Do you think you have to have a connection to a country in order to choose a name from it?

[branflake81]

I am half Welsh half English. DP is half English half Indian so in theory we have a lot of possible cultural connections for names.

However one of the names I really like is Turkish - somewhere neither of us has any connection to.

Do you think that it matters?

Thanks Cote!

I am loving:
Ayla
Alev
Izim
(and Irem from your previous list).

What do you think of Sevgi?

I was at school with an Alev - lovely name

(NB the word you were looking for for 'Naz' is coquette/coquettish)

Personally I think there are several dimensions to choosing a name. I like names which sound lovely, look nice, and have a beautiful meaning. There are some names which I think sound lovely, but couldnt choose because of the meaning (eg Rebecca is beautiful but means 'noose'!!)
I do think it is quite odd to choose a name which you don't have a cultural connection with. Your name is such a special thing - to me, it needs to have a depth of meaning.

I think a lot of baby name books and websites make the meanings up, tbh. Most of 'em get my own name wrong. They just assume because it has a few letters in common with a more popular/widely-used name it must be the same.

Names give people ideas about the person. So if you're happy for people to make a connection between your dc and that country, then fair enough. To me it would seem weird to, say, meet a white non-Muslim called Yusuf. Yet on the other hand no-one would bat an eyelid, I think, at somebody called Joseph, no matter their race or creed.

And names can mean different things to different people. To me, the names we have given our children are good Jewish names, yet to my dh (who isn't Jewish) they are good English names. And to my surprise my Mum thinks one of the names is Christian!

I've named my daughter by a arabian name but I didn't know it was arabian at the time. Just liked the name.

I think it depends on the race (which is a horrid thing to say) I think you'd have trouble with mohammad for a very white boy.

I love Oya - elaborate needlework! Does anyone think it weird that there aren't more (any???!!!) english christian boys called Jesus? There are plenty in spain etc and lots of moslem Mohameds...?

Lots of Joshuas though - same root.

Muslims can be white

ohh, hatrick ditto. But we do have a strange dutch surname (although we are not dutch)

DS also has a dutch name , but it is commonly used in other countries.

We chose unusual/dutch names as our surname is so hideous overpowering I wanted an interesting name to deflect attention

And lot of chinese children with very christian names on my side of the planet....

And a lot of African/middle eastern children with very biblical names

And a lot of very white children with very stereotype muslim names

so lets not get there

I agree with Slim ...
I don't think it matters anymore and you can't make sweeping statements about race and names like that
Anyway, I have a welsh name as does my brother and my sister and my parents have absolutely now cultural link with Wales at all - Well, they went to Blaenau (sp?) Ffestiniog once ... does that count? But that was after we were all born.
My mum says she read "How Green Is My Valley" when she was 15 and vowed to name a daughter 'Bronwen' one day (my sister) and so the welshness stuck.
I live in Australia and my poor name has been annihilated by the antipodeans ... I keep saying, "No, actually you pronounce it Meg-an with a short e to rhyme with egg" and "No, actually it is a welsh name and that is how it is pronounced"
I have even been told that Megan is a good old fashioned American name!
So, no, these days, with people moving about as they do I really don't think it matters ...

artichokes - 'Sevgi' means 'love'. Turkish language has two words for love:

aşk - (pr. ashk) what you feel when you are in love
sevgi - all other love (I love this dress, I love chocolate, I love my mother, etc)

It's slightly old fashioned, but still quite nice.

Ayla is pronounced 'i-la'. The a at the end is what we call a 'soft a', like in the the French 'Oh la la!' and not like the second syllable of 'Lila'. (Just realized I'm confusing everybody so will stop now )

Oops Turkish letters not welcome on MN, I guess.

That was 'Ask', where the letter s has a tail. Pronounced 'sh'

MrsBadger - I looked it up - yes, it's defined as 'coquettishness', but I think it's closer to 'feigned reluctance' - ex: refusing an invitation expecting it to be repeated.

Naz 1. coyness, coquettishness. 2. feigned reluctance.
??ını çekmek /ın/ to put up with (someone's) whims.
?? etmek/satmak/yapmak, ??a çekmek to feign reluctance, make a show of reluctance.
??ı geçmek /a/ to be able to make (someone) do as one wants; to be able to get one's way with.

Arghhh. The letter that was rejected in previous post was the 'i without a dot' (in the off chance that anyone is interested).

Loooooove Ayla.
Too late for my DD born 5 weeks ago!
I was going to go for Aida and changed at the last minute. Ayla would have won my heart, if I'd heard it before.

Congratulations slim [slim]

I couldn't choose a Turkish name for DD, but if ever we have a DS, I will come back here to ask which sound good. Some that I proposed were vehemently vetoed by DH - like 'Ege' (both short 'e's, like in 'bed'. Means Aegean, as in Aegean Sea'). DH said he would be called 'Eggie' or 'Egghead' in school

ghosty - my name is the same as yours - and I have had the same problems with pronunication.

Hello name twin

Hi Cote
thx. Her name is May. She's adorable.
Was thinking of you lately when I saw the constitutional court's ruling.
Looks like they are challenging it though.

Some have indeed passed over the cultural boundaries and have become international- Francesca would be one, but just think how odd it would seem to find a completely British little boy called Friedrich or Hartmutt.....It depends totally on the name....Luca is passing over, but hasn't yet completely passed over, likewise Amelie.