Names from other cultures...

[poppymango]

I'm curious what people think about giving their children names from cultures they have no connection with. Personally I think Scandinavian names are beautiful, but I have zero connection with that part of the world. Is it a bit pretentious?

It struck me because I know if I met someone called Jean-Paul I would assume they were part French, or a Sioned would have some connection with Wales, etc.

Thoughts? Would you roll your eyes? Or am I overthinking it?

I know both a Chiara and a Freya. One Indonesian, one Spanish.

It depends on the culture. Irish, Italian, French, not worth asking about.

But korean, Nigerian, Indonesian....... well. That's going to make people think you were trying too hard

Why are they ‘not worth asking about’?

I don't think it makes sense to culturally protect names within Europe.
Especially when living in the UK where people are used to different spellings and pronunciation and the names are already established as names.

I can't really explain why but I think it is that to me personally it feels okay to appropriate names from cultures we haven't colonialised, but not-okay/awkward/a bit "white privileged" to appropriate names from colonialised or other once-oppressed-by-us cultures (typically these are predominantly non-white cultures but I'd also include Irish names).

Hence Astrid, Freya etc seem relatively more fine. Even Jesper or Bjorn or Sigrid - at worst feel a bit quirky or try hard.

But there's something quite uncomfortable about a white English Prishanthi or Kwasi (to me - I would certainly never consider these names).

For this same reason there are a few reasonably popular "appropriated" names I'm personally slightly put off by - Amari, Bodhi, Niamh etc. Its like, who would have thought after then colonising and genocide etc we'd move on to calling our babies their names because they're cute and exotic and "different". Just feels insensitive to the context somehow?

Not saying that's right or wrong, or that's it's super important that's just my own immediate reaction after 5 minutes of contemplating your question!

Names have spread across the globe for centuries. John was a biblical name but it's developed into Jean Yan , Iain Juan etc.

@HappyAutumnFields Because Europe is a massive melting pot of interlinked languages and history. An English person could reasonably use a German, Spanish, Italian name etc (especially ones with spellings/pronunciations across more than one language) and it wouldn't sound unusual at all.

Ming?
As in ming-ing?

Cant see any problems ahead there!

Freya is a very commonly name! I’m a teacher and have taught many Freyas over the years. People can call their children whatever they choose.

There are plenty of Kevin's in France. I know Italian Ethans. Emma is ubiquitous across Europe even though it is originally Germanic. In Italy and have met several Italian Emma's.

I guess it depends what the name is. If you're English and like the name Yekaterina or Kwame I think it's a bit weird and unfair on the kid who will never escape being asked why they're called that

I would also say that if you think you're just ethnically British, but haven't taken a DNA test, you might be in for a surprise. I thought I was just British, but a DNA test revealed a mix of Scandinavian, French, Germanic peoples and Balkan. Perhaps you can rightfully claim Scandinavian heritage too. :) Nordics ruled parts of Britain for hundreds of years in some cases it wouldn't be shocking

Names from other cultures either become absorbed and assimilated or they sound silly.

Francesca, Siobhan, Freya, Elodie, Luca (to a point) etc have made the leap.

And others will gain in popularity and do the same.

The one thing I'd check up on before choosing one is cultural connotation.

Not so much the obvious Adolf style names, but things that pass in and out of fashion quickly. I know an Italian woman called Whitney who has a brother called Kevin. Guess what their mum's favourite film was? They both just eyeroll at their own names now.

Similarly I see a lot of names recommended on here as "beautiful Italian names" which no Italian would be seen dead using, or which haven't been used for about 80 years.

Context is everything.
It depends on the name, the spelling, the pronunciation, the reason it was chosen.
Maya is unremarkable, so is Freya.
But Maja and Frija? Okay with a heritage that uses those spellings.
Orlando or Cillian if you love movies is okay (I think).
Bodhi is tricky, especially as it's usually pronounced "Bodie", nothing like the Hindi (I'm told it should be more like "Bawti".) Not my language though.
Tadhg or Saoirse on a British kid would offend me. Sure you can call your kid whatever but if you don't know the history of those names, leave them alone. Cian and Orla aren't problematic, but Órfhlaith might be a bit odd.
It's like that- it depends.

If your taking a name from a different culture it’s best to take one that doesn’t mean something bad in your own culture