u/tropicaldawn

Hello! I am from Belize, a country in Central America that’s between Mexico and Guatemala. I am Garifuna to be exact with Indigenous Caribbean and Sub Saharan African ancestry. My husband is half Thai and half Dutch.

This makes our child, half Belizean, quarter Thai and quarter Dutch making things quite complicated 😅 we also reside in the UK.

I am 28 weeks pregnant with our first daughter.

We have a Dutch last name (starting with a K and it is 2 syllables). We are pretty much settled on her middle name being a Thai name, “Mekhala” (me-kah-la), after a female deity associated with the sea/ocean and lightening. My husband really wanted to honour her Thai heritage in one of her names, as she has a Dutch last name.

Some Belizean girl names are anglophone like, Aaliyah, Amaya, Nia, Kiana etc. Some Garifuna names have a more Caribbean/african vibe e.g, Aruma, Marasi, Eneida etc. This leaves us undecided on what to give her for her first name.

I am also not too fussed on giving my daughter a name that’s culturally Belizean, just as long as the name works in Belize, the Caribbean, Central America etc as well as the UK.

My top names (in order):

Giselle
Zola
Soraya
Caliste
Zora
Jaya
Calista
Soleia

Me and my husband are both equally keen on Giselle. But Zola is also a firm choice. Ultimately, we are both equally undecided, so I’m very open to suggestions! And if you’ve read this far, thank you so much!

I’m not really 100% sure on the history of the Kalinago, Arawkan, Taino and Garifuna indigenous populations but I’ve heard of them, and thought my results could be related to that.

I’m trying to understand which historical indigenous populations my result might be connected to.

My result is 26.8% indigenous American
Southern Caribbean (indigenous).