Just having a browse on some baby name sites, and I wonder how important it is to match ethnicity with the other children and/or your surname.

DS is Rowan and I've only been asked the once if my family is Irish. We do have some Irish heritage but our surname is very English.

I guess there are probably some names that have been so widely used that ethnicity/origin fails to matter any more.

Just musing. What do you think?

Ps was looking at Cara, but I think it's too close to my name Claire.

I don't think Rowan is a particularly 'ethnic' name. It's like Angus or Chloe and has now entered the WASP repertoire of names.

Cara and Rowan aren't a mismatch IMO.

Cara and Rowan are fine together. Of course I don't think there's THAT much contrast between English and Irish names to most people. It's not like Rowan and Midori or something.

My (and this is only me, not me telling everyone else what to do) thing is that if the mother is WASP, for example, and the father is Polish, it is strange sounding if the kid ends up named something Japanese and the Polish last name, for no particular reason. If the 2nd kid ends up with a name of a 4th ethnicity it begins to sound even stranger.

I am Jewish, my DH is Irish-derived Australian. I quite like Hebrew/Yiddish names but they'll have my DH's last name. And my DH likes Gaelic names, which flow better with his name, but then I feel vaguely left out.

I just hope names like, say, "Liam Herschel Irishname" don't sound like clown pants.

What about Tara!

Although that might increase the interested questions.

The woman who asked me was a new to Australia English woman. Perhaps for her the English/Irish divide is still great?

But is Cara too close to Claire?

Mel, I do like Tara!

We have a very Polish surname, and gave DD a Polish first name. If we have another girl, it is likely we'll do the same, but there aren't any Polish male names we like, so we'll probably go with something traditionally English.

I don't think Cara is too close to Claire at all - but spelling it Kara instead may help ease perceived similarities?

What about Anglicised versions of Polish boys names? Darius, Daniel, Alexander and Elias are some examples.

Hmmmm not sure about the K there. I do prefer Katherine with a K, but I think it might be ready for a resurgence. I don't like the idea of a name being too popular.

I really like Cara - I don't think it's too close to Claire actually and I think it goes really well with Rowan.

What does WASP stand for?

I don't think of Rowan as particularly "ethnic" personally, more a "hint of ethnicity" lol, but it's a great name so I don't think it matters either way.

WASP is White Anglo Saxon Protestant.. I don't think the religiousness really applies in Australia though.

Funnily enough when I mentioned it to DH he assumed we'd be spelling it Kara. It's just like Caitlin.. he prefers it with the Y. Sigh.

I am liking Tara though. The meaning is quite nice too.

I dont think Cara is too close to Claire but I would spell it Kara. Although I am biased as it is my name and I can't stand it spelt with a C.

TBH I hadn't really thought about it, but I quite like Darius.
Thanks, you've given me something to think about

Darius is actually of Persian origin... did the Persian empire extend to Poland?

DD has a French first name, and two surnames, one is very Irish and the other is Norwegian. Maybe she will grow up to work in the UN

I said Anglicised versions. The Polack equivalent is Dariuscz. Most Polisy names have latin roots so I'm not sure of its origins.

Not necessarily...i personally think its more important that the whole name flows...Our kids have very Moroccan first names, very old school Aussie 2nd names, with his surname which is actually more spanish than moroccan.

Like a PP I'm not telling anyone to do as I do but my inclination is to reflect both mother and father in the naming. If the heritage is mixed I like this reflected but as always names chosen to flow. And I like siblings of the same parents to be named according to a consistent pattern eg Marino and Domenica Haynes.

If mixed ethnicity is not in play I still like the names to reflect the heritage. However, as the OP has mentioned once a name (or version of a name) is in universal circulation relatively speaking then it no longer belongs exclusively to its origin so names of mixed etymology can be fine.

eg Peter and Michelle Smith.

Probably not really know.

i think you could could put almost anything with Rowan, its not exactly 'ethnic'.

I have 2 German names for my kids, just because i happen to like those styles of names..

I don't think Rowan is a particularly obvious Irish name, so could be paired with most names of Irish or English origin. I would actually be more inclined to avoid very Gaelic-sounding names spelt in the traditional way, such as Caoimhe or Fionnuala. I think Cara sounds fine with Rowan.

My DP has a very English surname, and our son has an Italian first name and a Persian middle name. I am planning to stick with European names (eg. Italian, French, Greek) for any future children we have, although there are also a couple of Russian names I like, but they go well with the European names I have in mind.

I tend to like sibsets where the names sound as though they belong together. That doesn't necessarily mean that they have to share the same ethnic origin, however. I think a great example are the names of EB member Edie's children - Raphaela (Hebrew), Theodora (Greek), Bruno (German) and Philomena (Greek). Although each name has a different origin, as a sibset, the names go beautifully together. However, it may have been a different story if she'd gone with Ariella, Soula, Wolfgang and Maria!!

I think it's more important that the name sounds good with the surname and is of the same style as your other child's name as in both being classic names, both being really modern trendy names etc than whether they are both of the same origin. I probably wouldn't use Cara as a first name for my daughter if I was Claire but I don't think it's that bad if you did, you're only mother and daughter, not siblings.

Gudrun, we're white as white can be.. LOL.



I didn't think it was really "ethnic" either, but just musing. Really love your kids names, and your little girl makes me smile whenever I see her face.



This is really the crux of what I was thinking. First baby is relatively easy - you've got a blank canvas. Afterwards, it has to "go".

That's why I think naming your first child is always the most difficult. There are many very English old-fashioned names I love, but had I given my first child one of those names, I think I would have felt funny using some of the Italian and French names I love, for example, for future siblings.

Of course some people disregard the idea of 'sibsets' altogether. There was an American celebrity (I think she's some kind of sportswoman) who recently announced that her second son was named Sundance, after naming her first son Johnny. That to me is just a bizarre pairing. And then there's Mira Sorvino, whose children are named Mattea, Johnny and Holden - such an odd combination of styles...

Zara, that seems to be a whim, doesn't it? I am a bit negative about very modern names. I try to apply the CV test... it must be something that won't be laughed at.

We had two top name choices before DS was born.. Rowan and Gemma. Weirdly, I was SO in love with Gemma, and then suddenly not. I was almost petrified the baby would be a girl because I'd have to tell DH that after weeks of negotiation, I wasn't happy with Gemma anymore. Of course, we had DS and he was Rowan as soon as I saw him.. that brazen red hair was a sign. It so suits him already... just lovely.

DH and I have used Gaelic/Celtic/Irish names for all our kids so far, we won't be changing suit for this one.

I'm not too fussed about whether names match. I think its more important that you like the name, that it goes with the surname and that it will stand the test of time. We have gone with names that have French, Arabic, Scottish and German origins - so definitely not a matching set