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HelpRe: favourite japanese names
in reply to a message by Katie
Do you think any would potentially be usable for a white British child?
As much as I love foreign names, that could very much be considered cultural appropriation. I always think it's better safe than sorry and tend to keep my favourites in reserve in case I do have children of a different ethnicity.
WDYT of them?
I love Kaede, Keiko, Kimiko, Ichiro, Ryou, and Shinobu. Akira I like on a boy, though I'm not sure which gender it's more commonly used on. I met an owl called Akira once.
What are your favourite Japanese names?
Akiko, Ayaka, Chou, Hanae, Hanako, Haruko, Haruna, Honoka, Kaede, Mai, Manami, and Michi are all on my international list for girls. As for boys, I have Arata, Daichi, Daisuke, Ichirou, Isamu, Kaito, Katsu, Minoru, Noboru and Ryou. My favourites overall are Kaede, Manami, Daisuke, and Kaito.
Ottilie
http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/116467
http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9808453
As much as I love foreign names, that could very much be considered cultural appropriation. I always think it's better safe than sorry and tend to keep my favourites in reserve in case I do have children of a different ethnicity.
WDYT of them?
I love Kaede, Keiko, Kimiko, Ichiro, Ryou, and Shinobu. Akira I like on a boy, though I'm not sure which gender it's more commonly used on. I met an owl called Akira once.
What are your favourite Japanese names?
Akiko, Ayaka, Chou, Hanae, Hanako, Haruko, Haruna, Honoka, Kaede, Mai, Manami, and Michi are all on my international list for girls. As for boys, I have Arata, Daichi, Daisuke, Ichirou, Isamu, Kaito, Katsu, Minoru, Noboru and Ryou. My favourites overall are Kaede, Manami, Daisuke, and Kaito.
http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/116467
http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9808453
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Hmm... I'm not sure that I agree with the comment about cultural appropriation. I have met people from many different countries and cultures who have English, Irish, Jewish, Italian, etc names even though they were Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Iranian, etc and it would be extremely objectionable, not to mention the height of arrogance, if I were to claim that they had no right to "steal" a name from a culture other than their own. Of course, some names hold a special status within their culture, and all people should be treated with respect, but is it really okay to declare that one culture's names can be used by all while another culture's names receives a special status making it above the use of anyone else. Shouldn't tolerance be a two way street? If it is okay to for country A to borrow from country B, shouldn't county B be allowed to borrow from country A?
I realize that cultural appropriation is generally more frowned upon if the culture being borrowed from is viewed as oppressed. Do you consider Japan an oppressed people group? The Ainu of Japan were certainly oppressed by the rest of Japan, but on the whole, Japan is one of the more dominant countries. On a related note, China is currently one of the most powerful counties, if not the most powerful country, in the world. Since China is more likely to oppress than to be oppressed, do you consider it more permissible to use a Chinese name than a Slavic one? After all, it is from the word Slav that the word slave originated, and they were definitely an oppressed people.
I realize that cultural appropriation is generally more frowned upon if the culture being borrowed from is viewed as oppressed. Do you consider Japan an oppressed people group? The Ainu of Japan were certainly oppressed by the rest of Japan, but on the whole, Japan is one of the more dominant countries. On a related note, China is currently one of the most powerful counties, if not the most powerful country, in the world. Since China is more likely to oppress than to be oppressed, do you consider it more permissible to use a Chinese name than a Slavic one? After all, it is from the word Slav that the word slave originated, and they were definitely an oppressed people.
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I think, as a white British person, I have no right to make the decision as to what is and what isn't appropriation and simply mentioned it as a caution.
ETA
Surely you realise that this is to make the lives of those people from different countries easier so they don't have to spend time explaining to westerners, who really, probably, don't give a damn, how to pronounce Ghoncheh or Reyhangul. It's also a matter of assimilation. It shouldn't be, but it is. It's the same for my Eastern European friends who Anglicise the pronunciation of their names (what's so difficult about Dawid and Filip?) so as not to confuse the English people who are permanently wearing cultural blinkers.
Not as a whole, but individuals have been and are treated badly on a day to day basis in the west. Additionally, Asia, as an entire continent, has been and is racially taunted. And appropriation doesn't only occur and isn't only harmful to those who have been oppressed. It is harmful and, from what I've seen, really very offensive to knowingly borrow something from another culture without being completely aware of its significance. The west has not treated the rest of the world well. We should probably start improving that by considering that aspects of other cultures, including names, are not necessarily ours to have at just because we are exposed to them.
Sure, not every person of a different ethnicity will agree with this, and maybe some will take issue with the fact that I attempted to represent or defend this viewpoint, but, like I say, I think it's better to be safe than sorry.
For what it's worth, I probably wouldn't use the Eastern European names I posted about below, either.
Also, I feel like you made a lot of assumptions about my own personal opinions here...
ETA
Surely you realise that this is to make the lives of those people from different countries easier so they don't have to spend time explaining to westerners, who really, probably, don't give a damn, how to pronounce Ghoncheh or Reyhangul. It's also a matter of assimilation. It shouldn't be, but it is. It's the same for my Eastern European friends who Anglicise the pronunciation of their names (what's so difficult about Dawid and Filip?) so as not to confuse the English people who are permanently wearing cultural blinkers.
Not as a whole, but individuals have been and are treated badly on a day to day basis in the west. Additionally, Asia, as an entire continent, has been and is racially taunted. And appropriation doesn't only occur and isn't only harmful to those who have been oppressed. It is harmful and, from what I've seen, really very offensive to knowingly borrow something from another culture without being completely aware of its significance. The west has not treated the rest of the world well. We should probably start improving that by considering that aspects of other cultures, including names, are not necessarily ours to have at just because we are exposed to them.
Sure, not every person of a different ethnicity will agree with this, and maybe some will take issue with the fact that I attempted to represent or defend this viewpoint, but, like I say, I think it's better to be safe than sorry.
For what it's worth, I probably wouldn't use the Eastern European names I posted about below, either.
Also, I feel like you made a lot of assumptions about my own personal opinions here...
This message was edited 5/23/2015, 6:23 AM
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