I have one of the most common Hispanic names in existence, but that doesn't stop random people from calling me Maria instead (@kirkette knows this). I am the only one of my siblings born in the U.S. and my parents purposely decided against using a name they thought Americans would have more difficulty with.
For my children, DD has an old Hispanic lady name that is Hebrew in origin, so it's not obviously Hispanic to non-Hispanics. (But Hispanics know). Her middle name, however, is not just Hispanic, but super Cuban. I've never met or heard of a non-Cuban person with this name.
DS has a super Hispanic name that he shares with a saint who is famous for a certain medieval pilgrimage. Most people familiar with the pilgrimage or any of the cities named after this saint do an admirable job with the pronunciation, but I've also been subject to some truly awful and previously unimaginable mispronunciations. Regardless, I have no regrets.
Do you have a distinctively non-white name? I go by my middle name which is ethnic but most people don't instantly think it's a black name. People tell me all the time it sounds Hawaiian.My first name definitely sounds like an old black lady.
Do you like it? I love my middle name and always have. I used to hate my first name because it sounds old but it's a family name and with age I've grown to appreciate it.
Did you name your children distinctively non-white names? DD has a super popular generic name. With our last name, I don't think anyone would assume her race. Her name is really generic like Jessica Lee Jones.
Any regrets? None. DH and I agreed on 2 girl names and 0 boy names. I love it. I would have liked another middle name but we stuck with a boring family name so it's ok.
I have one of the most common Hispanic names in existence, but that doesn't stop random people from calling me Maria instead (@kirkette knows this). I am the only one of my siblings born in the U.S. and my parents purposely decided against using a name they thought Americans would have more difficulty with.
For my children, DD has an old Hispanic lady name that is Hebrew in origin, so it's not obviously Hispanic to non-Hispanics. (But Hispanics know). Her middle name, however, is not just Hispanic, but super Cuban. I've never met or heard of a non-Cuban person with this name.
DS has a super Hispanic name that he shares with a saint who is famous for a certain medieval pilgrimage. Most people familiar with the pilgrimage or any of the cities named after this saint do an admirable job with the pronunciation, but I've also been subject to some truly awful and previously unimaginable mispronunciations. Regardless, I have no regrets.
Now I am curious about your DD! (I'm Cuban, too). Almost every woman in my family has Maria as a first or middle and part of our last name. My other last name (from my dad) is pretty white. My first and middle names are very hispanic, although there is a white version of my first name spelled differently. Few people can spell it here, and some idiots mispronounce it as well. The only other person I've met with my first-middle-momslast combo was an 11 year old girl in my class in Costa Rica.
Post by childofhiphop on Sept 12, 2016 22:16:52 GMT -5
Do you have a distinctively non-white name?
My maiden name was very German and people butchered the spelling and pronunciation all the time. Because it was so German people often questioned "you're black"?
My married name, coupled with my first name, is very ethnic and my sisters joked for weeks around my wedding that it would be a great name for a character on an African American sitcom. Last week at the airport, the agent exclaimed, "Wow! I was looking for someone black!" Which is why technically I am FIRST NAME MAIDEN NAME MARRIED NAME - yup - all three.
I can't win.
Do you like it?
I like the uniqueness of my maiden name and abhor the commonness of my married name which is why I use all three to meet in the middle.
Did you name your children distinctively non-white names?
No kids. Our former foster kids coincidentally had the formal names of my granny and her sisters so it would have worked out very well.
My name is so uncommon (Hebrew biblical name), that I've never actually met another one of any race. My daughter's name is also in the bible, but it does seem to be more commonly used among POC. This could just be my perception though, because I know a lot more black people than white people. I don't think most people would see her name and think of a particular race/ethnicity.
My name annoyed me growing up, because the pronunciation is tricky, but I love it now. I LOVE my DD's name. No regrets.
This is me exactly except that it's not biblical, mine is from a movie! I am the only one with my name spelled the way it is; it looks harder to pronounce than it is. I've never met anyone with the common spelling of it either, but I did find some when I Googled. I like my name a lot.
My girls have very pretty names that are more common but still not overly used, which is what we wanted. DD1's name is Italian and DD2's name is Hebrew. I absolutely love their names and have no regrets.
I like my name a lot now, but as I mentioned in another thread, when I was little, I wished I had a "normal" name like Jessica, Jennifer, or Stacy. Now I'm glad I don't haha.
When I was younger I literally wished at night that I was a blond haired blue eyed girl named Jennifer.
to answer - my name is fairly uncommon but not particularly Indian. My kids' names are pretty common and not ethnic.
Post by meshaliuknits on Sept 12, 2016 22:58:57 GMT -5
Growing up there were always at least three other people in my class with the same name. It tends toward white, but I've met a lot of women of various backgrounds with the same name.
As a result, I picked long, uncommon names for my children. Particularly the boy but I was fighting Bruce Wayne as a legit suggestion so I'm just happy he's not named after TV. At least not as obviously.
Do you like it? No, I much prefer my middle name. As a kid I hated it. I was so sick of being called an African booty scratcher, and thought if I had a more common name the teasing would stop.
We had picked out a name for our son: Miles (Davis) Ellis (Marsalis) MyMaidenName XhLastName
We had a middle name for a girl that was set in stone but hadn't chosen a first name. Some of the names on our list included: Audra, Meredith, Viviana (I like the last one but that would have been one syllable too many with our last names). If I adopt and it's a girl, I'll name her Joy. My mama's name was Joyce.
No not with your full name and your Maiden name as your last name.
I wont even ASK the same question of my name because I know the answer already.
I think your first name has a more white spelling. At least that is the way I have always seen it. Your whole name together would never indicate a race to me, but if I had to pick I probably wouldn't pick black.
As for my name I have the easiest name ever and people still mess it up. Some people think I am Spanish based on my first name and I guess to some I look Spanish. In college people would always ask me where I was from. When I would say DC, they would ask where my parents were from (DC) and on and on down the line. Look, we are from DC, then S. Carolina, then Africa. What more do you want?
I love my name and it is part of the reason I haven't taken H's last name. That and I am lazy.
I love DD's name. She gets mistaken for a boy sometimes, but that is ok. I guess her name is seen as white or unknown. Her middle name is after a black tennis player.
Actually, I'm not sure that it is non-white. I've actually run into several little old ladies, who just so happen to be white, with my name. Many years ago, I had a guy tell me that my name was very old and a quick Goggle search tells me it is a Latin derivative name.
Do you like it?
It's never bothered me.
Did you name your children distinctively non-white names?
No. They both have names that won't get their resumes placed in File 13.
Post by NinaSimone on Sept 13, 2016 9:39:01 GMT -5
Do you have a distinctively non-white name? Yes. It's constantly mispronounced and misspelled.
Do you like it? I love my name. In school I only knew 1 other girl with the same name but different spelling.
Did you name your children distinctively non-white names? DD's name is historically male with Celtic origin. DS's name is biblical although a lot of people don't recognize that right away. On paper both of their names are very generic.
I have what I think is a very black name, with a weird spelling made up by my parents. My middle name is even more black, and people struggled with it so much that in 5th grade, when we moved to new school, I started going by my first name. While I like my name, the fact that I've always had to justify and explain the spelling and how to pronounce it is so, so tiring.
My daughter has a super, super white girl name, which I've received SO much shade over. But, she is named after my brother and father (the female version of their first name) and it was important to me to honor them by naming my child for them. Though sometimes the militant in me wonders if I should have given her a more "fight the power" type of name. lol
Am I the only one wondering what everyone's name is now? lol
sfy mentioned that she gave her son an ethnic name and didn't give a fuck about it and it got me thinking.
Do you have a distinctively non-white name? No. My mom named me after a movie character.
Do you like it? It will do.
Did you name your children distinctively non-white names? No
Any regrets?
Not really. My family runs the gamut from Emily to Shantese.
your daughter's name is still on my short list. Also, I told my husband how old she is now and he almost died. (We were discussing baby names) He was like, "that cute little tiny baby?" I hope that's not creepy.
sfy mentioned that she gave her son an ethnic name and didn't give a fuck about it and it got me thinking.
Do you have a distinctively non-white name?
I have a pretty common European 1st name, an African middle and last name (both maiden and married)
Do you like it? I like it just fine.
Did you name your children distinctively non-white names? We are a Francophone, German and American family and looked for names that worked well in that regard. I do think my daughter's name is more 'non-white' than my son's (Noah Marley, Yasmine Aria)
My first name is Persian (Iranian) though not a super common Persian name. My H has a German last name (his grandpa was from Germany) so I was kind of insistent that the kids have Persian first names. DD and DS1have American middle names but DS2's middle name is of Iranian origin also but H picked that out himself. ETA I love my name and I love my kids' names.
My name is an Indian first name. I like my name and once I tell people what it is, they usually say "oh that's a nice name."
For DD, I wanted to give her a first name that wouldn't immediately identify her as Indian. I wound up picking the name of the lead character in Nashville Who is a white woman because I liked the spelling. I've been told several times now that the spelling of DD's name is very Filipino and that her name is Spanish. All of this makes me feel her name is very international even though she is 100% Indian.
I changed my last name when I got married to my husbands name because it's very Anglicized. But lately, I don't feel like myself when I have to say my (his) last name. A nagging part of me misses my maiden name.
Post by newnamesameperson on Sept 15, 2016 21:22:03 GMT -5
I gave my children ethnic names. I've debated it, repeatedly, but they have beautiful names and they should be proud of their heritage whether it came in their name, blood, or by association.
I have the name of every white girl born in the 80s lol.
it's fine. I'm not in love with it, but I can't imagine being any other name, so.
my son's name makes people think "Bible!", though I do think his middle name is distinctly black. I think my daughter's name is pretty racially ambiguous.
the two names we chose were our favorite names, BUT H has a very black name and had to nickname himself in order to get replies to his resume, so he was adamant about not putting our kids in the same position. even his nickname (a simple, three-letter name) is apparently too damn hard for many white people to remember, and they screw it up often. EVEN WHEN HE SPELLS IT AND REPEATS IT 3-4X FOR THEM. smh. it irritates me that we even took all this into consideration.
Girl, you and me both. My mama named me Brittany. Ugh. No. Too frilly and cutesy. Just no. I was supposed to be Samantha, after a great-grandfather, which I greatly prefer. I've gone by Aeona since '12ish. My side of the family still call be Britt, which is fine, but friends, acquaintances, in-laws, etc., I'm Aeona. Pronounced aeo-na. She named my sister Alexys.
My exH and I were super religious back in the day. I've always been fond of old fashioned names. I loved the name Grace for a while. I knew that if I had a girl she'd be Grace. Her full name is Grace Elizabeth Katherine. Katherine after a great-grandmother and Elizabeth after my childhood best friend. We named DD2 Evangeline Lily Marie. Evangeline means "good news" (evangelize) in Greek. Lily after the hymn "Lily of the Valley" and Marie after my paternal grandmother. Our first son, Duncan Lewis Garibaldi, all family names, and my maiden. I adore my maiden name. Our second, Henry Allen Greyson, was named after the main character of a story exH wrote, but also happens to be family names.
And DD3, Ruby Matilda Rose, is named after a great-grandmother on my mother's side. Matilda was one of my favorite books and movies from my childhood, and I fell in love with the name Rose after seeing Titanic in middle school. Such a dork.
I doubt we'll have more, but we've talked names a lot for fun. I LOVE discussing baby names. Daisy is the top girl name and Westley our top boy name.
Post by bugandbibs on Sept 15, 2016 23:26:01 GMT -5
My name screams Asian, although our nationality is confusing to people because it was legally shortened when I was a child. MH took my last name when we got married and now has a Swedish first name, Asian last name which is interesting.
I have a love hate relationship with my first name. I love what it means, but I wish it were longer. It's only one syllable and 3 letters long. I always wanted a fancier name growing up.
Our kids all have classic throw back names. I love them. However, I wouldn't really consider some ethnic names I really liked because of the resume issue. If they had a generic white last name, I might have ventured to Asian first names instead. I want them to have as many doors open to them as possible.
share.memebox.com/x/uKhKaZmemebox referal code for 20% off! DD1 "J" born 3/2003 DD2 "G" born 4/2011 DS is here! "H" born 2/2014 m/c#3 1-13-13 @ 9 weeks m/c#2 11-11-12 @ 5w2d I am an extended breastfeeding, cloth diapering, baby wearing, pro marriage equality, birth control lovin', Catholic mama.
Do you have a distinctively non-white name? Yes. It is common in India but nobody here says it right.
Do you like it? It seemed ordinary when I was younger but I like the meaning and think it suits me perfectly.
Did you name your children distinctively non-white names?
I wanted my daughter to have a very meaningful Indian name , so that's what I did. I did add an extra letter so that it's easier to pronounce. I expected to be helping people say it right but I've been pleasantly surprised by how many people say it perfectly.