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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Sidonie

35 replies

3ChangingForNow · 04/11/2018 22:38

Wdyt?

And how would you pronounce?

SID-uh-nee
Or
sid-OH-nee

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ivf2019 · 05/11/2018 13:57

suh-DOH-nee is how I've always pronounced it. Knew a girl in high school whose middle name was Sidonie and I always thought it was really pretty.

LeeMiller · 05/11/2018 11:59

Nice if you're French and if said in a French accent. Otherwise in the UK I think it's quite likely to be mispronounced and contracted to sound like Sidney.

PerverseConverse · 05/11/2018 11:38

I worked with a nurse called this but not sure how she spelt it. She was African. I like it pronounced Si-doh-knee.

Swanhild · 05/11/2018 10:15

Colette fan? I love it, as pronounced by French speakers, but I think that if you're in the UK, it might tend to be an awkward fudge, like the way in which that princess Eugenie's name seems to be pronounced.

GreenDinosaur · 05/11/2018 10:11

I used to know a Sidonie, she went by Sidey which I think is cute. (Side-ee)

Marv1nGay3 · 05/11/2018 09:52

I love it! I know an elderly Sidonie. She is not french, and pronounces it SiDOnie, emphasis on the middle syllable.

KatherinaMinola · 05/11/2018 09:46

I like it, and I would assume it was after Colette. I'd pronounce SID-oh-nee. It is a bit rarified and as you see here, a lot of people won't have heard of it.

(Andrew Motion's daughter is called Sidonie. She calls herself Sid.)

Branleuse · 05/11/2018 09:43

Are you french?

I think its nice enough

BevBrook · 05/11/2018 09:42

I would naturally emphasise the Oh as I haven’t heard the name before but obviously once corrected would emphasise the Sid, which is much prettier.

Avegemitesandwich · 05/11/2018 09:38

It's one of those names that I'm not sure about unless you are actually French in which case I quite like it Smile

blueskiesandforests · 05/11/2018 09:36

Tatiana but the OP wasn't asking what the correct pronunciation is (she presumably knows or could google) but how people seeing her post would pronounce it. Most people in the UK might anglicise it because it's not a widely used or known French name in the UK . The OP presumably wants to know how her daughter's name would be pronounced/ mispronounced if she goes for this name.

Most people don't know this name so would assume its an attempt to come up with an unusual spelling of Sidney and pronounce it phonetically in the community language of the country. Wrong it may be, but it's also likely to be what actually happens.

MissesBloom · 05/11/2018 09:27

I have a Sydney and have met another girl called Sidonee, her mum said she's always having to correct people trying to spell her dds name the usual way, and saying it incorrectly.

Imo I think you and your dc will be forever correcting people. When I told people I was calling dd Sydney the reaction was a bit 'marmite', as in half of people loved it and the other half hated it. I do wonder if you might get the same.

TatianaLarina · 05/11/2018 09:21

It’s SID-uh-nee, as it’s French. It’s Colette’s real name.

Sid OH nee is a weird anglicisation, and rather ugly.

Sessy19 · 05/11/2018 08:25

Written it looks lovely, but spoken and I’m thinking of panatone! Are you totally against Sydney or Sidney?

olderthanyouthink · 05/11/2018 08:07

Sid-on-knee (sit on my knee?)

I don't hate it, I don't think, just weird

blueskiesandforests · 05/11/2018 07:49

Sid oh nee

I appreciate people are pointing out that it's actually an old name, but if you use it you need to realise that many people will assume it's a made up spelling of Sidney. You won't be able to set everyone straight...

RedDwarves · 05/11/2018 07:43

Sid-OH-nee.

Only because I would assume no one would name their child "Sid-uh-nee".

clarrylove · 05/11/2018 07:25

Please don't. Too much like sodomy.

AtticaRose · 05/11/2018 07:23

I know one, more like SID-uh-nee.

Lovely French name. I believe there is a mediaeval English version, Sidony.

GrammerlyH · 05/11/2018 06:47

Ps both pronounced Si-DOH-nie

GrammerlyH · 05/11/2018 06:46

This is a really old, classic French (Latin?) name - not a yoonique version of anything! I know two in their thirties, both from very middle class families.

Another2day · 05/11/2018 06:46

The syllables are equally weighted, Sid o nee.

I like it.

IHeartKingThistle · 05/11/2018 01:01

I prefer Leonie.

Shadow1234 · 05/11/2018 01:00

Sid-oh-nee

Picknickers · 05/11/2018 00:19

Please don't. It's really horrible to my ears.

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