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Intercultural baby names—how do you balance both parents’ backgrounds?

miniblueyminibluey member
in Baby Names
For those of you in intercultural partnerships, or of intercultural backgrounds, how did you decide to name your baby? I was thinking first and middle names can be from my culture since the last name will be my husband’s. I’m interested in learning how other intercultural couples decided!
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Re: Intercultural baby names—how do you balance both parents’ backgrounds?

  • mb0112mb0112 member
    If you want to honor both cultures I might suggest your side for either first or middle and husbands side for either first or middle (probably middle since he already has the last name). It's not like he's really choosing the last name and the child might change the last name later for marriage. 
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  • meggymemeggyme member
    I’m not multicultural, just brainstorming: You might be able to find a name that means similar things or separate but still meaningful things.
    DD1: June '16 DD2: March ‘19 :::: Married since 2011 :::: USN Wife ::::
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  • miniblueyminibluey member
    @meggyme I like that idea but unfortunately we’re finding most things to be the opposite! My favorite name is my grandfather’s name, Vahan. It means “shield” or “protector” in Armenian, but in Gujarati it means “vehicle”, so my husband vetoed it. 🤣
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  • honey_beezhoney_beez member
    You could pick a first name from your culture and middle name that compliments the meaning of the first, in his. 


    Ari Rajesh 

    Ari - Armenian meaning "brave"
    Rajesh -Gujarati meaning "Ruler of King"



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  • maggiemadeitmaggiemadeit member
    I’m not sure this is helpful, but we honestly didn’t think too much about balancing it. We ended up having one kid strongly on my side and one strongly on his, just the way it worked out. My family is Greek, and my firstborn has a Greek first name and her middle name is my maiden name. My second has a first and middle name from my husbands family (Black American). Too early to say how it will play out with #3. 

    Good luck! 
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  • miniblueyminibluey member
    Great suggestions! Thanks, all!
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  • knottie8d45972c4ca8f49cknottie8d45972c4ca8f49c member
    I am from the US and my husband is Brazilian. It is important for us that our baby’s name be easily pronounced in both countries and by both families. His name is very difficult for Americans to pronounce and it gives him a lot of grief to always have to repeat it for people who just can’t seem to grasp it here. We are having a girl so names like Sofia or Olivia, oftentimes ones that end in A, work well.
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  • obrieh13obrieh13 member
    We did American first name, Nigerian middle name knowing that mostly likely a lot of her Nigerian side will call her by her Nigerian name. 
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  • bibi-lynnbibi-lynn member
    We chose a name that could be pronounced by his family in English but also chose names that would make sense in Spanish as well. When we chose a name we made sure that it didn’t have a different meaning in Spanish that people could make a joke out of.
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  • hazelmaushazelmaus member
    It's so difficult. The names I love in my native tongue are pronounced so different in English and it bothers me as we live in Canada (for now). We do try and go with classic names or at least simple and almost same pronunciation. Unfortunately that means ruling out a ton. Or the spelling is way different. Ugh. It's tough
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  • bearcatbabybearcatbaby member
    I would go with Armenian first name and Indian/Gujarati middle name. Last name is Indian based on what you said but the last name may change when the child is older.
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  • knottiec1bd6c5399b4642aknottiec1bd6c5399b4642a member
    edited June 2022
    This is tough! My husband and I are in this situation. He's okay with choosing names from my culture but has vetoed all of my favorites because of how they might sound in English. In the end we settled on a name that has a meaning both in my language and in Spanish, which is his second language. It's not my favorite name, but it's the only one we can agree on.

    As others suggested, we avoid sounds that are hard for Americans to pronounce. I would also think about stress in the name. Most 2-syllable American names stress the first syllable. The sounds in my own name aren't difficult for Americans, but the stress is on the second syllable, which has been surprisingly difficult for Americans to pronounce my entire life and has meant I have to go by a nickname.
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  • knottie32c1fb56ed007578knottie32c1fb56ed007578 member
    We tried to include both of our cultures in picking a name as well. I was very surprised as to how many names actually crossed over! We just made sure that no matter what, the name could properly be pronounced by an anglophone.

    We had a few laughs when my husband tried to pronounce a few of the names in anglicized form. Those names were quickly removed from the list.
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