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[Opinions] Native American names
Hi !!!What are your favourite Native American names? If you are from U.S.: what historical tribe(s) lived near your current house? Is there anyone who lives there until now?Personal Name Lists https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/125456
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I almost don't know any First Nations names. I'm in coastal Eastern Canada, where European contact was hundreds of years ago, and most First Nation people have English, French, or whatever- they- like-names.
However, my daughter-in-law has a little first Nation niece, named Kiah, which is said to mean Turtle, in Malaseet. There's a small reserve quite near where I live, the tribe is Malaseet. People do live there, just in ordinary houses, there's a gas (petrol) station, convenience store, band office, car repair- garage, body repair, panel-fixing, painting, etc..

This message was edited 3/10/2019, 11:07 AM

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From the ones on this site I like:Anayeli
Aylen
Iara
Kantuta
Maiara
Naira
Nayeli
Nina
Rayen
Xiadani
Xochitl
Yara
Yunuen
Zitkala
Zyanya Amaru
Ashkii
Baishan
Mahpiya
Malik
Maquinna
Nahuel
Nanuq
Ohiyesa
Sequoyah
Talako
Tiriaq Where I live is near a Crow reservation. From what I've seen people tend to have first names that are common in English and animal-related surnames.
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They're not used widely (although there are exceptions, for some, like Winona), and there aren't that many people who speak indigenous languages as their first language anymore...even among people who grew up on reservations, but I might be wrong about that. The words I know are places names. History of the tribes isn't really taught about in US schools, and it's hard to find information about them without digging; generally people who don't have a person in their immediate (living) family or friend circle that grew up on a reservation or goes to events like pow wows knows much about their history. Or at least that seemed true for where I grew up, which was east coast; the most well-known ones from there might be the Powhatan, the Iroquois, and Cherokee...there's lots of tribes, though:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_federally_recognized_tribes_by_stateAs noted by the 2000 U.S. Census, 99,551 American Indians lived in North Carolina, making up 1.24 percent of the population. This total is for people identifying themselves as American Indian alone. The number is more than 130,000 when including American Indian in combination with other races. The State of North Carolina recognizes eight tribes:Eastern Band of Cherokee (tribal reservation in the Mountains)
Coharie (Sampson and Harnett counties)
Lumbee (Robeson and surrounding counties)
Haliwa-Saponi (Halifax and Warren counties)
Sappony (Person County)

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This message was edited 3/8/2019, 11:03 AM

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Here is a small sampling of some of the Native American names that I like:Cochise (Apache) “Oak wood”
Haukea (Hawaiian) “white snow"
Hiawatha (Iroquois)
Nahuel (Mapuche) “jaguar”
Naiche (Apache) “mischief maker"
Nita (Choctaw) “bear”
Oneida (name of tribe) "standing rock"The tribes that lived in my area are very specific to my location, so sharing the historic tribes would be a bit like giving out my address. According to census records from the 1800s, I have some American Indian/Native American ancestry. According to some of the state and county histories, a few Native Americans managed to avoid being pushed out west during the trail of tears and others had already married into European immigrant families. Due to the history of the area, I would guess that a significant percentage of people who had ancestors in the region during the 1700s and early 1800s would have some Native American ancestry. However, most Native American ancestry would be pretty far back and very few people are part of a federally recognized tribe.
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NayeliI probably would have used it as a MN if my baby had been a girl.
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I'm Cherokee and grew up in Oklahoma, there's a lot of us and other tribes in that area. (Generally, we call ourselves Indians if we're not specifying our tribal affiliation, but I understand that can be confusing for non-US residents who might mistake the term for people from India.)
I don't actually know many Native American names. I do have a cousin named Tiana, which at the time she was born was claimed to be a name in the Cherokee language. I don't know what it means, though I think I did once, and I have seen the name used on non-Indian girls since, so who knows?
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My own grandma is named Wynona, and she was named after her grandmother. The story is that they have Cherokee blood, but I don't actually know how true that is. The Cherokee aren't exactly native to our area, either (Chicago & northwest Indiana) - unless they had confused the Cherokee with the Shawnee. This was originally the land of the Mitchigamea, and then I think the Ojibwe (don't quote me on this, though). I'm also pretty sure I attended a pow-wow hosted by the Ho-Chunk / Winnebago people as a child (Winnebago County, IL is named after them), though I think they're based in Wisconsin.As for Native American / First Nation names I like, and as long as we're expanding to all indigenous "New World" names... besides Winona (I prefer this spelling), I like:Adsila
Ayelen
Citlali
Iara / Yara
Ixchel
Jacira
Maiara
Naira
Nayeli
Nizhoni
Sayen (sah-YEN)
Xiadani
Xochitl
Zyanya
&
Malik (though I usually think of this as Arabic)
Moacir
Nahuel
Tiriaq
UjarakI have actually met women (of Mexican descent) named Ixchel / Itzel, Nayeli, and Xochitl.

This message was edited 3/8/2019, 7:17 AM

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