Does this seem weird?

[himom]

Does anybody else have a problem giving your kids names that are clearly from one country (I.E. Irish names, Indian names etc) when your last name is clearly from a totally different country?

Sorry, that isn't phrased very well. Our last name is very obviously Japanese (somewhat similiar to the names Takahashi or Kamamoto). DH got to pick Josh's name, and although it's Hebrew it has already become so "American" it never sounded odd to me. For the next baby, I get a bigger say and I am leaning toward names like Ailish, Iain, etc. I think I want something REALLY Irish.

Added to that, the middle name would be Hawaiian. When it comes to ethnicities, we are Japanese-Hawaiian with a few drops of Irish. The Irish heritage is so far back it barely exists, so the name choice is just because I like them.

If you've made it this far thank you! I've finally come to the question at hand. Do you think a name such as Ailish Kanoelani Takahashi is strange enough to give her a hard time when she's older, or has America blended enough that no one will care?

Just wondering what other blended mamas do.

Jodi
Mommy to Joshua, born February 2003

[JMS]

First I just have to say that I absolutely love the name Ailish. But to answer your question, I think you have to go with what you feel comfortable with.. sorry, I realize that is really not an answer. I am personally not bothered one bit by the mix of ethnicities, if anything, I love the uniqueness. I think as long as the names flow well as words together, anything can really work.

[ktdid74]

I think it's nice to have your heritage in your kids' names! Like you said, America is so blended, no one will really notice. Just beware of anything too long as I have learned recently- DS is in preschool learning to write his name. We should have named him Mo or something. I have a preference for Irish names, too :)

[Saartje]

I think your example name has a wonderful sound, and that America is blended enough no one will care. Heads may turn, but when is that a problem? ;)

ETA: Ishie's first and middle names are Hebrew (as is my first name), and our last name is Irish. It leads to a lot of people asking if we're Jewish (we're not), but I don't see any problem with that.

[steph2003]

I actually had some of the same hang ups you are talking about! Our last name is clearly German (Lets just say Bergdorfer for example) & I too liked Irish names but some of them put together sounded weird to me (Finnigan Bergdorfer anyone?! ok that is rather extreme!) but then I got to thinking how often do you use their entire name, unless they are running for office one day :)

So I say go with the names you love no matter what nationality they are from. And as long as the initials don't spell something weird :)

[aliceinwonderland]

I had this dilemma and went the other way (chose a mostly non-ethnic name). I think, as PP have stated, that you should follow your comfort level.

I do NOT think all of America is that blended, it greatly depends onwhere you live. Whether that should even be a consideration, I don't know, but I'm stating my opinion, having gone through this thought process recently.

[lizajane]

as long as it doesn't bother you that she will have her name pronounced and spelled wrong her whole life, then don't think twice about choosing "ethnically special to you" names! i had to just get over the fact that schuyler was going to have his name abused his whole life. it is pronouced sky-ler, but people say shoo-ler and it is spelled schuyler but people spell it skyler/skylar. i love unique names.

our last name is very german. schuyler's name is very dutch. i am hoping to find a welsh name for #2 because my maiden name is welsh. so i hear ya. of course, dylan is on the top of the list, and i doubt anyone knows it is welsh...

[Vajrastorm]

Aine is an Irish name, and our last name is very Italian. :)
I personally think it is great to have many things represented in your name - after all, your child will in fact be Irish, Hawaiian, and Japanese. The name will simply acknowledge it.

My first name is one my dad made up, and my middle name is french. I have always liked having an unsual name, mispronunciations and mispellings and all.

[Saartje]

But you should also keep in mind that a perfectly common name can be misspelled/mispronounced just as often, and I'm not just talking about common variants. My given name is Sarah, and as often as not when people spell it Sara and I say, "No, with an H," they try to spell it Sarha. Same thing goes for my one-syllable last name (gets both mispronounced and misspelled), my one-syllable maiden name, and my MIL's one-syllable maiden name. All three of those are a common word in English, in fact.

[MelissaTC]

I am Puerto Rican and my husband is Italian, Irish and German. Matthew is obviously a Hebrew name and his middle name is Patrick, which is another obvious one. Our last name is very Italian. I could care less what people think of it. But again, my first name isn't exactly ethnic and my last name is a super super common Latino last name. It is the Spanish equivalent to Brown or Smith. I actually wanted to name Matthew something more ethnic but we landed on Matthew as a compromise. I do think it is what you are comfortable with. I too like Celtic and Welsh names. I say go for it. :)

p.s. I think your DS is adorable, btw. :) I love his little avatar.

[MamaKath]

Lol, they do it with last names too. I have a family member with the last name Smith who is asked if it is Smythe, Smyth or Smith all the time (or just "How do you spell that?"). :-) You just can't win em all I guess. ;-)

[egoldber]

Well, I think that Ailish Kanoelani Takahashi is a beautiful name. But honestly I am personally not comfortable doing that. We have a very Jewish last name, and we deliberately try to pick names that are traditionally Jewish, but not too Jewish, IYKWIM.

But this is ME and MY personal hang-ups. Its just not for me.

[MamaKath]

I think it is pretty (Ailish that is) and if you like it, I would use it. People will comment regardless about the name, their like or dislike of it, ask the spelling and so on.

My dd has a very traditional 1940-1950s name. I am asked constantly who she is named after. She does happen to be named after my mom, but it always annoys me that folks think I couldn't have picked her name just because I loved it. Her nickname is a typical boys nickname and people give me (and now her) flack over that. Now she just tells them "That is my name because that is what my mom and dad liked!" or "It can be a boys name, but I am not a boy, so it isn't ALWAYS a boys name!" ;-) She will not answer her one set of grandparents if they call her by her given name because she knows they do it because they don't like her nickname. She is 5. :-) They adjust and will let you know what works and what doesn't for them as they get older.

So go with what you love, has a great meaning, and you will feel comfortable explaining to the child why they have their very special name. :-)

[psophia17]

Personally, I love unique names, so long as they are pronouncable.

Petra is the least "unique" name that my parents came up with for their three children, as far as pronunciation goes. I think that Ailish is, although different, very beautiful and I feel confident when I say it out loud that I'm saying it right, so it gets my vote. Ailish Kanoelani Takahashi altogether sounds very melodic and harmonious.

[C99]

I don't have a problem with it. In Chicago, in my generation, I see a lot of "ethnically clashed" names, simply because people who formerly had a strong ethnic affiliation are marrying outside of that ethnic group. (I think it happened for my parents' familial/social circle in their generation in NYC.) My best friend's cousin (100% Irish) married a woman of Ukrainian descent, so she has this very Ukrainian first name (like Oksana) w/ a very Irish last name. As I think about it, my best friend is a classic example: she's 100% Irish w/ a very common Irish-American name and her husband is of Lithuanian descent. There is a couple on my street where the woman is a Latina and her husband is Czech. Their kids have Spanish first names and a Czech last name.

I do think that people are *always* going to ask about it if you have an unusual, uncommon or ethnic name. I always thought my maiden name was really weird, but now that we have Google, I ran a search and found out that it's actually a very common name in the UK.

That said... it's not a name combination that I would make. My husband has a very Polish last name, so I prefer traditional, WASPy first names to go with it. Maybe it's because I don't feel a very strong bind to any of the cultures that make up my background?

[kelly ann]

I think it is a great idea to incorporate the cultures. DH has agreed to let me use Irish first names since the kids will have a Korean last name (I am Irish). The Irish names actually sound really good with our last name, but the last name is very simple/short and not always recognized as Asian.

If you are really worried about this, I say go with the Irish name, but maybe choose a less "ethnic" spelling for the name. For example, Ian rather than Iain. I guess I am saying to try the more Irish-American spellings/names.

[Tondi G]

Personally I LOVE it! Why not choose names that reflect ones heritage! My DS's name is Mason Liam with a clearly jewish last name... Greenberg! For this baby boy I think we are going to go with Aidan (again Irish like Liam, my dad was born in Ireland and raised in England!), not sure of a middle name yet but it could very well be something Hebrew or ???. For some reason I am drawn to Irish names..... My mom is German (and I believe there is some Italian in there somewhere as well as others), and Dh's background is Hungarian and Russian! Our kiddos are Euro Mutts.

IMHO, Ailish Kanoelani Takahashi sounds perfect!!!!!!

Good luck and go with your heart!

~Tondi
Mommy to Mason Liam 7/8/01
and lil man #2 edd 5/5/05

[dowlinal]

Jodi,

I think that name sounds beautiful and I love the way it incorporates your family's ethnicity. This is something that was very important to me when naming Madeline. I did not want an irish first name because my last name is very very irish and I am very very greek. The name Madeline has greek roots and her middle name, Irene, is extremely greek. I feel like her name connects her to both of out families and would like to give all of my children greek first names.

Also, remember that as your child grows up people will really only know the first and last names.

A

[suribear]

I love the name. It's beautiful and represents your heritage well.

My only concern would be that it may be hard to pronounce. I say this from experience - I have to spell my real name to everyone and half the time I spell it first, then say it, if I'm talking to customer service reps or something. It's not a big deal, and I do like being different, but something to consider.

We live in a diverse area now, so it's really no big deal, but I grew up in areas that weren't very diverse at all. That was tough!

Kris

[himom]

Thank you!! I do too. :)

I just did a double-take at Matt's. He's gotten so...boyish. (Not as opposed to girl, as opposed to a baby!) He's just looking so cute!

Jodi
Mommy to Joshua, born February 2003

Edited for major grammatical error.

[himom]

Thanks everybody! It's good to have lots of POVs.

I guess when the time comes we'll just settle on something that flows well and hopefully won't cause the baby too much grief. I think I want to leave baby's options open if he/she ever wants to live somewhere other than Hawaii. And I'd like to have at least one name that people can pronounce!

Jodi
Mommy to Joshua, born February 2003

[Elilly]

I am from a very Irish family and DH's heritage is of the heinz 57 variety. We named DD Colleen and DH's family had never heard of it before?! We do get comments about if she is Irish and I say "yes" but no one really questions us about it not matching our last name. DS's name is English and we picked it b/c it was my grandmother's maiden name. I think that we are no longer a country that expects people of one national origin to marry another within that particular group. And if that is true in the conservative midwest, I'd have to think that it would be more widely accepted across the board.

[Puddy73]

I love the name that you picked out! It sounds very harmonious. I like blended names, but DH rejected most of the Swedish names that I suggested (my family is Swedish) because they didn't sound right with our very WASP-ish last name. No little Lief or Linnea for us. The area that I grew up in had a large Scandinavian population so traditional names would not sound odd, but here in South Georgia they might.

Jennifer
Mommy to Annabelle Mae 9/8/03

"Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."

[MartiesMom2B]

I don't think that there is any problem with it. I have a very polish sounding last name. If we have a boy I'd love to use the name Seamus (pronounced Shay-mus). I also like very biblical names too. The middle names of all of my children will be Chinese because I am half chinese and I would like to continue the tradition that my family has.

I so go for it!

-Sonia

[brigmaman]

OOhh, I knew an Ailish and her father was of Asian descent. I have no problem with this type of mixing. In fact for a girl- you never know what she'll end up having as a surname anyway. I have a pretty Irish name and my maiden name is an unspellable Italian name.
ETA: We really like Melia (my Italian Great-Grandmother's name) when we were choosing names. But Malia would be pretty as a middle name with Ailish!

[lukkykatt]

I think that names are very personal, and that you should pick whatever name you like the best. The name will be a reflection of YOUR thoughts and YOUR family.

I grew up with a person who had an obviously Irish first name and a Hispanic last name and no one thought anything about it.

[Vajrastorm]

I currently have to spell all three of my names for people - first, middle, last. :P

My maiden name never gave anyone problems, but I had to go and marry a man with an Italian last name.

It has never bothered me, though at times I pretend my name is "andrea" to simply things, like at Starbucks. Perhaps I should come up with a nome de coffehouse.

[hjdong]

I have my husband's last name - Chinese - and am a Caucasian/Native American heinz mix. In my mind, I look pretty white, although in China I was mistaken for Chinese. Really, if you saw me - blue eyes, brown hair, freckles - pretty standard white looking but whatever. I was also put in a tv commercial in China because of my "blond" hair.

Anyway, my point here was that last names change. My maiden name was an Irish name, Holly first name, Joy for the middle but that's another story. Now, i have a Asian last name. Now, Holly is not terribly ethnic, but I occasionally do have problems at appointments. Receptionists won't call me because they don't see an Asian person. And frankly, rather than looking at it as people giving me a hard time, I think they should be embarrassed for being so narrow-minded. I mean, I understand expecting someone Asian - but not to the point of not even bothering to ask!

And, keep in mind that many people, including me, don't regularly use their middle names. I say, go with what you like. She can adapt it as she ages if she doesn't like it.

[himom]

What is "heinz"?

--Jodi

[tippy]

Heinz 57?
Teva
Mom to AJ born 1-8-03

[hjdong]

Yes, sorry I was just too lazy to type it out.

[Kieransmom]

That's what I love about America...we're one big melting pot. We chose Kieran whuch is very Irish but neither DH or I are Irish...maybe a miniscule amount. Our last name is very German. I don't think it matters much anymore. I think you can name your child anything from any mix of nationalities you want! :-)

Michelle

Mommy to Kieran, born 5/9/03
Aunt to Alexandra Juliette, born 12/4/04

http://lilypie.com/baby2/030509/1/5/0/+10/.png[/img][/url]

[himom]

Um, okay, I must be really out of the loop. What does Heinz 57 refer to (besides ketchup)?

Jodi

[starrynight]

I wanted to give Eliza a hawaiian name but since we are not hawaiian and do not and never have lived in Hawaii I didn't think it was appropriate. I was afraid of offending someone so I didn't go with the name I had picked. I don't think there is anything wrong with someone that does it, I just was so afraid of stepping on heritage toes or offending someone that I couldn't do it.

I think you have to name your kids what you want and what you are comfortable with, I see nothing wrong with blending names from all sides of your heritage :).

[rottiemom]

Interesting thread!

Heinz 57- a sauce that supposedly contains 57 ingredients. I've heard it used many times to describe a person with a multitude of ethnicities in their background.

Personally I like names that flow together. First to middle to last. Maybe because that's how my three names work? Nina could be claimed by any number of ethnicities and my middle name is Marie. I think it's very musical when names work like that, no matter what the mix of ethicities in the name. But names are funny. My maiden name is off the boat Italian but sounds Japanese, my husband's last name is a common, Scottish last name but it was actually changed to that from the Finnish! Ugh.

Anyway, our son is named after both grandfathers & his father (who just so happens to be named after HIS father). His first name is William which works delightfully with the Scotttish last name but my father's name, Claudino, while beautiful sounded too jarring when put with the other two names. So my son's middle name is the Americanized version, Claude. Of course regardless of what you name your child (and then have mispronounced, misspelled or simply get stared at blankly when you say it) you'll have people wanting to know what you're going to CALL your child. Oh that topic dragged on & on after the baby was born!

"But what are you going to call him?"
"His name is William"
"But is he going to be a Billy, Bill, Will?"
"We like the name William"
"But what about a nickname?"
"We'll call him William & see how his personality develops, if he turns into a Bill, a Billy, a Liam..."
"You can't call him LIAM, that's a completely different name!"

(Actually it's the second half of WilLIAM and I'll CALL him my snuggly widdle cuddle pup if I want to so BUTT OUT)...sorry...

BTW- I love all sorts of "Ethnic" names, I think that so many of them sound beautiful. I also love girl's names that can end up as "boy's" nicknames, I think they're the coolest! Initially if we had had a girl I wanted to name her Catriona (nickname Cat) but my husband kept getting the pronunciation wrong. Thankfully we ended up with a William.

And I do know a Leilani without a drop of Hawaiian blood in her, mom is Vietnamese, dad is Polish/Portugese. They chose Leilani because they liked the name & it suits this sweet little girl to a T.

Heh, I just remembered that my name was supposed to be Olga*, after my father's sister who died very young....she was named after the girl in a Russian family that helped my Gradfather during WWI. Imagine growing up in Italy during the 50's with a name like Olga and an Italian name that sounds Japanese...wow!

*Thankfully my mom changed her mind & decided on Nina after my father (Nino, a nickname for Claudino). I love my name!

Nina

[hjdong]

I mix of a lot of different, generally I think in animals, breeds. But also applied to a person who has such a complicated ancestory it's not worth typing out (for me, 5 European countries and 2 Native American tribes).

[dotgirl]

I'm very obviously mostly irish (with some scottish thrown in, which is pratically the same thing), but my husband is 100% cajun french with a very french name to boot. And our little guy looks so much like him I'm starting to wonder if I'm really the mother. ;)

Anyway, we wanted an irish name and a french name, and it just worked out that "Riley Sebastian" sounded better than "Sebastian Riley", so he has an irish first name and a french last name.

The only question we've ever gotten about his name (other than "How do you spell Riley?") is "Oh, Sebatian? So you guys really like the crab from 'The Little Mermaid'?"