go for my heritage , because I don't know where I am originally from .and I really don't care' for french names.

Anya is an absolutely stunning name. So graceful yet strong. I wish I'd heard of it when my daughters were born.