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HelpRe: We Need to Talk About India.
in reply to a message by erb816
India is itself an English name imposed by the colonial power on the country. The name of the country in Hindi is Bhārat, and according to the Wikipedia article on the country most of the other languages of India use a form of Bhārat. (Someone tell me if that is not correct.)
So this isn't "cultural appropriation" because the name doesn't come from Indian culture. It's hard for me to imagine families of 100% South Asian descent even wanting to name a daughter India.
I think your poll isn't too far off. In my personal experience the % of people from a particular group who think having the general culture use a name associated with that group is offensive or "cultural appropriation" isn't very large. Certainly in regards to the use of Cohen as a given name by those without Jewish affiliations, you always get a few people on name boards who say this is highly offensive, but very few Jewish people I know agree with them. I think most people with South Asian ancestry just wouldn't care one way or the other about people anywhere naming children India.
So this isn't "cultural appropriation" because the name doesn't come from Indian culture. It's hard for me to imagine families of 100% South Asian descent even wanting to name a daughter India.
I think your poll isn't too far off. In my personal experience the % of people from a particular group who think having the general culture use a name associated with that group is offensive or "cultural appropriation" isn't very large. Certainly in regards to the use of Cohen as a given name by those without Jewish affiliations, you always get a few people on name boards who say this is highly offensive, but very few Jewish people I know agree with them. I think most people with South Asian ancestry just wouldn't care one way or the other about people anywhere naming children India.
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I’m Jewish and most Jewish people I know who I’ve discussed Cohen with think it’s offensive, just because it’sa particularly important name.
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Yeah, I'm Jewish and I do feel weird about people randomly naming their child Cohen. I don't think I would necessarily be highly offended by it, but it would feel very strange to me if I met a Gentile named Cohen. I can't say I'm a fan of the idea.
This message was edited 9/12/2022, 6:29 PM
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