UK Sikhs giving their children western names

[Redoptics]

16 minutes ago, ChardikalaUK said:

A name is important, it is a constant reminder of your background and culture. It's a big part of your identity. This is something even more important when you are a minority.

Why do you think Goreh Sikhs change their names when they convert?

There are plenty of short Indian names out there. At my school there was a girl called Kulwinderjit and the teachers could say it without much hassle. 

If people can say Tchaikovsky, they can say Kuljeet.

 

I don't need my name to remind of my culture the mirror does that.

[ChardikalaUK]

Just now, Redoptics said:

I don't need my name to remind of my culture the mirror does that.

Out of curiosity do you have a western name?

[Redoptics]

15 minutes ago, ChardikalaUK said:

Out of curiosity do you have a western name?

No lol I was born in the early 80s , got an old school name

[Ranjeet01]

7 minutes ago, Redoptics said:

No lol I was born in the early 80s , got an old school name

Are you northern? 

[ChardikalaUK]

48 minutes ago, Redoptics said:

No lol I was born in the early 80s , got an old school name

I wonder if the Sikhs in Dubai and Malaysia should give their kids names like Muhammad, Ahmed, Rahim?

'Old school',  that sums up apna mentality. Names like Jordan are considered 'modrun' and regular Sikh names are considered old school (and out of fashion?)

I've never heard goreh say names like Mark, Michael, Anthony, John are 'old school', despite them being around for centuries.

The rot is really deep in our community.

[Redoptics]

38 minutes ago, ChardikalaUK said:

I wonder if the Sikhs in Dubai and Malaysia should give their kids names like Muhammad, Ahmed, Rahim?

'Old school',  that sums up apna mentality. Names like Jordan are considered 'modrun' and regular Sikh names are considered old school (and out of fashion?)

I've never heard goreh say names like Mark, Michael, Anthony, John are 'old school', despite them being around for centuries.

The rot is really deep in our community.

I was going with jist of the conversation,  after people mentioned 'modern' names, so relax. Plus im saying i don't really care for names. My name was given to me, but hey if that brick (name) is so dearly to you,  hold on to it tight,  just watch out for back strain later in life.

[Redoptics]

49 minutes ago, Ranjeet01 said:

Are you northern? 

Yeah, why? Is this a game of guess who

[Not2Cool2Argue]

1 hour ago, Redoptics said:

I don't need my name to remind of my culture the mirror does that.

Why do u need the mirror to remind you? Your heart does that. 

Culture, identity should only be within the heart right? 

Just because we have given up on names, food, language, doesnt mean we've lost our culture or identity...

 

[Redoptics]

1 minute ago, Not2Cool2Argue said:

Why do u need the mirror to remind you? Your heart does that. 

Culture, identity should only be within the heart right? 

Just because we have given up on names, food, language, doesnt mean we've lost our culture or identity...

 

I've never said we lost our culture,  my point was,  I don't really care for names, 'old'  or 'modern' heck call your kids '@' if you want to. There are a plethora of things I have on my mind than someone's name.

[learningkaur]

4 hours ago, ChardikalaUK said:

A name is important, it is a constant reminder of your background and culture. It's a big part of your identity. This is something even more important when you are a minority.

 

I don’t think twice about my name (which is traditional and was always pronounced wrong). It doesn't influence anything for me.
My kids do all the sikh things like simran, gurdwara, talk about Waheguru and 2 out of 3 of them don’t have traditional sikh names (my husbands choice not mine). I do however, know many other  kids who do have sikh names and don’t do anything related to sikhi!! 

Looking back it would have been nice if they had names from gurbani.... and if they were born now my husband would have accepted the names I originally liked as he is into his sikhi more. But back then he wasn’t, so it is what it is- I really don’t think it would have made any difference to their spiritual growth but it’s good to do your part in keeping sikhi going.