I met a little girl today...

[luna moth]

An Aussie friend of mine has a little girl called Priya. (her dad is Indian)

It means "beloved"

[Astrid]

I only wanted to use names from a western European/English/Irish background. I also did not feel comfortable using names that were not really part of our ancestral history. Hard to kind of explain, as it was mostly a gut feeling about it.

[Cherished]

I just think a name is a name kwim, if you like it it doesn't matter where it originally came from

[Turkish Delight]

I fought so hard to get my DD to be called Alexis. It is my fave "anglo" name. I wasn't allowed. In our culture, we must stick to Turkish names and nothing else. If my kids, want to name their kids Michael, John, Kate or whatever i'd have no probs as i am not the parent of the unborn child, they are.

I guess, most people stick to their own cultural names.

[berrme]

I am the same. I would just feel silly using a name that was very obviously from a specific nationality that I had nothing to do with. I also think they would sound odd when said along with DH and my name... Melanie, Clive and...Magnus?...Anoushka? It just doesn't work for me.

[Just Me]

I don't have a problem with using names from a different background - within reason. It can be hard for a child to spell a loooong name with lots of different phonics than their own language. I wouldn't say not to for this reason, it is just something to be aware of and if you are the type of person who will get annoyed because people constantly mispell names, it is probably better to avoid it.

I think it is good to look at names from different cultures. If people had stuck with names from only their own background, our choices would still be very limited. Names become more 'normalised' and rise in popularity when people use them more and more often.

Having said all that, I think the meaning behind a name is more important than where it actually comes from. My kids don't have hugely meaningful names, but they still mean nice things.

I recently saw this facebook group called

attention ghetto moms,NOBODY is gonna hire your kid named Shenequataylicha

Some of the stuff in there is quite funny. It has taken being original about naming to a completely new level. My favourite is the name La-a (pronounced La-dash-a). Not really on the topic of cultural names but I guess in a way, it's a culture unto itself.

Good topic LZ

[~clover~]

I absolutely love some of the Maori names I've heard & thought one day that I might use one, but I'm not so sure. I do love them though.

[rhyb]

I love irish names and only wanted to use irish names to go with DS (Aiden). Sienna was going to Brennan, Bella was going to be Riley and Ruby was going to be Irelynn but I lost my confidence after everyone mocked them.

[Mum2SweetCs]

Hmmm ... Im from a chinese background by DD has an Irish name because I love the name and if i have another son or daughter their names wouldnt be asian either.

My DH is known by an anglo name and really im the only one with a chinese name which every misprounces anyway.

[*TripleJ*]

ok well DS has a maori middle name and if he wasnt named after someone he would probably have a maori first name my mum is from NZ but not maori in the slightest i just think the names sound beautiful

personally i wouldnt use an indian name but its up to the person i find weird spelling or creative spelling even more annoying