Xavier as a first name

[Anonymous]

Alsatian/French. It usually us paired with Francis as in Francis Xavier. It is Catholic but not Irish. You could call him F.X.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Alsatian/French. It usually us paired with Francis as in Francis Xavier. It is Catholic but not Irish. You could call him F.X.

Basque, after a 16th century Saint Not black

[Anonymous]

I am an older Irish Catholic. I know 2 people who have it as a first name. One is a Cuban-American, born in Cuba, who spells it Xavier and is nicknamed X. The other is a grandson of one of my Irish Catholic cousins.

I know several others who have it as a middle name, including females named for St Frances Xavier Cabrini.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about magneto

🤖😆

[Anonymous]

I love it but my husband hated it — his only association was X man. I’m Catholic and he is not.
It’s really common for Latinos but more commonly spelled with a J, although sometimes the X and pronounced with an H sound. Javi is a common nickname.
One problem is that there at least 3 pronunciations - with the H sound, with the Z sound and with a hard X sound (like in X men movies).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait so it’s a butchered Javier? Or is it legit spelling. I don’t understand

The original name is a place name in the Basque region of Spain, a town spelled Xabier in Basque and Javier in Spanish. In Basque, the pronunciation is "sha-byehr". In Spanish, it's "ha-byehr". It means "new house." The name came to prominence via one of the 16th century founders of the Jesuits, Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta, who was born in Xabier. He was later canonized and referred to as San Francisco de Xabier (or de Javier). In English, that translated to Saint Francis of Xavier, pronounced "ZAY-vee-er" or "ZAY-vyer". Note that in English, some people say "eg-ZAY-vyer" but that's incorrect.

Thank you! It all sounds too complicated for a first name

[Anonymous]

This is my kid's name. He's white, we are Catholic, and named our son for St. Francis Xavier. There's literally a Catholic University bearing this name. Your husband may be using the cultural appropriation thing as an excuse because he doesn't like the name???

For what it's worth, the name is not complicated at all. Nobody makes fun of him. However, he does get called X or X-Man by many people (which I think is just fine). Lots of people also mispronounce his name (ex-zav-yer) instead of simply Zav-yer. For the same reason we don't say ex-zie-la-phone, Xavier should not be pronounced ex-zav-yer. But lots of names get mispronounced, so whatever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is my kid's name. He's white, we are Catholic, and named our son for St. Francis Xavier. There's literally a Catholic University bearing this name. Your husband may be using the cultural appropriation thing as an excuse because he doesn't like the name???

For what it's worth, the name is not complicated at all. Nobody makes fun of him. However, he does get called X or X-Man by many people (which I think is just fine). Lots of people also mispronounce his name (ex-zav-yer) instead of simply Zav-yer. For the same reason we don't say ex-zie-la-phone, Xavier should not be pronounced ex-zav-yer. But lots of names get mispronounced, so whatever.

I agree with the bolded. If the original post is even real, I think the husband is using the whole cultural appropriation thing as an excuse when, in reality, he simply doesn't like the name. Most men (in general - I realize there are exceptions to every rule) do not spend time thinking about things like cultural appropriation (especially when it comes to baby names). That's more of a woman's concern/thought process.

[Anonymous]

I associate the name with Spain. Thought it’s a popular name there and met a couple of Xavier from Spain. Haven’t met a single black Xavier here - maybe generational? In any case, it’s a pretty name

[Anonymous]

So far we have:

Hanebi
Mateo

My daughter will be called Maria. Xavier or Javier is fine but would you consider something more Irish?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What about magneto

Professor X says stop, don't do this, that name will be a curse worse than superpowers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wait so it’s a butchered Javier? Or is it legit spelling. I don’t understand

The original name is a place name in the Basque region of Spain, a town spelled Xabier in Basque and Javier in Spanish. In Basque, the pronunciation is "sha-byehr". In Spanish, it's "ha-byehr". It means "new house." The name came to prominence via one of the 16th century founders of the Jesuits, Francisco de Jasso y Azpilicueta, who was born in Xabier. He was later canonized and referred to as San Francisco de Xabier (or de Javier). In English, that translated to Saint Francis of Xavier, pronounced "ZAY-vee-er" or "ZAY-vyer". Note that in English, some people say "eg-ZAY-vyer" but that's incorrect.

Typically the X in Xavier would be silent (as in xylophone), but language changes over time and a name can develop more than one pronunciation. Ex-zay-vee-er is just another pronunciation that has popped up in the United States. In France/French, they say zah-vee-ay. In other places, they say sha-vee-air or sha-vee-ay. I've also heard zah-veer in the United States. Are all of those pronunciations also incorrect?

I see it as more of an anne-dree-ah, on-dray-ah, anne-dray-ah, on-dree-ah situation that we see with the name Andrea. Pick which pronunciation works best for you and your family.

[Anonymous]

It’s pretty popular in my Hispanic family as a first name.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP—thanks so much for everyone’s reactions (even those who don’t like the name or take my husband’s side). It seems like it really is a multi-ethnic name that DH and I have just encountered in very different contexts. I do like the name a lot and it has some sentimental meaning for me (my late grandpa’s middle name), but it’s not the only good name out there and probably not worth a big fight!

It’s Basque. Not black. Came from a 16th century Catholic Saint. Very popular in Spanish and Italian Catholic cultures. It’s Javier in Spanish. I like it but your kid will
be teased. Middle name?

And Tyrone is a name of Irish origins yet the vast majority of Americans when asked to picture a Tyrone envision it as a black name.

Xavier is no different.

But it's goofy and makes no sense to say that naming your son Xavier or Tyrone is cultural appropriation (which is what the OP asked about). How can it be cultural appropriation when both names came from Europe? Are we really supposed to say that it's cultural appropriation to use names that are popular with black Americans regardless of what the actual origins/history of the names are?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is OP—thanks so much for everyone’s reactions (even those who don’t like the name or take my husband’s side). It seems like it really is a multi-ethnic name that DH and I have just encountered in very different contexts. I do like the name a lot and it has some sentimental meaning for me (my late grandpa’s middle name), but it’s not the only good name out there and probably not worth a big fight!

It’s Basque. Not black. Came from a 16th century Catholic Saint. Very popular in Spanish and Italian Catholic cultures. It’s Javier in Spanish. I like it but your kid will
be teased. Middle name?

And Tyrone is a name of Irish origins yet the vast majority of Americans when asked to picture a Tyrone envision it as a black name.

Xavier is no different.

But it's goofy and makes no sense to say that naming your son Xavier or Tyrone is cultural appropriation (which is what the OP asked about). How can it be cultural appropriation when both names came from Europe? Are we really supposed to say that it's cultural appropriation to use names that are popular with black Americans regardless of what the actual origins/history of the names are?

+1