polish baby names if your not polish

[natalieburton]

Fallen in love with a polish baby name not sure whether I should use it because I'm not polish
the name is Andzelika
i also love Maya, Valentina, Sadie, Evelyn, Madeleine/Maddy , Ysabella, Faith, Alaina, .

You could use it but get ready for a lifetime of are you Polish etc?

My name isn’t English and I don’t share the heritage of the country it’s from either. It gets a bit wary explaining that too.

According to the Baby Names threads, it seems it's acceptable to use a name that is from a different language or culture, but

• your DD would be asked if she was polish or part-polish frequently
• her name would be misspelled often (Anzelika, Angelica, etc)
• her name would be mispronounced a lot (An-ZELL-ica, Angelica, Angel-EE-ka etc)

Ysabella would get Isabella a lot.
Alaina would get Elaina, Elena and Alana a lot.

My friend name is Andzelika all people I know call Angelic lol

I get all these 3 a lot and my name isn’t Polish!

Even my own grandma couldn’t spell my name properly!

Maya - blends into Maia, Mya, Mia, May, Maeve etc. May-ah,or My-ah?
Valentina - pretty but don't like Val. Tina is ok
Sadie - ok
Evelyn - Evie type names too popular
Madeleine/Maddy - ok
Faith - I like it but it is similar to Fay/Faye, which is popular on here

Loads of folk on here use Welsh and Irish names without having a link to those countries.

use the name you like.

My cousins daughter is called Angelica. Her husband is Austrian and in Austria it has a hard 'g' and in England a soft 'g'.

@TrashyPanda , My reply would be the same if the name was Welsh or Irish, but you've reminded me of what I didn't pp:

• The names get anglicized and don't sound right to speakers of the original language
• The names are often old-fashioned in their original language

and

• There might be historical reasons why people might mind

@CaptainMyCaptain , I know an Angelica who is German, and she doesn't say her name with a ng-g, but that might be regional

Andżelika is Angelica, just written in Polish pronunciation. A reverse to anglicised - policised ?? 🫣

Just checked, it should be „polonized/ polonised”.

Can’t think of any reasons Poles would object - there has been a significant presence in the U.K. for decades. One that is often overlooked, although those Poles who stayed here after Yalta constituted the single largest migration in British history.

Go for it, why not. My daughter's name is French and we don't have any French connections

If you're not Polish, why would you like your kid to have a foreign name? In the future people would assume your kid is Polish (in better or worse). Unfortunately there is still racism in UK, and I say this as a someone with a foreign name (and a foreigner)

I also know of a few Indian children given English names .

I'd find it a bit odd if I'm being honest. Lots of English people will have Welsh or Irish heritage at some point in their family line so choosing a name from those cultures doesn't seem so peculiar.

Because she really likes the name ?

I do like the name Kasia though and think that one seems more 'accessible' than Andzelika.

Why not just use Angelica? I’d pronounce Andzelika pretty much the same? Maybe I’m way off.

How do you pronounce the 'Z' ?

My kids have Hebrew, Welsh and Greek names and were as English as it gets. So I dunno. But for example I ADORE the name Omari but I would never use it for my own child. Would just seem weird.

If you're not Polish, why would you like your kid to have a foreign name
Names travel, citizens of one country do not have a right to 'own' a name, nor would they want to I imagine.

I'm on the side of no.

People who use names from other cultures often don't pronounce it correctly. I have a foreign name due to my heritage and English people never pronounce it correctly.

You/your child will be asked whether you are Polish. I'd personally feel embarrassed to be using a name that is not part of my heritage and having to answer the question with "no my mum just thought the name sounded nice". Would you use Ling or Sven? Or do people just like to culturally appropriate and use names that "sound pretty".

Also, consider whether you're surname will go with it. Will Svetlana Thomas work? I don't think so...

@MyFaceIsAnAONB , Angelica is Anj-EL-i-ca, Andżelika is Anj-el-EE-ka

@lankyhanky , I'm on the side of no too.

Angelica or Angelique seem better options.