# Ethnic names that don't seem to match the ethnic group **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 12, 2006, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163 "2006-07-12T12:41:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/21 "2006-07-12T22:07:08Z")
[QUOTE=zweisamkeit] Oh, I believe **Polycarp** mentioned him just a bit ago… [/QUOTE] That’ll teach me not to just skim a thread before posting. Well, no it won’t. ---
**Author:** ![Arnold\_Winkelried](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Arnold\_Winkelried](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arnold_Winkelried)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/22 "2006-07-12T22:47:36Z")
Or famous Swiss athlete Donghua Li, gold medalist for the pommel horse event at the Atlanta Olympic games in 1996. [http://www.donghua-li.com/frameset.asp](http://www.donghua-li.com/frameset.asp) ---
**Author:** ![ouryL](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ouryl/32/6067_2.png) [@ouryL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ouryL)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/23 "2006-07-12T23:20:18Z")
Of course, there are the Ohara’s here that are confused with the O’Hara’s. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2006, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/24 "2006-07-12T23:52:45Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] …lemme think here…I got something…unh…I know! A lot of folks in Panama have English-sounding names. [/QUOTE] Well, they sound English because they _are_ English - one of the founding families of the Republic were the Boyds (I live on Avenida Federico Boyd) - and names of British origin are very common here. But then, so are names of Chinese, Lebanese, French, Italian (Martinelli was a candidate for president in the last election), German (two prominent families are the Eisenmanns and the Berns), among many others. ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/25 "2006-07-13T03:50:06Z")
How is it that Mexico has a President named Fox? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/26 "2006-07-13T04:06:48Z")
I never understood why **Jesus** is a hispanic name (isn’t it?). ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/27 "2006-07-13T04:46:04Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] I never understood why **Jesus** is a hispanic name (isn’t it?). [/QUOTE] Am I being whooshed? Hispanic people, on the whole, tend to be rather fond of the original Jesus. Does it seem strange to you that they might have picked up his name along the way? ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/28 "2006-07-13T12:52:17Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] Hispanic people, on the whole, tend to be rather fond of the original Jesus. Does it seem strange to you that they might have picked up his name along the way? [/QUOTE] So why don’t Christians of other ethnicities name their kids “Jesus”? ---
**Author:** ![Electrical\_Storm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ac8455/32.png) [@Electrical\_Storm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electrical_Storm)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/29 "2006-07-13T15:08:34Z")
"[Betancourt](http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.c/qx/betancourt-coat-arms.htm) " always looked really “anglicized” to me until I discovered that it has French origins (e.g, Bethencourt). All the people I’ve met who have this surname were of Hispanic heritage or from South America. Interesting. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2006, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/30 "2006-07-13T22:32:50Z")
When I first heard of Luol Deng, I thought hey, another Chinese hoops player. . . who happened to be born in Sudan. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/31 "2006-07-14T02:02:02Z")
[QUOTE=silver1] "[Betancourt](http://www.houseofnames.com/xq/asp.c/qx/betancourt-coat-arms.htm) " always looked really “anglicized” to me until I discovered that it has French origins (e.g, Bethencourt). All the people I’ve met who have this surname were of Hispanic heritage or from South America. Interesting. [/QUOTE] The Canaries were colonized (for Spain) by a (iirc, French) explorer named Béthencourt. That might have something to do with it. In Quebec, there are lots of Québécois running around with Anglo-sounding names; for example, Daniel Johnson, the name of _two_ French-Canadian premiers of Quebec. In many cases this is as a result of marriage between Irish (Catholic) immigrants and French-Canadians back in the day. It can also happen that people from French-Canadian families moved away from Quebec and over time lost French as their language, then came back (or saw their descendents come back) to Quebec later. For example, during the election my campaign team included a set of three folks of whom the one fellow with the English name was the one Francophone. The lady who rented my apartment before I did is in the same situation (Québécoise with an Anglo name, not through marriage AFAICT.) Also, there are a number of first names that are popular among Québécois that aren’t terribly French: Mario, for example (which at this point practically _is_ a Québécois name\*), or Steve (not short for anything; often spelt Steeve), or Linda. Last year, the most common first name in Quebec was William. ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/32 "2006-07-14T02:04:27Z")
Also, my ex (who had a regular, fairly nice sounding Québécois name) was for a while obsessed with adopting his (equally Québécois) mother’s name… of _Dumberry._ I think I talked him out of it, but I’m never sure with that boy. ---
**Author:** ![elmwood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmwood/32/3060_2.png) [@elmwood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elmwood)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/33 "2006-07-14T13:07:39Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] And I don’t know why the OP considers it strange that it’s associated with a Jewish family. The majority of American Jews are Ashkenazi and the family names that are generally considered stereotypically Jewish here are mostly German-origin names – Fleischman, Silberberg, Goldstein, Rosenbaum, Seinfeld, Neumann, Feinblatt, Rothkopf … [/QUOTE] Although there’s certainly some overlap, Ashkenazi Jewish German names usually sound quite different than … oh, Lutheran German names Here’s the [ten most common German family names](http://german.about.com/od/germanicgenealogy/a/50surnames.htm): Müller Schmidt Schneider Fischer Meyer Weber Schulz Wagner Becker Hoffmann “Miller” is a very common Jewish surname, but it’s not disctinctly Jewish. If you go to a synagogue, though, the Silberberg/Goldstein type name will be more common. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/34 "2006-07-14T14:32:41Z")
According to “Dr. Zhivago” in Russia a common Jewish surname is “Gordon.” ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/35 "2006-07-14T15:07:36Z")
There used to be a Senator from Queensland whose name was O’Chee. He has Chinese in his background, which accounts for the “Chee” part but the O’ in front just struct me as quite odd. O’Chee doesn’t sound Irish, at all at all. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/36 "2006-07-14T15:14:04Z")
Initial O’s tended to get snagged in the machinery at Ellis Island every once in awhile (maybe because there were a lot of Irish immigration officials?). I once knew an O’Brodovich. ---
**Author:** ![Ragiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6de8d8/32.png) [@Ragiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ragiel)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/37 "2006-07-14T16:25:07Z")
[QUOTE=acsenray] Isn’t the Spanish version of _Martin_ simply _Martin_ if you leave out the accent mark, which most American styles do (_Martín_)? [/QUOTE] That’s also true in French. I think the Romance languages inherited the name honestly from a Roman saint. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/38 "2006-07-14T16:56:24Z")
For many years the police chief in Charleston, SC was a black chap named Ruben Greenberg. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/39 "2006-07-14T17:02:01Z")
[QUOTE=Beware of Doug] Initial O’s tended to get snagged in the machinery at Ellis Island every once in awhile (maybe because there were a lot of Irish immigration officials?). I once knew an O’Brodovich. [/QUOTE] Another example: the Chinese surname Ouyang was apparently fairly often Anglicized as “O’Young” in the old days. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [July 14, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163/40 "2006-07-14T17:28:42Z")
[QUOTE=jali] My grandmother’s name was Rosario Juandaquile. She was Filipino. My grandfather was AA and their kids were named Estella, Clara, Rosario, Jose, Rodrigo, Kyle (after granddad), Malcolm and Marshall. Not many 1/2 black 1/2 Filipio kids with names like that back in the 1940’s and 50’s. [/QUOTE] The Phillipines was under Spanish occupation for centuries before the US took it over. The Filipino language is based on Tagalog, but also includes a lot of Spanish (as well as other languages). My experience suggests that the majority of Filipinos have Spanish- or English-sounding names, but that’s anecdotal. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ethnic-names-that-dont-seem-to-match-the-ethnic-group/364163.md?page=3)