Valentine

[nervatious]

for a boy. what you reckon?

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

Love it. :)

[pilates]

I would like it only if he was born on February 14th.

[rachel234]

Lovely. Reminds me of Valentine Warner.

[razzlebathbone]

I love it. We wanted it as a middle name for our DS until we found out he would then have the name of an apparently famous wrestler - Johnny Valentine. I was gutted.

[FlingonTheValiant]

Love it :)

[lostinindia]

Nope. Don't like it.

[hellokitty123]

I like it.

[BuntyPenfold]

I know it is a man's name, but it still sounds girly to me.
Don't you think a boy called Valentine will get a lot of jeering?

[FlingonTheValiant]

Mr grandad was at school with a Valentine and says none of them thought it was a girly name (came up when we were naming DS). Given how many names from his generation are now back in fashion I would think a Valentine would fit in fine.

However, you could always go with the French version, Valentin, if you want it to look a bit more masculine.

[Bellbell]

My cousin is called Valentine (Val) after my grandad - he probably got a bit of teasing when he was younger but now he's in his early 20s he loves it because the girls love it!!! It's a great name. It's also quite 1930s/40s but so much nicer than Arthur, Alfie etc.

[evamummy]

I like Valentine. Think of Valentine Warner too. In the UK I'd go for the English spelling (Valentine).

If you go for Valentin, then it would be either Valen-teen (German) of Valen-tuh (French), and would be confusing in English.

[PatriciatheStripper]

Valerie is not in fashion atm, so perhaps it's time for Valentine.

I've only ever met one male Val, but don't think its necessarily 'girly'. Well-known figures like Val Kilmer, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing and Val Doonican never really raised any eyebrows.

[FlingonTheValiant]

Actually I think if you live in the UK you can spell a name a foreign way and pronounce it how it looks in English.

I say this as someone with a German name that no one pronounces in the German way, married to a Frenchman whose name no one (not even people who can speak French) pronounces in the French way, and with a DS with a French name that no one pronounces in the French way.

Before I had DS all English friends and family went on and on about how it would be difficult to get people to pronounce a French name for DS - we never expected English people to pronounce his French name in any way other than the English way, so we specifically picked one that we didn't dislike the English pronunciation of. In the same way that if we'd given him an English name we wouldn't have expected our French and German family and friends to say it in the English way.

I think it's something that in theory no one likes, but in practise it's what everyone does.

Sorry to ramble on - but the short version is, in the UK Tintin is not pronounced in a French accent, so I don't think Valentin would need to be either.

But seeing as it's Valentine you're after it's all a bit irrelevant anyway

[FlingonTheValiant]

I wanted to call DS Valéry - DH wasn't too keen, but he's ended up with something very similar - just a bit more Roman sounding.

[sophiesmummie]

I like Valentine very much. As others have said our children won't associate Val with any girls names, so it would be a great nickname imo. Plus, Valentine runs off the tongue nicely enough not to have to shorten at all.

[superjobeespecs]

when i was younger a friend of mines dad was called valentine and was incredibly manly looking i think its a great name i remember my mates dad as being something of a ladies man lol

[nervatious]

Ooooo I was expecting more people to say they hated it! My dh is set against but i might be able to persuade him...

[Purplebuns]

I love this actually!

[PatriciatheStripper]

Go for it! He will have his own special day as well :o

[radancer]

I like the name.

Bit sissy tho innit

[PatriciatheStripper]

I don't think it's sissy.

[quirrelquarrel]

I quite like it.
If only because I have nostalgic ties...about the only stuffed animals I didn't shun as a tiny were a husband and wife pair of hedgehogs, called Valentin and Valentine :o

If you were really worried about people thinking it's too feminine, you could use the French masculine form, Valentin, Val-on-tan (close to that pronounciation). Or you could take a stand :o who cares if it's "girly" or not! Your DC's name isn't the only proof of their gender!

[nervatious]

It is girly at first but the original st Valentine was a man, so why is this? Just because Valentines day is about love? Boys should be able to love too...

[Hatterbox]

This is my son's name, he wasn't born on Valentine's Day, rather Christmas Day!! We used it as we love it

We pronounce it the original, and dare I say correct way, which is val-en-teen and call him Tino for short.

[TidyDancer]

I like it, but would never use it. It's too....something I can't put my finger on!