Alain?

[BettyNetty]

Hi - we're thinking of naming our baby Alain, pronounced A-la like the philosopher Alain de Botton.

Would love to know what people think of this name.

[LaurieFairyCake]

Yes if your French

If not, it's Alan

[HyvaPaiva]

Alain isn't pronounced 'A-la', OP. It's pronounced Ah-LANN.

[Amiasmummy]

Hyva is right with the pronounciation. It's basically the French form of Alan.

[squoosh]

Fine if you're French, dreadfully Hyacinth Bucket if you're not.

[florascotia]

If it helps, in Scotland the formal name 'Allan' (=popular Scottish spelling) is sometimes shortened to the nickname 'Alla'. But, as others have said, 'Allan' itself is always pronounced Al-an.

Welsh Mumsnetters may be able to confirm - I think there is also a Welsh version of the name spelled 'Alun'.

[Sweetishdelight]

Bettynetty is right. Alain is pronounced in French aH - la (ng) with the last syllable nasalised. The ah- LANN thing is Wrong wrong wrong

[HyvaPaiva]

Afraid you're 'wrong, wrong, wrong' there, Sweetish!

[PollyCazaletWannabe]

No Hyva, Sweetish is right. The French -ain sound does not have a pronounced final n- it is definitely not A-LANN.

[PollyCazaletWannabe]

Although I suppose an English speaker making a stab at the name Alain might pronounce it A-LANN.

[NaffOrf]

Never pronounce the final 'N' in French 'Alain'. Unless you want to look like someone who can't pronounce French, of course, in which case knock yourself out.

[NaffOrf]

Putain, copain, Balmain.

No N.

[HenriettaMaria]

Sweetish is quite right - my (French) bil was Alain. It's not Ah-Lann.

And, as an aside, Raymond (as in Raymond Blanc) is not pronounced Ray-MONDE that is a girl's name.

[Britishseamonkey]

The french doesn't have a hard n - but It's not pronounced 'ala' either - there is a nasalised / glopal stop (sp?) sound that 'closes' it .
It's a hard one for English speakers.... Which may or may not bother you

[Britishseamonkey]

Ps . I do really like it tho!

[ImpOfDarkness]

It's a grandad name in French too. My 70 yr old FIL is called Alain.

[ImpOfDarkness]

And a-LANN would be the Breton pronunciation.

/smartypants

[Floggingmolly]

Oh, just call him Alan . Or he'll spend the rest of his life doing the bucket/bouquet thing.

[MrsSchadenfreude]

Sweetish is right. LOL at Hyva saying she was "wrong, wrong, wrong."

[level3at6months]

But even in French, it's not Al-a. The nasal bit at the end gives it a proper end that would sound crap in not French. There's a hidden n.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

I think it's lovely and I like the way it looks written down too, but think the pronunciation issues would be a pain tbh.