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Shakira
This was the name of one of my great-grandmothers, who was from Lebanon and lived there all her life. She was my paternal grandfather's mum. I really like her name, although these days most people seem to think of the Colombian singer (who is of Lebanese heritage herself). Don't get me wrong, I love Shakira's music, though I don't know if I could pull the name off on a kid without people thinking "like the singer?".So, what do you think of the name Shakira?(BTW, my other great-grandmas were Maryam, Budur, and Zahia.)

This message was edited 9/26/2012, 1:35 PM

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I like Shakira. If people other than the Selena can carry the name, why not with Shakira. (Selena Gomez, I know a Seleni and a Celina) If you're surrounded by other Lebanese/ Arab people who are used to the name, it would be even easier because it is just a name to them, not So-and-so's name.
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Not the same thing at all. I hardly know who Selena Gomez is, and she's definitely not the first person I think of when I hear the name Selena. Plus it's not like she goes by the one name like Shakira does. Using Shakira is more akin to using Madonna imo, if you're not of Middle Eastern descent.To OP, I totally think of the singer Shakira. I suspect I'm not alone in that. :) I think it's a pretty name though. I also love Maryam.
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I was thinking of the Tejano singer Selena as the original Selena. She was killed by the president of her fan club while still working on her English debut album. Jennifer Lopez played her in the biopic. Maybe it's a generational (I'm pretty sure I was still in high school when she was killed), national (more press in US/ Latin America than England), or cultural (Even though I'm not Hispanic, I maybe remember some of things about the culture better than others because I work with Hispanic immigrants and I don't know how familiar you are with their culture).
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That's crazy! Haha no, I didn't know that - I'm Australian and in my early 20s. I guess my point then would be that Shakira has a much wider reach. Even with all these little girls running around named Aaliyah / Aliya / Alia etc the association with the singer is not as strong as it would be if I ran into a little Shakira. Then I would definitely assume the parents are familiar with the actual Shakira. I have a 6-year-old cousin named Alia and I sincerely doubt her parents are familiar with the singer Aaliyah.
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