I was fifteen when I spent my first month in Peru. Everything in the country is alluring, from the mist-shrouded peaks of the Andes to the grimy streets of Lima. I will never forget that summer- the music, the kids, the smells. And the names. There's something enthralling about Spanish names, a bit of grit and romance in the trilled Rs and pure vowel sounds. I fell hard for the name Milagros. Milagros was one of our translators. She was beautiful and smart and kind, and she made an effort to befriend the loud but earnest American teenagers. We all thought she was amazing, and I added "Milagros" (me-LAH-gros) to the very top of my name list. I still think it is one of the most beautiful names in the world, but there will probably never be a little "Mila Bowen" running around, simply because our babies will tend towards whiteness and I don't want their names to confuse people.
I've noticed, however, that more and more in the past years, language is limiting less and less the names parents are considering for their babies. I know several Caucasians so enamored with foreign language names that they're shrugging their shoulders at any potential raised eyebrows and naming their kids Nikolai and Diego. Oh Diego. Is there any name more heroic and romantic than Diego, said in a low, accented voice? Apparently others agree with me, because I've heard of several little white baby Diegos, just by word of mouth. More power to them.
What do you think? Are culture and language irrelevant as far as names go? Do you have a favorite foreign name that you're trying to win your spouse over to?
We got pregnant with our first baby while we lived in Kazakhstan, and we wanted a name that would be connected to our time there somehow. But, all the names were so...cultural...it was hard to choose one, even though their were pretty ones that I liked like Altanai (for a girl) and...and...well, there were no boy ones we could imagine using (Sergei, Tlesbeck, Yerbol are some common ones--see? Way too cultural!). A friend had a baby there and named her Karina, so that's what we were going to use (because we were sure we had a girl). When we got home, we found out we were having a boy and went with Samuel because we really liked Samwise Gamgee in the Lord of the Rings (and of course the Bible Samuel as well). After being back in the states, the name Karina seemed so Spanish sounding, I felt silly for liking it. I wonder if I really would have used it if Sam had been a girl.
ReplyDeleteOh how horrible, I misused their for there...AHH!
ReplyDeleteYeah, I can see where you'd struggle to decide on a Kazakh boy name! I happen to think Samuel is one of the best boy names ever (great at all ages, nice nicknames), but since FCF is currently inundated with Samuels, we probably won't use it. And as far as Karina goes, we really like "Corina," as it is the name of my host mom in Argentina (definitely a little Spanishy), but it still works nicely in English. I think it's lovely- you could use it on your next one :)
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