Naming mixed race babies

[pam1532]

Anyone here have/having mixed race kids? How do you go about choosing names for them?

I'm 100% white British and hubby is 100% South Korean born and raised. We currently live in Korea and while we hope to move to the UK at some point, we don't have any firm plans to do so yet. We're both trilingual but our families all speak only their native languages.

So I thought about names that sort of work in both countries like Erin or Hannah (Hana) for a girl, or Dale (Dae il) for a boy. But then I thought it wasn't very original and also it's extremely limiting.

Plus, since the baby will take my husband's Korean surname, shouldn't it have an English first name? ... But then I still feel limited to names that aren't difficult to spell and pronouce in Korean. I love names like Valerie or Tabitha, but they'd sound ridiculous written in Korean and nobody here would pronounce them right.

Anybody else having problems naming mixed race babies?

 

[Amygdala]

Not mixed race but mixed language. We've always stuck with what you suggested, names that work in both languages. I don't think that's unoriginal but yes, it can be limiting. But I do think it's important the name works in both languages and cultures, especially if you might move. If baby is having a Korean last name, then how about a "neutral" first name and English middle? For a middle name, I wouldn't worry too much about whether everyone can pronounce it.

 

[minties]

Not myself, but my uncle (he's a white New Zealander) and his partner (she's from Vietnam) named their son Kien. It seems to work just fine with her family and ours! Easy for everyone to say. He has an English last name.

 

[penelopejones]

My husband's family is Chinese and mine is Canadian (English). We live in the U.S.. We chose Penelope for our daughter and his parents had trouble pronouncing it at first, but they found a Chinese name for her (Pe Na) and mostly just call her BeBe. She has DH's last name, and I chose a middle name that is from my side of the family.

I'd say go with whatever works for you! You can always pick a Korean version of the name that sort of sounds similar--or use a Korean middle name?

Friends of mine who are in the same situation (Chinese-English) often give their kids a Chinese middle name...

 

[Qmama79]

For me it's important that the name is pronounced the same in both Flemish & English as I know it wld irritate me too much if mispronounced. It excludes quite a few names I like. Take your time. I hope you'll find a solution!

 

[Kirsty3051]

I'm Italian and DH's family are Russian but we live in the UK. We chose Italian first names that are well known in the UK (Luca and Franco) so nobody would struggle to pronounce them.