Baby Name Poll Results

I much prefer Malachi. Kai is an adorable nickname, and using Dakota as a babyname can be offensive to Native Americans. More middle name ideas:

Malachi Jude
Malachi Brett
Malachi Scott
Malachi Hayes
Malachi James
Malachi Rhett
Malachi Knox
Malachi Vaughn
Malachi Rhys

I like the name Malachai better but Dakota Lee flows better than Makachai Lee. Is Lee set?

I wasn’t even thinking about Native Americans when I found the name Dakota. I was thinking about North Dakota, which is where my husband was born. I’m still going to keep the name, sorry if it happens to offend anyone. Anyways, I like Malachi Rhett and Malachi Rhys.

Poster 2, no Lee is not set, feel free to leave some suggestions. :)

-OP

Love Dakota Lee! (-: Isn’t everyone offended by something this day in time? Haha! There are thousands of little Dakota’s in the USA, on both genders. I say name him what you want. They’re both handsome names! Good luck! (-:

Personally if I was choosing between two names that I loved, and one of the names was offensive to a group that has been marginalized and victimized throughout American history and the other wasn’t, I would probably choose the name that wasn’t offensive. Just my two cents.

I’m Native American and someone naming their child Dakota doesn’t offend me. People tend to overthink things. I personally feel like it’s honoring, remembering, no bad intentions here. Like the origional poster said, they didn’t even have that in mind when they were picking the name. Pick your battles. Good luck with your little boy.

It’s okay, Malachi won the vote, so we’ll be going with Malachi with the nickname of Kai reguardless. Malachi Lee will probably be the name. I really am sorry if I offended anyone. I didn’t realize that Dakota was such a controversial name, until I was reading all comments and did a little research. Once again, I apologize. You live and learn I guess.

-OP

If Dakota is so offensive then so is Cheyenne, Cherokee, and any other name similar, yet people have no problem using them, especially Cheyenne or any other form of it, like Shyanne. I know so many people named Cheyenne and no one ever says anything about that name? You can’t just pick and choose, people. If one is offensive and disrespectful then they all are. I guess we might as well throw in state names in the offensive area as well. And most city names too. Also anything else to do with America’s history or any kind of history at all. All could be considered offensive. All races in history have suffered in some form. If we respect one, why not respect all. This is very ridiculous.

Malachi is just as offensive as Dakota IMO, I mean if they’re even offensive at all... A name is a name

Poster, Malachi Lee is a stunning name! Best of luck to you! I also commend you for taking criticism about your names with such grace. Many people just get defensive when people point out why a name may be offensive, so I commend you for doing some research and coming to your own conclusion. Poster 7, yes, Cherokee and Cheyenne can be offensive as well. They appropriate Native Americans by using their tribes and languages as names. If you want to honor Native Americans, why not use a legitimate Native American name or the name of someone who has helped secure rights for native people? And poster 8, if you find the name Malachi offensive then I welcome you to explain why. When naming my own children, I want to make sure my child has a name that they are proud of, so I welcome any thoughts you have. I apologize to the original poster if I have overstepped, but I think these types of conversations can be helpful for all of us!

Malachi is just as offensive because it’s religion based. Native Americans don’t like people naming their children after tribes, also because of their religion. They believe it’s disrespectful. It’s all based on the same thing, religion/ religious beliefs. Not that there’s anything wrong with it, I was just trying to prove a point. They’re one in the same. Honestly neither names are offensive in my opinion, that’s why I said "if they’re even offensive at all".

Interesting prospective. The Native Americans I know who find names like Dakota and Cheyenne offensive are offended because they are the names of tribes that people throughout American history have oppressed. The majority of Native Americans still live in poverty on reservations and are suffering from oppression that has occurs for thousands of years now, so when people name their children after their tribes or languages they are offended because people are doing it because they think it is cool and interesting while actually having no knowledge of the tribes history, and if they did, they would realize that Dakota, Cheyenne and Cherokee are actually a part of native people’s identity rather than Native American names. Malachi is a name from the bible. I’m not sure if the posters believe in the bible or not, but the majority of names in English and American culture come from the bible, and Christians are not historically marginalized in our society (typically they are the group with the most power), so I fail to see how using a biblical name, even if one is not Christian, is offensive.

OP, I like both names and I am sorry that when getting opinions on names you liked so much has caused such grief. It’s just a shame.

Dakota Lee