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Re: English opinion on German names
in reply to a message by tibby
I think Fanny and Lion would definitely be a problem. Lion just because it is spelled like the animal and that pronunciation would not be what people say unless it is spelled Leon. People would be bound to pronounce Christian the English way. Arian is interesting, it would require some explaining on pronunciation and I can't tell if it is supposed to be a boy or girl name, but I think it can work. Willi, Willie, Willy I only see as nicknames and don't think they should be names on their own and some teasing is possible. I would just nickname Will and probably the full name Wilhelm, but expect a W sound instead of a V. Fritz I only know as a last name, but would know how to say it, though it would stand out. Point of reference though, I do live in an area that was settled mostly by Germans, hence the knowledge of this as a last name. I'm not sure everyone would. Bent, Bente - seems like the word bent and would probably be pronounced that way and I just don't think it would go so well in English speaking countries.Edit: Apparently I am unfamiliar with the Aryan association despite living in a highly German influenced area of the U.S. and being of German descent and having a friend whose middle name is Adolf. I think Arian looks like a lot of trendy names now like Aria, Ariana, Adrian, Ari, Ariyah, etc. How long before most people don't know about the association in the U.S.? For reference, I'm 29, enjoy history and am fairly well educated.

This message was edited 2/9/2023, 12:47 PM

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I hope it will be a very long time before most people in the US don't know about the ideology of Nazi Germany.
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Yes, people need to know about the ideology of Nazi Germany and the history that took place, but this Aryan thing seems to be more modern and based on Nazi ideology and most people don't get that deep into the knowledge or know much of what happened after WWII and Hitler's death, so I was surprised that so many users knew Aryan was anything.
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The concept of an Aryan race emerged in the 19th century and thus predates Nazi Germany.
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Well I don’t think the name, especially when spelled Arian, is going to be a problem in the U.S. when all I can find is a gang from 1964 with the name Aryan. So, maybe they wouldn’t want to use it on principle, but the question of it being a problematic name in the United States, I think is unlikely.
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What do you mean by "all I can find is a gang from 1964 with the name Aryan"? Find where?
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I think they mean the Aryan Brotherhood, which was established in 1964 and is very much an active white supremacist group. They are probably one of the better-known prison gangs in the United States due to how large, well-organized, and deadly they are. I am happy that for Gingersnap that they were previously unfamiliar with the AB, but I wouldn't call it a niche thing to have heard of. They come up in almost any kind of media that deals with prisons.
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Arian is the male version of Aria or Ariana. Yeah, some pronounciation would be difficult.
Lion is the german spelling of the english pronounciation of Leon - in Germany, Leon is pronounced "LEH-awn". So it's the attempt to make the name easier in Germany - but more difficult in english speaking countries.About Willie: If asked about this name on german websites, most people will tell you about it being slang for p*nis.
Bent is pronounced like the english word bent - which Germans say is an english slang word for "gay"
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"bent" is UK slang. Most people here are from the US.
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Oh maybe the "bent" thing is more common in the UK. I've heard it in UK contexts but never in America.
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Yeah, I've never heard bent as slang for gay in America.
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I feel like I've heard it a lot, but I can't single out any memories of an American saying it. I guess I will blame movies.
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