Do you stereotype names?
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Do you stereotype names?
| Mon, 11-29-2004 - 8:43pm |
My dh likes the name Jasmine but i have reservations. For me the name Jasmine belongs on a darker skinned little girl. Maybe it was Aladdin that did it for me but for some reason i just can't picture the name on a pasty white little girl. Does any one else have names that they stereotype to one origin or appearance? Is it crazy for me to feel the way i do?

For me I think it's more association than stereotyping. When you hear Jasmine, you may think of the Disney Jasmine character because that's who you associate the name with.
Actually, my husband really liked Jasmine (and I'm quite pastey and white myself), but personally all I could think of was "stripper" -- to me, Jasmine is a stripper-ish name.
So there you go, we all come at baby naming with our associations. But *I* definitely wouldn't characterize it as stereotyping. Maybe to some we're just talking semantics here, but I feel there's a difference between stereotyping and associating -- and there's nothing wrong with having an image of a name that doesn't work for you.
I hope that helps and good luck!
I agree that is more association than stereotyping.
When I was pregnant with DD we were debating between Daina or Jasmine. One night I watched Independence Day (you know the one with Will Smith) and Jasmine was his stripper girl friend. That ruined the name for me in a second. I was fine associating our DD with Jasmine from Aladdin, but not Jasmine the stripper on Independence day. So needless to say, DD was named Daina. Couldn't think of any strippers with that name LOL.
Absolutely.
Michelle
Graham (May 1999),
I had to think about it a little, and I do know more little black girls named Jasmine than white, although even though I can't specifically think of any, I'm pretty sure I've come across while little girls named Jasmine.
If you like the name, I'd say go with it. to me it's not ethnic sounding in any way, it's a flower, isn't it?
good luck
i think jasmine is goregous. one of my girlfriends wanted to name her twins jasmine and savannah. i laughed so so so hard with this one... we are both east coast jews. she has head full of red hair. i just don't see jasmine and savannah being red-headed jewish twins. the names are completely goregous, but belong on girls who grow up on a tropical island, not on the upper east side.
i think we all do this to a degree. a few of my girlfriends are pregnant right now, and talking names. every few days, one of them will throw out a name that remids us of an ex-boyfriend, a mean techer in school, a creepy door-man we had in our buiding growing up, etc. it is actually quite a laugh because you can barely even say the name without people bringing up their associations with the name.
i guess this is why people have stopped telling their friends the intended names of their babies?! HA!