Message: "Would Kieran look stupid next to a Polish last name?"

[Opinions] Would Kieran look stupid next to a Polish last name?

by LuzDeTuVida

9/22/2009, 5:32 AM

My last name is obviously Polish, ends in -ski. So Did one of my serious ex-boyfriend's. I have a thing for Polish and German guys lol. Will Kieran look too mismatched next to a last name of a different nationality? Because I can totally see people in my area saying things like "Kieran? A good Irish name!" I am half Irish, but I'm not very connected to that aspect of my culture. Kieran is just a name that I really like that just happens to be Irish. I also have the Polish Aleksy on my list. Is Kieran usable for me? Have you ever encountered a similar situation?

#Polish

Replies

- Kelseyyy (--allison--)

9/23/2009, 1:41 PM

No.

I think it would look fine next to any thing, as long as the LAST name isn't Keiran, too. =P Go for it!

- Solunastra

9/22/2009, 8:33 PM

You live in the US? No problem. Kieran is not unheard-of here, and I don't think people really blink an eye in the US when they see/hear ethnically mismatched names, especially when the first names are English or Anglicized (which Kieran is).

- New_Chloe +2

9/22/2009, 10:14 AM

I don't think so

If you live in a city like I do, with lots of mixed-race-European-mutts, then if they comment on Kieran's Polish last name, he can just say "My mom is half Irish", and that will be the end of it!

- LuzDeTuVida +1

9/22/2009, 1:46 PM

Ha that's true thanks. But then again, I don't really connect at all with my Irish culture so I'd feel weird using that as an excuse...it's just a dilemma for me. But the mutt thing I can deal with. I m plan to use American, German, Polish, French, and maybe Spanish names on my kids because I do connect with all those cultures in some context (I speak multiple languages and live in a diverse area). Irish I'm wary about. Do I want to encourage my children to identify with Irish culture if I never was able to?

- New_Chloe

9/22/2009, 2:28 PM

Well, I think that you have the right to use the names of your own heritage, whether you live and breathe the culture or not. Otherwise, they will die off.

And, like another said, the name Kieran doesn't exactly scream "IRISH!" - it's a gentle Irish name, and that's very fashionable. It's ok to use names for pure aesthetic reasons. How many little girl Mackenzies out there do you think have a familial reason for being given that surname? Not very many, I'd wager.

- ICEyun

9/22/2009, 10:06 AM

Of course it's useable

- Speranza +4

9/22/2009, 8:19 AM

Of course not. In Ireland no one would be too surprised to see a Kieran with a Polish/German/Indian, etc. surname.

I used to do Irish dancing with a girl called Orla with a Polish surname (her father was Polish) and was in college with someone called Conor with a German surname (his grandfather was German).

Similarly some Irish people have non-Irish, ethnic first names and Irish last names.

- LuzDeTuVida +3

9/22/2009, 1:30 PM

But I'm not in Ireland, I'm in America. Slightly different situation if you think about it.

- Speranza +2

9/22/2009, 5:37 PM

My point is that if Irish people don't feel they have to match the first names to their last names why should you feel you have to? But I guess this is something I don't get - growing up in a homogenous society like Irish I like seeing names mixed up a bit.

The flip side is my husband uses the Irish version of his surname but we don't feel the need to stick to Irish names only.

Kieran is an anglicized name to me so I don't see it as a problem. But I'd wouldn't have a problem with Ciaran ______ski either. My husband's cousin just had a baby - her name is Aoife and she has a double barrelled Iraqi-English surname.

- LuzDeTuVida +1

9/22/2009, 8:20 PM

I just mean it's not unusual in the slightest for people her to have a foreign name, but a more American first name, but I live in America. That's why it's not unusual for people in Ireland to have foreign last names but Irish first names. They do live in Ireland after all. Nothing weird about an Irish name. But if someone in your neighborhood had a Chinese last name and a Russian first name, maybe you wouldn't find that quite as normal because you don't live in Russia or China. Maybe that makes better sense.

- Speranza

9/23/2009, 7:26 AM

I know what you mean about the Chinese/Russian name. And I might agree with you if it were a very Irish, hard to pronounce name like Lasairfhíona with a Polish name but I think Kieran is fine.

- queenv

9/22/2009, 7:21 AM

It would be okay. I'm not sure where you are from, but here in the U.S., the melting pot, such things are common. My brother has an Italian last name, (I never did, he and I had different fathers), and one of his sons has an obviously Irish name, Shane. Nobody thinks anything about it, I'm sure.

- Llewella (penguiny7)

9/22/2009, 6:43 AM

When I see Kieran, I don't think Irish. Ciaran I would. But in the US plenty of people have Polish last names and non-Polish first names. I don't know anyone with a Polish last name who has anything but a "normal" first name.

I do get what you mean though with just thinking Kieran might be too Irish if you don't feel connected to being Irish. I love a lot of Irish names, but I'm not very Irish so I can't justify using them. Rather disappointing.

- Kirke (guest)

9/22/2009, 5:48 AM

Polish form is Kiaran

That's what the saint is called in Polish. Pronounced KYAH-rhan.

But I think Kieran sounds fine. A lot of people have Polish last names and names that are not Polish or Polish forms.

- zebra_cakes

9/22/2009, 5:41 AM

I think it sounds fine! I really like Kieran. It is also a common name in India, I believe-- but spelled Kiran.

My husband's family has a crazy Slavic last name, but all 5 of the kids have Irish names: Erin, Tara, Devin, Megan and Gavin (Welsh?). His mom is half Irish and half Polish.

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