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Tallulah
What do we think of the name Tallulah? I really like the nickname Lulu which I think goes with it nicely. The name Tallulah has both Irish and Native American origin but the Irish version of the name is generally spelled Talulla. Would it be considered inappropriate or cultural appropriation for me to name my child Tallulah with the “h” despite not having any Native American heritage? I do actually happen to have a lot of Irish heritage but the issue is I really don’t like the spelling of Talulla with no “h”. Any advice? Thanks
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I think it sounds ditzy.
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I think it would be perfectly appropriate for you to name a child Tallulah. After all, it was NOT a given name in a Native American language, but it was a place name, most probably from a Creek word meaning "town". Native American cultures to my knowledge did not use place names as names for children. The whole idea of using this place name as a name for a child is not part of any Native American culture at all.
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If you love a name, then use it. I don’t think cultures “own” names, they are just names. Plenty of people have names from cultures that are not there own and no one even thinks about it, so Tallulah is no different to me.
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I don't think it would be appropriative, no. People's first association would likely be Tallulah Bankhead.
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