South Asian parents - would you give your baby a non-South Asian name?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine to give them Indian names, but just simple ones that are easy to pronounce. I work in tech with a lot of Indians, and some of their names are difficult to pronounce if you just see the name without someone sounding it for you.

And I say this as another Asian person. I had an Asian first name that was not the easiest to figure out if you were not from my culture. So many people, including other Asian cultures, would butcher it. I grew up in the US, live here, will probably die here, so I changed my first name to a western name to make my life easier. My kids have western first names, and my ethnic sounding middle names.

Lovely, you change your heritage to make it easier for people who don’t matter to pronounce your name. But they can pronounce Tchaikovsky just fine. I’ll keep my South Indian name and hold my head up high

Eyeroll, you're annoying.

[Anonymous]

Plenty of names like Tara, Meera, Leela, Lina, Maya, Laila, Rina, Meena/Mina, Sara(swati), Chandra, Sheela, Nina, Sonia……….

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about pronunciation issues!

I have a really common Scottish last name--one that commonly appears in pop culture to boot--and it gets butchered all the time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our first daughter has a classic and beautiful South Asian hindu name and our last name is a common-ish Indian name. I'm stuck on what to name our second daughter. I love the names Mira, Leela, Amara, and Aanya but worry that they are super common now.

So we're thinking outside the box (I've always loved the name Elodie). Just wondering if other South Asian parents considered or decided on non-South Asian names for their kids.

We didn't give it much thought and gave very heavy ethnic names with good meanings which grandparents suggested but feel that in a diverse society, its easier for kids and others to go with simple and easy to pronounce names, no matter if they are ethnic or not.

[Anonymous]

What do you like about Elodie? Maybe there an Indian name that scratches the same itch?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine to give them Indian names, but just simple ones that are easy to pronounce. I work in tech with a lot of Indians, and some of their names are difficult to pronounce if you just see the name without someone sounding it for you.

And I say this as another Asian person. I had an Asian first name that was not the easiest to figure out if you were not from my culture. So many people, including other Asian cultures, would butcher it. I grew up in the US, live here, will probably die here, so I changed my first name to a western name to make my life easier. My kids have western first names, and my ethnic sounding middle names.

Lovely, you change your heritage to make it easier for people who don’t matter to pronounce your name. But they can pronounce Tchaikovsky just fine. I’ll keep my South Indian name and hold my head up high

Someone's name doesn't define their heritage. Express yourself, including cultural identity, in the way that feels right to you--but don't look down on others for their own decisions/expressions.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine to give them Indian names, but just simple ones that are easy to pronounce. I work in tech with a lot of Indians, and some of their names are difficult to pronounce if you just see the name without someone sounding it for you.

And I say this as another Asian person. I had an Asian first name that was not the easiest to figure out if you were not from my culture. So many people, including other Asian cultures, would butcher it. I grew up in the US, live here, will probably die here, so I changed my first name to a western name to make my life easier. My kids have western first names, and my ethnic sounding middle names.

Lovely, you change your heritage to make it easier for people who don’t matter to pronounce your name. But they can pronounce Tchaikovsky just fine. I’ll keep my South Indian name and hold my head up high

Lovely, you judge other people who have different experiences and desires. You're definitely better than everyone else.

[Anonymous]

I am not Indian. I have a name the people variously think it Italian, Spanish or Portuguese, so no sure where it comes from, I haven't asked my mom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What do you like about Elodie? Maybe there an Indian name that scratches the same itch?

Elodie reminds me of Anjali.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What do you like about Elodie? Maybe there an Indian name that scratches the same itch?

Elodie reminds me of Anjali.

On what planet?

[Anonymous]

There are a lot of "American" names that have South Asian roots. I know South Asian kids (with two South Asian parents) named Samantha, Keira, Sara pronounced Saara, Seira pronounced Sarah, Lily, Eva/Ava, Maya (don't do Maya), Rhea, Molly, and Mila.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine to give them Indian names, but just simple ones that are easy to pronounce. I work in tech with a lot of Indians, and some of their names are difficult to pronounce if you just see the name without someone sounding it for you.

And I say this as another Asian person. I had an Asian first name that was not the easiest to figure out if you were not from my culture. So many people, including other Asian cultures, would butcher it. I grew up in the US, live here, will probably die here, so I changed my first name to a western name to make my life easier. My kids have western first names, and my ethnic sounding middle names.

I find this a hilarious sentiment in the days of 100% American (whose families have been in American for generations) kids being named Siobhan, Aloysius, Saoirse, Ralph (hint, it's Rafe), Graeme, Aoife. I know kids with ALL of the names I just put out there. Why is it okay for people to name their kids these insane Gaelic names but then Indian-Americans are told to name our kids all the same few "easy to pronounce" names - Mira, Maya, Isha, Leela, Nikhil, Shaan, etc.?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine to give them Indian names, but just simple ones that are easy to pronounce. I work in tech with a lot of Indians, and some of their names are difficult to pronounce if you just see the name without someone sounding it for you.

And I say this as another Asian person. I had an Asian first name that was not the easiest to figure out if you were not from my culture. So many people, including other Asian cultures, would butcher it. I grew up in the US, live here, will probably die here, so I changed my first name to a western name to make my life easier. My kids have western first names, and my ethnic sounding middle names.

I find this a hilarious sentiment in the days of 100% American (whose families have been in American for generations) kids being named Siobhan, Aloysius, Saoirse, Ralph (hint, it's Rafe), Graeme, Aoife. I know kids with ALL of the names I just put out there. Why is it okay for people to name their kids these insane Gaelic names but then Indian-Americans are told to name our kids all the same few "easy to pronounce" names - Mira, Maya, Isha, Leela, Nikhil, Shaan, etc.?

Where did PP say they "agreed" with other hard-to-pronounce names?

I don't really have a dog in this fight. I think parents should name their kids what they want and that others are perfectly capable of learn how to pronounce any name, though also see some benefit to having a simple-to-pronounce name no matter the name's origin. You seem to be taking this to an extreme, however, or at least very personally. Think you're projecting more here than exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine to give them Indian names, but just simple ones that are easy to pronounce. I work in tech with a lot of Indians, and some of their names are difficult to pronounce if you just see the name without someone sounding it for you.

And I say this as another Asian person. I had an Asian first name that was not the easiest to figure out if you were not from my culture. So many people, including other Asian cultures, would butcher it. I grew up in the US, live here, will probably die here, so I changed my first name to a western name to make my life easier. My kids have western first names, and my ethnic sounding middle names.

I find this a hilarious sentiment in the days of 100% American (whose families have been in American for generations) kids being named Siobhan, Aloysius, Saoirse, Ralph (hint, it's Rafe), Graeme, Aoife. I know kids with ALL of the names I just put out there. Why is it okay for people to name their kids these insane Gaelic names but then Indian-Americans are told to name our kids all the same few "easy to pronounce" names - Mira, Maya, Isha, Leela, Nikhil, Shaan, etc.?

Where did PP say they "agreed" with other hard-to-pronounce names?

I don't really have a dog in this fight. I think parents should name their kids what they want and that others are perfectly capable of learn how to pronounce any name, though also see some benefit to having a simple-to-pronounce name no matter the name's origin. You seem to be taking this to an extreme, however, or at least very personally. Think you're projecting more here than exists.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's fine to give them Indian names, but just simple ones that are easy to pronounce. I work in tech with a lot of Indians, and some of their names are difficult to pronounce if you just see the name without someone sounding it for you.

And I say this as another Asian person. I had an Asian first name that was not the easiest to figure out if you were not from my culture. So many people, including other Asian cultures, would butcher it. I grew up in the US, live here, will probably die here, so I changed my first name to a western name to make my life easier. My kids have western first names, and my ethnic sounding middle names.

I find this a hilarious sentiment in the days of 100% American (whose families have been in American for generations) kids being named Siobhan, Aloysius, Saoirse, Ralph (hint, it's Rafe), Graeme, Aoife. I know kids with ALL of the names I just put out there. Why is it okay for people to name their kids these insane Gaelic names but then Indian-Americans are told to name our kids all the same few "easy to pronounce" names - Mira, Maya, Isha, Leela, Nikhil, Shaan, etc.?

Where did PP say they "agreed" with other hard-to-pronounce names?

I don't really have a dog in this fight. I think parents should name their kids what they want and that others are perfectly capable of learn how to pronounce any name, though also see some benefit to having a simple-to-pronounce name no matter the name's origin. You seem to be taking this to an extreme, however, or at least very personally. Think you're projecting more here than exists.

Good comeback.