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Baby names

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Original poster

Victorine?

40 replies

MagdalenaAlec · 26/06/2012 22:01

I love this name and I am currently trying to convince DH to let me have my little baby frog give a French name to DC2 so I would like to have some expert advice on it.

Pronunciation is a conundrum: DH says "Vic-TOR-een" (like Victoria) and I say "VIC-to-reen" (just like Victor). I find mine prettier but it may not be the most natural one..

Like it? Loathe it? Any thoughts?

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Pasiphae · 28/06/2012 13:37

I love it! But then again I am French.
I used to read Victorine Confiture by Annette Tison/Talus Taylor (they also did Barbapapa). Good memories.

I think Victoire would be easier to live with, still French, less like a brand? Plus it's her from La Boum. Very French!

CoteDAzur · 28/06/2012 07:53

Awful name, sorry.

Re pronunciation: It would be Vic-to-REEN.

RubyFakeNails · 28/06/2012 07:51

Has anyone see Entourage, the TV show?

Victorine just make me think of Drama shouting VICTORY and then some sort of Victoria Sponge Terrine thing Confused

I imagine you can't use it because of family but my friend's DD is Sidonie and it lovely, although round here it is said exactly like Sid-nay (think Bianca screaming Ricky in eastenders)

kilmuir · 28/06/2012 07:48

I am sure there must be must nicer French names you can think of...............please

RubyFakeNails · 28/06/2012 07:44

Please don't use Victorine.

HalfSpamHalfBrisket · 28/06/2012 06:41

I'm not normally one for faffing with spellings, but would calling her Victorina work, to get the pronunciation correct?

mathanxiety · 28/06/2012 05:27

It's nice but I think it reminds me of a knick knack cabinet for some reason.

How about
Philomene
Severine
Aveline
Celestine
Laetitia
Apolline
Camille
Esther
Mathilde
Clothilde
Regine
Melisande
Seraphine
Sybille
Zephyrine

minceorotherwise · 27/06/2012 23:00

Ooh, just no

SuzysZoo · 27/06/2012 22:56

It sounds very much like a cleaning product.

minipie · 27/06/2012 17:34

No to Victorine from me for the reasons mentioned (listerine wolverine etc)

Victoire is gorgeous though - use that! Who cares if people get the pronunciation a bit wrong.

Scatterplot · 27/06/2012 16:15

The mouthwash is Listerine.

How about using it as a middle name, e.g. Agathe Victorine?

Original poster
MagdalenaAlec · 27/06/2012 16:00

tammytoby You get the cupcake :o

popmaster Leigh-Shazza would cause a permanent frown on my MIL's very crowded forehead if not a heart attack (Chardonnay would have more positive associations to her... bad, bad, DIL :o ).
Yes, Victoria is definitely out as I do not really like it and no, I am not trying to make my daughter "fit" in our environments (bad choice of words), I was rather saying that her name would not be any weirder than those of the children she will play with.

Bonsoir I like Violet (pronounced the English way) but I feel it is a bit too "girly" (I like strong names for girls!)

What is the name of that mouthwash everyone seem to link Victorine to? Never heard of it.

OP posts:
Bonsoir · 27/06/2012 15:17

How about Violet (or Violette)? Love it!

Bonsoir · 27/06/2012 15:13

Victorine is a retro-chic name (same genre as all your little French nephews and nieces) but, like other posters, I don't like it.

popmasterdefeatsme · 27/06/2012 15:08

out of interest is victoria definitely out? I've always loved it (but DH vetoed it for us)

Antonia is a lovely name.

Out of interest, why does the name have to "fit" your family? You only have to please yourselves (and hopefully little future Victorine). How about you wind them up a bit and call her Leigh-Shazza?

AceOfBase · 27/06/2012 14:36

Don't like it but quite like victory. Sounds similar but less like a medicine

tammytoby · 27/06/2012 14:30

I like Victorine but I love European, elegant, long girls names. Also love Clementine, Antonia, Johanna, Capucine etc. Much nicer imo than the current trendy cutesy names. But, thankfully we all have different tastes Smile.

Ephiny · 27/06/2012 14:23

I'm not keen, don't think it works very well as a name in English (though I think the pronunciation would be OK, definitely easier than Victoire for an English speaker), it just seems quite ugly and doesn't look or sound like a feminine name to me.

From the ones you mentioned I like Antonia best.

WithACherryOnTop · 27/06/2012 11:01

It's awful. It sounds like a mouthwash,or a cleaning product.

Bunbaker · 27/06/2012 08:55

I would pronounce it Victor-EEN. so it looks like you have three different versions of it. You may want to consider you New Yorkers will pronounce it. OH is from Northumberland and was originally to be given a different name to the one he has now. When his mum heard how the locals pronounced the name she changed her mind.

Bluestocking · 27/06/2012 08:47

I'm English and I don't find Victorine at all difficult to pronounce - I would pronounce it the French way but with a little less "uh" at the end. And I wouldn't have any trouble with Victoire. I'm not sure why the Anglophones you're talking to are having so much trouble. Vic-TOR-een sounds ridiculous!
I agree that the name does fit into your name categories (BTW, not sure that Blue-anything is geek-chic Confused) but it's still ug-uh-leee. Just because it "fits" isn't a reason to use it. BUT the important thing to remember is that (a) we are a bunch of strangers on the internet and our opinion doesn't matter at all and (b) if she doesn't like it, little Victorine can choose to be Vicky or Nina or Freckles instead.

Original poster
MagdalenaAlec · 27/06/2012 00:03

NatashaBee In NY, we are surrounded by artsy, "geek chic" (just discovered the expression) name, like Blue-something, nature/floral names etc.. The English side of the family (DH's) is very much into posh names (little cousins are Arabella, Annabel, Cornelia, Philippa, Percival, Quentin, Tarquin, St John and so on) whereas my side is more about retro names (Honorine, Sidonie, Marguerite, Sixtine, Quitterie, Berenice...) so I believe Victorine would probably fit the three groups.

The other two choices are Antonia and Octavia, but they are not French at all and DH's personal favorite is Vespasia which I vetoed.

OP posts:
NatashaBee · 26/06/2012 23:40

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster
MagdalenaAlec · 26/06/2012 23:36

Ouch ouch ouch. The first nice and positive comment gets a cupcake...anyone?

Victorine is the French feminine version of Victor/Victorin (an equivalent to Victoria then). My other option was Victoire but it turns out its English pronunciation is even trickier. Don't like Victoria at all.

Bluestocking Yes, I am French and Victorine is pronounced "Vic-to-ree-nuh" in French but I am just trying to find a way to translate this in English (we live in New York).

OP posts:
Badgerina · 26/06/2012 23:14

Don't like.