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[Opinions] Roma?
WDYT of Roma? Does it have any bad connotations? Do you have any suggestions for first/middle names? Thanks!
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I quite like it, it has a nice sound. It makes me think of Italy or tomoatoes, which doesn't put me off the name at all.
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1) Roman's Russian nickname
2) Rum (In Russian rom, in Finnish rommi)
3) Nickname for Rosemary, used by A.A. Milne.
4) Rome. In Finnish Rooma.
5) Famous Russian humourist Arkady Raikin's wife was named Ruf, but she got called RomaTo me, it is kind of weird you call Roma people "Roma" and not "Romanians" as for example Finns do (Romanialaiset). I know that in Russian "Roma people" means about 80 different ethnic groups - one of the biggest is roma, pronounced raw-MAH. Ok, all the associations are nice, and so is the name. I've thought about adding it to my PNL + I've been lately into Rom-names. A few combos:
Roma Xanthippe
Roma Viorica
Roma Océane
Roma Penelope
Roma Sylvia
Roma Lenore
Roma Evelina
Roma Winifred
Roma Cecily
Roma Clarissa
Roma Frederica
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Romanians (in Finnish romanialaiset) are people from Romania.Roma (in Finnish romanit) are ethnic groups originally from India who now live in many differents parts of the world. They are also called Gypsies (in Finnish mustalaiset).There are Roma people in Romania but the two are not the same.
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Grr, of course you're right!This is not the first time I mix the words romanialainen and romani. Honestly, I'd prefer using mustalainen just to avoid all the misunderstandings. You can call me ignorant, but I think that would make life easier for everyone. :PActually my point was that I've heard the word "roma" used mostly for one of the Romani ethnic groups. (Romanies are not one ethnic group, they're people from about 80 different ethnic groups). As far as I've understood "Roma" is one of the biggest ethnic gropus, where belong a few "smaller" subgroups, like Lovari or Kalderash. Another "big" ethnic group that can be referred to Roma is Sinti. That's the reason I found it weird that English speakers use the word "Roma" for all the ethnic groups. Bla bla bla. I hope you got me. :)
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I think of tomatoes and the Roma people.I think it's a fine enough name, though. Tomatoes are yummy and the Romas have a very interesting culture. I prefer Ramona, though.
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I really love this name. It doesn't have any bad connotations for me (I love the city!). Roma Louise
Roma Catherine
Roma Nicole
Roma Danielle
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I always first think of the actress Roma Downey, then the capital of Italy, then Roma tomatoes. None of these are negative for me, so I say go for it.
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ditto, never heard as a gypsy termBut I'm in the USA.
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It's used in the USA, too. Perhaps you're more familiar with Romany? :)Array
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Nope, haven't heard that eitherBut I'm really not current on slang. I said a racial slur once by accident. I thought I was making up a word, but my husband quickly corrected me. Luckily, we were alone at the time.
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Roma and Romany/Romani aren't slang terms.Just so you know, Roma (noun) and Romany/Romani (adjective) are the correct terms. "Gypsy" is slang and many Roma are offended by the term.
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Not bad connotations as such, but it's just the capital of Italy for me, it would be weird and tacky as a name. It's also a more precise and non-derogatory term to refer to gypsies.
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There was a Roma way back in my family tree somewhere and at first I thought it was quite unusual but I've grown to like it. She has sisters called Flora, Lily, Mary and Alice and was the daughter of Dick and Flora
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I strongly dislike it as a name and I'd hate to see it used. I don't think it's necessarily badly connoted, but it's not a given name to me. I know place names are becoming more and more common now, but I find them a bit ludicrous.
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Roma = GypsyIt's the name of a human ethnic/cultural group, so it seems kinda inappropriate to use it as a personal name.
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I also agree with you on this. My great-great-grandfather was Roma. I'm proud to have even a bit of that blood. :-)
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I agree.And as for the other examples--Cheyenne, Roman, etc--they don't really affect how I hear Roma. Maybe time will change that, but for now I completely agree with you and don't care for it as a given name.
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People use Cheyenne, Dakota, etc.I'm not in love with Roma, either Cheyenne or Dakota, or the practice itself, but it's widely accepted to name children after Native American tribes. Why not Roma?
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"widely accepted"lots of people have problems with it. Lots of people on this board.
Plus Gypsies are a pretty widely oppressed minority. It seems really patronizing to use their name as a cutecutenameformylittlegirl~!...I also disagree with Lillian. Frank is more a reference to Francis, which does indicate a nationality but more of a nationality than a tribe. Norman came into popular use as reference to a surname which comes from the tribal name. German did not begin as a tribal name - Germany was named in reference to the Latin given name. Roman grosses me out a lot, but so do Dakota and Cheyenne, so there you go
OT I love your current favorites a lot. I need to start playing with Zimri some more. GREAT Zimri combo.
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I said widely accepted because those names are relatively common. I am 1/4 Cherokee and not personally a fan of using names of ethnic groups, but there are too many little Dakotas and Cheyennes running around for me to get upset every time someone uses those names. So Roma--especially since it can be interpreted as a reference to the city of Rome (and thus likened to London and Paris more than Cheyenne and Dakota)--doesn't particularly bother me, either.But don't get me started on people who butcher the spellings . Shyanne? That makes me angry.Thank you! It's awesome that you like Zimri. ^_^Edit: Haha, OMG. I had no idea Cherokee was in the database.

This message was edited 6/19/2008, 9:10 AM

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Also Frank, Roman, German, etceteraI don't see that particular reason as being sufficient to dissuade from use of Roma.
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DittoI think it would still be ok to use, though. I personally like the name Roman. But Roma seems to bring about the Gypsy concept more because Gypsies are called Roma, not Romans.
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Agree
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I quite like it.
But I prefer it as a nn for Romaine or Romana.
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I like Roma for a girl, but not for a boy.Suggestions:Roma Jane
Roma Elizabeth
Roma Helena
Roma Suzanne
Roma Nicole
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