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Name Meaning

tiffanikimikorobison1
tiffanikimikorobison1 ✭
December 13, 2022 in Suggest an Idea

My mom’s side of the family are Sakotas. In Japan, it would be Sakoda, but the name was changed upon emigration. The computer-generated “Name Meaning” assigned to my family is quite offensive, as we are, in fact, not Native American. For example, look at John Sakota, record number KWZJ-8ZQ.  

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Is there any possibility that you can remove the name meaning? It is racist for you to assume that Japanese people would have a native American name meaning--even if it is computer generated. 

Tagged:
  • Family Tree
  • Family Tree Enhancement
  • computer generated meanings of names
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Active · Last Updated December 13, 2022

Comments

  • MaileLoveland
    MaileLoveland mod
    December 13, 2022

    @lyleblunttoronto1, could you pass this on?

    1
  • Paul W
    Paul W ✭✭✭✭✭
    December 13, 2022 edited December 13, 2022

    Whilst the source used by FamilySearch for these name meanings often produces definitions that prove to be controversial, even highly upsetting, to those with the same / similar surnames, I would hardly define this as "racist".

    Incidentally, Wikipedia has this definition:

    Šakota (Serbian Cyrillic: Шакота) is a Serbian and Croatian surname, derived from a nickname[1] itself from the word šaka, meaning "hand".

    I am sure the many Jews who anglicised their names when coming to England or the United States would not expect an definition of their original surname to be provided, or consider (say) receiving a definition for "Berkeley" (instead of the original "Berkowitz") to be racist, or offensive.

    The best idea is to just ignore these suggestions, as they are often wrong for a complete variety of reasons.

    0
  • lyleblunttoronto1
    lyleblunttoronto1 ✭✭✭
    December 15, 2022

    I've created a note for the right team.

    0
  • lyleblunttoronto1
    lyleblunttoronto1 ✭✭✭
    December 15, 2022

    I think you can see that this information is valuable to many people, even when working with a limited data set or understanding.

    @tiffanikimikorobison1 without completely removing the feature, what could be done to make the experience more palatable?

    0
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