Advice on picking names from a different culture

[CookieMonster2025]

I have identified a baby name I love and it seems to have a mix of origins. It’s traditionally a surname and it has mainly gaelic (my family are Irish) and Ghanian roots (me nor my partner have any Ghanian heritage).

After some research it seems its a much more popular name in Ghana than in Ireland, and the pronunciations differ. The name I fell in love with turns out to be the Ghanian version.

I know names are deeply personal and some names span a range of cultures and languages. I see Italian names like Luca and Matteo are now in the top 10 boys names in the UK.

But I am concerned I’m at risk of appropriating a culture that isn’t mine, even though I’m coming from a place of admiration and love for the name. What do you all think?

As pp have said, there's no "q" in Gaelic. This is not an Irish name, and you're unlikely to meet another Irish person who would consider it as such.

There is no y in the Irish alphabet either OP.

No, I know. I believe the Ghanaian original name is Kwei which became anglicised as Quaye.

What instantly came to mind is you mean Clay but can’t sound your Ls .

I really wouldn't call him that if you don't have any Ghanaian roots.

Can't you call him Kai/Cai or Quinn or something like that? They sound very similar but people will know how to pronounce them

Not that refreshing, I know of 3 little Sebastians!

Sebastian is popular and has been for years
Babies called Sebastian in England & Wales since 1996

@CookieMonster2025 ,how about Quaid?

The comments on this thread made me really sad tbh. OP, if you love the name go for it. I for one think it's beautiful and unique.

It's cultural appreciation not appropriation. Plus the fact that it is also gaelic. Just tell people it's gaelic if you're worried.

It's not gaelic. There is no q or y in the gaelic alphabets.

@Bubble92 , It makes me sad that you obviously didn't read the OP properly. Are you really that unaware?

I have a name from a different culture, and happen to have be born with the appearance of the culture the name is from. I have no genetic affiliation to the culture, it’s just a coincidence. It’s annoying because every time I meet someone who is from the culture, they (reasonably) assume I am too and start speaking to me in the language! It’s embarrassing to need to explain my heritage every time.

But if your child quite clearly is not Ghanaian, I think it will be fine. Also, if it’s Irish too, and you do have Irish heritage, there’s no reason not to use it.

It’s not hard,

“ o what an unusual name”
“thank you” Done!

Or they could add “it’s Ghanaian” again done.

One of my DDs has an Irish name, one of those not easily pronounced in English. Her response to any enquiry is it’s Irish and leaves it at that.

Groan. Read the thread. It’s not Irish. Not only is it not Irish, it uses letters that don’t exist in Irish. Anyone with the remotest knowledge of Irish would know this, which is a cautionary tale about obtaining your information about the etymology of a name from dimwit webpages.

It would be the equivalent of someone from, say, the US, bouncing around the Home Counties saying ‘I gave my baby a lovely British name because I’ve got British ancestry!’ Only the name is Przemysław.

OP says:

'The name is Quaye. It’s pronounced ‘kway’ in the Ghanian instance and in the Gaelic instances it varies between ‘kway’, ‘kay’ and ‘key’'

It's 'kway' in both instances. I don't see the problem.

Try reading again. Those letters don’t exist in Irish. There is no ‘Gaelic instance’. Come to that, there is no language in Ireland called ‘Gaelic’, but as we’re in the land of ‘I read this on a website’, I suppose that’s a minor issue.

It isn't though.

I live near quay avenue, it's where you moor your boat! Please don't lumber a child with a noun of an inanimate object for a name,

We struggled to find a boy's name that sounded good in both English and Italian. So, we went for his English names on the outside and the Italian names in the middle. However, he is known by the Italian version of his given name in Italy. I do think it's a bit odd to choose a name that has no family connection on either side, though.

I was responding to what OP had said but okay...

named - Map your surname across the UK

Google often gets name origins wrong so the Irish thing could be way off.

Off the point of the thread I know, but Irish Gaelic is the same thing as Irish really. It’s just more usual to simply say Irish in Ireland.

When speaking Irish, the language is actually pronounced Gaelic in the Donegal Gaeltacht as far as I know. It’s said something like Gway-linn in the Munster Gaeltachts. Gaeilge is the standard spelling and matches the Connacht pronunciation, but I just wanted to point out that it’s not the only way the name of the language is said, or spelt for that matter.

’Gaelic’ is used only if you’re a linguist speaking English and distinguishing between Irish and Scots Gaelic. I’m a gaeilgeoir. The OP clearly isn’t.

I personally would not want my name to be a misspelled anglicisation of a Ghanian name as a white european with no connection to Ghana whatsoever.

And it seems that other posters have established it isn't an Irish name.

I know you have the best of intentions and don't mean any disrespect but I would avoid a potentially uncomfortable or controversial name. There are so many others.

Sorry OP, it doesn't work.

I'd addition to the Irish issues listed above, in English, the noun quay is pronounced "key".

I live in an area near water, so there are lots of addresses such as Victoria Quay, Roman Quay.

To pronounce them as kwai, would be quite wrong. And I think to have a child named Quayle but pronounced Kwai would look either like you totally misunderstood the English language, or were trying really hard to be edgy.

It’s often used like that, but Gaelic is also the pronunciation of the Irish language’s name if you’re speaking the Donegal dialect of Irish, so I don’t think it’s entirely accurate to say there’s no language in Ireland called Gaelic.
There is, orally at least.
www.teanglann.ie/en/fuaim/Gaeilge

Also, the spelling Gaeilge is used only because of the spelling standardisation in the 1950s. Sometimes, or maybe often, it’s not the spelling used in the various Gaeltachtaí. I’m local to Kerry and this is the wording on a sign from there.

”Dein iarracht - labhair Gaelainn!
Speak whatever Irish you have!”

I’m not familiar with the spellings used by native speakers further north, but this is from Wikipedia
“Endonyms of the language in the various modern Irish dialects include: Gaeilge[ˈɡeːlʲɟə] in Galway, Gaeilg/Gaeilic/Gaeilig[ˈɡeːlʲəc] in Mayo and Ulster, Gaelainn/Gaoluinn [ˈɡeːl̪ˠən̠ʲ] in West/Cork, Kerry Munster, as well as Gaedhealaing in mid and East Kerry/Cork and Waterford Munster to reflect local pronunciation.“

Given all that, I found your comment upthread quite harsh.

Sorry for the derail OP.