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HelpRe: Question about names and cultures
in reply to a message by Ilex
I understand that. That's why I said I wasn't speaking for everyone. I myself have always felt the lack of connection from a "mother culture" in my life from a very young age. That's just me. I do have to say, the description of festivities in your area sounds really interesting.
But, maybe that is why we have so many place name and new names now. They don't have foreign roots as a first name. That makes them American names, not English or French, or Chinese, etc.
I won't pretend to be a fan of the names that you mention, but this is a really good point that I hadn't thought of before.
My point seems to have disintegrated a bit, through no one's fault but my own. Originally my question was something more along the lines of "How far can a white American person go when it comes to adopting names from a foreign/minority culture without offending anyone?" The side of white American-Europeans taking on American names through time or non-white American people taking American/English names is only one side of the coin. Geez, I don't even know if that made sense. I don't think I've confused myself this badly in a long time!
But, maybe that is why we have so many place name and new names now. They don't have foreign roots as a first name. That makes them American names, not English or French, or Chinese, etc.
I won't pretend to be a fan of the names that you mention, but this is a really good point that I hadn't thought of before.
My point seems to have disintegrated a bit, through no one's fault but my own. Originally my question was something more along the lines of "How far can a white American person go when it comes to adopting names from a foreign/minority culture without offending anyone?" The side of white American-Europeans taking on American names through time or non-white American people taking American/English names is only one side of the coin. Geez, I don't even know if that made sense. I don't think I've confused myself this badly in a long time!
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I didn't think about the place names and new names being from the Ameican culture until I wrote this. I knew of Native Americans named Cheyenne and Dakota from school (they weren't in my grade, though). Those have become trendy American names. I can think of a few white kids in the school I work at with those names, but they also fall in the place name trends. I think that if someone used a name that isn't expected because of your race or last name, you would expect the person to have some sort of a connection to it. A late best friend, you are fascinated by the culture, any important connection, not just I like it.
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I agree. Some kind of connection definitely makes the choice more legitimate.
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