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HelpRe: Using a name from another culture as an American
in reply to a message by ✧･ﾟ: *Magpie*:･ﾟ✧
Right!! I was confused about how the OP would define an American name. Also (this is a little out of place but rather than make a separate post) I wouldn't feel particularly weird using Hans. There have been lots of American Hans people (it's about as established as American names get outside of the top 100), and Johan is semi-popular here now. German citizens don't have an exclusive on it.
I would feel weird using Muhammad because it's religious seeming, and I'm not Muslim, although I wouldn't use Messiah, Zion, Christian, or Jesus either.
I would feel weird using Muhammad because it's religious seeming, and I'm not Muslim, although I wouldn't use Messiah, Zion, Christian, or Jesus either.
This message was edited 9/7/2023, 2:25 AM
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I think it’s fine to use German and Polish names with no connection to the place, I’d find it a little surprising. I picked Hans because it’s such a stereotypical and quintessential German name. Johan already feels vaguely more international.
I wouldn’t feel comfortable using, say, an Indian name or a Japanese one, though I know a French Yoko who was named so because her parents loved Yoko Ono. I’d use a Biblical name but not a Yiddish /Modern Hebrew one ( Sarah vs Suri or Rebecca vs Rivka for instance ).
I wouldn’t feel comfortable using, say, an Indian name or a Japanese one, though I know a French Yoko who was named so because her parents loved Yoko Ono. I’d use a Biblical name but not a Yiddish /Modern Hebrew one ( Sarah vs Suri or Rebecca vs Rivka for instance ).
This message was edited 9/7/2023, 2:26 AM
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Yeah, on one hand I understand (I wouldn't use a Japanese name either), but on the other, it's hard to wrap my head around. It's like if 100-200 years from now Somalians were surprised English speaking Americans descended from Somalian immigrants were still using Mohamed (as well as expecting that Muslims and Arabic speakers had not impacted wider American culture) - that'd sound odd, right?
Here there was a pretty obvious switch between Hans and Johan. I think people decided Johan sounds more modern, although I guess part of that could be that it also seems vaguely more French/Spanish.
Here there was a pretty obvious switch between Hans and Johan. I think people decided Johan sounds more modern, although I guess part of that could be that it also seems vaguely more French/Spanish.
This message was edited 9/8/2023, 2:55 AM
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Exactly! In the modern day America (and England) are too much of a melting pot to try and stick to one culture within names, and in trying to do so is almost futile. Where does one even draw the line of who belongs to which culture? Anglos and Saxons were different cultures and am I descended from them? No idea. Am I descended from the Roman invasion? Or the Normans? Also no idea. But if I did and I had confirmed I was descended from the Romans, does this mean I cannot use a French name? Not at all
Similar with America, but even worse if you're trying to be this pedantic about it.
Also, there's a reason why there are language variants of the same name
Similar with America, but even worse if you're trying to be this pedantic about it.
Also, there's a reason why there are language variants of the same name
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If you are descended from anyone who has ancestry primarily from Great Britain with the last couple of centuries, mathematically I can tell you that you are definitely descended from Anglo-Saxons and Romans and Normans as well as Celtic and pre-Celtic residents of Britain. It's been shown mathematically that everyone who has ancestry from Europe west of Poland and north of the Alps and Pyrenees is descended from everyone who was alive in those areas who does have descendants in the year 1000 A.D. And it's probable that almost everyone in Europe and most of Asia and Africa is a descendant of Muhammad, who lived between 571 and 632. We are all distant cousins much more recently than most people guess, because the number of places in your ancestry doubles with every generation you go backwards.
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Wow! That is cool.
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I wish I had the money to do the genealogy test, I find history fascinating and I'm interested in who my distant relatives were.
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