MadameChOlet Interesting points, and agree with them to a point.
Surely though, names should'nt have to be Anglicised in order to fit in? I think that it is brilliant that people want to keep their heritage alive by giving their children names which reflect their cultural background.
Myself, brother, sisters and cousins - even my parents generation were given (boring) names such as Kathleen, Mary, John, Ann, Patrick, Kevin, Bridget etc. It is only in my generation now, I am seeing more of a trend (albeit in my family) for more Irish names to be given.
One of my oldest friends family originate from Italy, and her brothers and sisters all have Italian names. What a shame then, when my friend hit her teens in order to 'conform' changed her name from Guiseppina to Josephine which was then shortened to Jo. To this day, I still use the diminuitive of her Italian name.
This is only my opinion - but shouldn't names be given because they reflect the parents wishes/ backgrounds also? Does it matter whether an English person would know how to spell a name or not?
Surely the decision to name a child is based on a liking for that particular name - not whether the location and the population of where they live should play a part.
That's unfortunately where you end up with truly beautiful names becoming 'Anglicised' such as Siobhan becoming Shivonne, Ciaran becoming Keeran, Sinead = Shinade.
If I don't know how to pronounce or spell a name I ask. Simple as that.