Using a name from another culture / cultural appropriation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is an offshoot of a thread that's currently in the "expectant moms" forum about the name Khalil. There's a small debate going on over there about white/european people using names of other cultures and whether or not this is ok or disrespectful. In this case the name is not just any Arabic name but is the name of a famous poet, Khalil Gibran. The child would be named after the poet but would not have any family or ethnic connection to the poet.

So I wanted to open up the discussion here, not specifically around the name Khalil but about naming children names that are from cultures that are not the parents' cultures. Is this cultural appropriation and/or is it "bad"?

I guess this isn't exactly "political" but I figured people looking at the "political" board might have interesting perspective about culture.

First world problem

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Naming a child after a favorite poet constitutes a personal connection. It's fine.

Must there be a personal connection? Why can't they just simply like the name?

The 'cultural appropriation' people really only care if the culture being 'appropriated' is Muslim, Black, Hispanic or Native American. These seem to be liberal 'darlings'. With liberalism, you have to be hypersensitive to the point of feeling degraded constantly, or you're not a good liberal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Naming a child after a favorite poet constitutes a personal connection. It's fine.

Must there be a personal connection? Why can't they just simply like the name?

The 'cultural appropriation' people really only care if the culture being 'appropriated' is Muslim, Black, Hispanic or Native American. These seem to be liberal 'darlings'. With liberalism, you have to be hypersensitive to the point of feeling degraded constantly, or you're not a good liberal.

Or maybe it's a symptom of the power dynamic in this country? I personally don't care who uses what name, but I am a white of European ancestry and know that my heritage has been the dominant one in this country. Maybe when people feel their "culture" is on equal footing with others, not being attacked or marginalized, then they will stop caring about things like "cultural appropriation."

p.s. is "Muslim culture" kind of like "Christian culture?" Just curious what your definition of culture is.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes, stop being silly. You don't see Jews losing their shit every time gentiles adopt Hebrew names like Matthew, Nathan, Rachel, Sarah, Jacob et cetera...

We are indeed a melting pot. Embrace it. But do it respectfully.

Those are English names