Do not change your name because of someone else's prejudices.
I recognized the abbreviation of your name "Julian" the first time I heard Mirj, in the early days of your relationship. I thought it to be Mirj's term of endearment, and believed, until now, that she was its clever author.... there you go, a simple case of mis-directed credit.
At first it brought back memories of days at school when the jewish males were unkindly called "Jew-Boy". (No one knew what to call the Jewish females, except by their given names... albeit Anglicized). Back in my school days, the term would have been a double-whammy.... "Jew" for you, and "Boy" for the black males.... ergo my confusion. The "Limey" guys called you a "Jew-Boy", but you are not black , and I did not understand their reasoning.... They also called all European ethnic children POLLOCKS, and the French kids "PEASOUPS" in their ignorance. I resented being called a POLLOCK because I am not Polish.
So you see, Ju-Boy, it is the fault of the "Limey-Anglos", that prejudice was born, and we bought into their stupidity because it was safer to conform than to stand up and be proud.
You are (never) what you are, but you will always be who you are. It is what it is, and if someone else is uncomfortable, they just need to suck it up and get over it.
Dear Ju-Man, I have no problem with Ju-Boy but if you don't like it you should certainly have it changed.
I disagree with you on one point. It's not that Moslems, Sikhs, Hindus, etc... are proud of their religion and we are embarrassed. Rather they have a different philosophy. Jews have always tried to be full members and contributors of the the culture they are living in. They are proud to be Englishmen, Frenchmen, Americans, etc... (backfired on them in Germany, I'll concede) whilst following Judaism as their religion. Those other religions mentioned don't necessarily try to be a part of the local nation (although many of them do and succeed). I don't think we're any less proud of who we are.
Do not change your name because of someone else's prejudices.
I recognized the abbreviation of your name "Julian" the first time I heard Mirj, in the early days of your relationship. I thought it to be Mirj's term of endearment, and believed, until now, that she was its clever author.... there you go, a simple case of mis-directed credit.
At first it brought back memories of days at school when the jewish males were unkindly called "Jew-Boy". (No one knew what to call the Jewish females, except by their given names... albeit Anglicized). Back in my school days, the term would have been a double-whammy.... "Jew" for you, and "Boy" for the black males.... ergo my confusion. The "Limey" guys called you a "Jew-Boy", but you are not black , and I did not understand their reasoning.... They also called all European ethnic children POLLOCKS, and the French kids "PEASOUPS" in their ignorance. I resented being called a POLLOCK because I am not Polish.
So you see, Ju-Boy, it is the fault of the "Limey-Anglos", that prejudice was born, and we bought into their stupidity because it was safer to conform than to stand up and be proud.
You are (never) what you are, but you will always be who you are. It is what it is, and if someone else is uncomfortable, they just need to suck it up and get over it.
Dear Ju-Man, I have no problem with Ju-Boy but if you don't like it you should certainly have it changed.
I disagree with you on one point. It's not that Moslems, Sikhs, Hindus, etc... are proud of their religion and we are embarrassed. Rather they have a different philosophy. Jews have always tried to be full members and contributors of the the culture they are living in. They are proud to be Englishmen, Frenchmen, Americans, etc... (backfired on them in Germany, I'll concede) whilst following Judaism as their religion. Those other religions mentioned don't necessarily try to be a part of the local nation (although many of them do and succeed). I don't think we're any less proud of who we are.