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Baby names

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

Original poster

Boy name that works in French and English

171 replies

FollowTheNorth · 07/10/2022 11:30

Hi all, and sorry for the long message!

I am pregnant with our second boy and we are really struggling with name ideas… Husband and I are both French, living in Scotland with no intention to leave, so our sons will likely be raised here, but we regularly go to France to visit family and friends, so we need a name that works in both languages. Four our first son, we instantly loved Leo. It works in most European languages, pronounced fairly similarly in English and French, soft sounding… but for our second one we feel like we have exhausted all the forum threads! We keep turning around the same names, and most names we like are already taken by close friends/relatives (think Theo, Noah, Paul etc.)

We have two names we really like, but they are more French than broadly European and I am worried this would just mean he would have to spell/repeat his name all the time. May I have your opinion on:

  • Timothée (we much prefer it to Timothy, which we feel is a bit old fashion now in the UK). The American actor Timothée Chalamet is becoming quite popular so it may help making the French version of the name be more known here too… also he could use Tim but I feel Tim is a bit old fashion too. What do you think?
  • Gael, which is pronounced Gah-el. It is our favourite choice, and people would instantly know how to pronounce or spell it in France but I am worried it will be read as Gail (one syllable) all the time here. As Gail is clearly a feminine name, it could cause teasing at school… but am I pushing it? Would it actually be ok? My name is very French, but sounds like a more English name and people always get my name wrong (like even in emails, people respond and ‘correct’ my name like I couldn’t spell my own name). It’s quite annoying so not sure I want to inflict that to my son… but we love the name so much!
our other ideas are Nathanael, Bastian, and Zachary but we are not 100% convinced yet. We are not big fans of William, Harry, Charlie, Jack or other names in the top 100… either already taken by close friends or family or we just don’t like them.

any help would be much appreciated!! We had a name for a girl before I got pregnant with our first son… it would have been much easier 😆

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momtoboys · 07/10/2022 14:50

I don't think you can go wrong with Patrick. I also like Gael. Peoples names are so often out of the ordinary that no one will think a thing of it originality. I have a friend whose brothers name is Hugh (but I think his is spelled Huw) and I think that is a lovely, strong name that could be used in either language?

OldTinHat · 07/10/2022 14:47

I love the name Gilles.

PurpleBrocadePeacock · 07/10/2022 14:39

Timothée / Tim while not popular now, I wouldn’t be surprised if it has a surge in popularity and replaces Theo in the top 50 boys names at some point in my life. I see it a bit like Nicholas as a classic name that is on the cusp of swinging round again but might be another decade or two ago off. I like it.

Zachary and Nathanael are also both nice names and Sebastian is one of my favourite names. I prefer it to Bastian but think Bastian wouldn’t have the same pronunciation issues Gael does so is Ok too.

ThisIsNotAFlyingToy · 07/10/2022 14:33

Tim isn't terrible and would work on an young child but it's my automatic thought association is definitely "Tim nice but dim".

If you like Gabriel, why not Raphael or Michael/Michel (the latter has the girl name issue as well though)?

Or what about Marc? An underrated, easily pronounced classic.

Louis is too close to Leo.

Love Etienne, Severi and Amarin.

Naughty1205 · 07/10/2022 14:16

Haven't read the thread so don't know if Morgan was mentioned?

KirstenBlest · 07/10/2022 14:08

Yann, is the Brittonic version of Ian. Same name, different spelling.
No. Yann is a breton form of Johannes and Iain/Ian is a scottish form.
They are no more the same name than Seán, John or Ifan.
Breton, Cornish and Welsh are closely related. Manx, Gaelic and Gaeilge are related but not closely.

The breton names Yannick or Yvan would work. Patrick is excellent.
Names like Gaël and Maël will not sound good in the UK - they'll get said as Gale, Guy-elle, Gayull ...

Not sure I agree with using a name that is spelt the same in the UK and said differently, might be a bit tough on a little boy to be Robe-air/Ugo at home but Robbut/Hewgo at school.
**approximate pronunciations only

Little Léo copes though.

QueenoftheAngles · 07/10/2022 14:07

My DS’s friend is Thibault. Born and brought up in the UK with a French Dad. They all call him Teebs

GailSnail · 07/10/2022 14:07

What do you think of Emile or Etienne OP? Lots of others have suggested these too.

Longdarkcloud · 07/10/2022 14:01

I’d avoid Hugo — most English hearing it pronounced in the French way wouldn’t recognise it at first. Henri is a bit different as is more familiar.
I love Xavier which has had a rise in popularity in the UK.
Christophe
Marc
Pascal
Andre
In the Antipodes and US Gael is the alternative spelling of Gail and Abigael is sometimes spelt that way — maybe similarly to other Biblical names like Raphael, Michael, Rachael.
I’d natural presume it was a girl’s name in the absence of any other clue.

Turnaroundandigone · 07/10/2022 14:00

Julian/Julien?

ODFOx · 07/10/2022 13:57

Timothee with an acute accent is pronounced Tim o Tay like the shampoo.
Tmothee Chalamet, whose first and last names rhyme, says he doesn't mind that the whole world outside France and his immediate family pronounce it incorrectly. Will you mind if it happens to your baby son?

TheSausageKingofChicago · 07/10/2022 13:56

I love Emmanuel. If I had a little boy named that I’d call him Mani

bubblepond · 07/10/2022 13:54

Sorry last one - Ewan could also work?

bubblepond · 07/10/2022 13:53

Oh and loved Elouan- just seen you like Breton names!

bubblepond · 07/10/2022 13:52

My husband is French and I’m English. We had a girl but on our list for boys we had Ethan, Luca and Olivier (Ollie) which would work in both languages

UpToMyElbowsInDiapers · 07/10/2022 13:46

Oh also Etienne

UpToMyElbowsInDiapers · 07/10/2022 13:46

This was our struggle exactly! Our list was:

Gabriel
Caleb
Dominic
Jeremy
Théophile (Theo)
Yannick
Anatole

FieldOverFence · 07/10/2022 13:44

If the Breton names are your thing there's Erwan, Ronan, Mathéo

RachelSq · 07/10/2022 13:43

I’m sure I remember hearing about a French rugby player called Timo (pronounced tee-mo) and loving it.

Could be a really cute nickname for Timothy?

I agree a toddler “Tim” might sound a bit odd but there’s lots of short versions of Timothy to choose from too!

Cakecakecheese · 07/10/2022 13:42

Gérard, David, Thierry, Hugo, Victor, Emanuel, Christophe.

I have based my list on famous French people 😂

GearBots · 07/10/2022 13:42

I don't particularly like the name, but without exception all the Tims I know are great people!

I had similar predicament - on our list were Louis, Benedict, Emile, Samuel, Oliver, Jules and Xavier.

Bonne chance!

AsterixInEngland · 07/10/2022 13:40

Celtic names are by far what works the best (same issue in our house so had spent quite a bit of time looking too).
What I really liked was Tristan, Thomas, Killian.

Original poster
FollowTheNorth · 07/10/2022 13:39

HaveringWavering · 07/10/2022 13:30

Living in Scotland, you need to be aware that a "Gael" (pronounced like the wind, gale) is a person who speaks Gaelic. You say you like Breton names so perhaps there is a connection between Gaelic and Breton culture (I know the Bretons have bagpipes for example!). But if it is not connected, be prepared for people to think it is appreciation/appropriation of Gaelic culture.

That's on top of the confusion with Gail.

"Tim" is not in any way an old man's name in the U.K. In Scotland everyone definitely has an old uncle Jim (or Jimmy) but not Tim/Timmy. That said, it's not been popular for children for the last 20 years or so. I'd say it's most common amongst men in their 30s to 50s.

Yes, I sort of liked this second meaning too actually as a kind of 'tribute' (that is a bit too strong) to our adoptive country. Brittany shares strong cultural associations with other celtic nations but I think the language is closer to Welsh/Cornish. There is no clear origin of the name Gael in France but it is often refered to as meaning 'an Irish man' in Brittonic. And thanks for your input on Tim!

OP posts:
FlounderingFruitcake · 07/10/2022 13:36

I know several Yanns and I’ve never twigged the Ian connection. They all pronounce it to rhyme with fan, not like Yahoo… It does get mistaken for the scandi Jan though. And the ones I know are all 35-elderly so probably my bias but I don’t know if I could see it on a baby or toddler!

Love Timothée/Tim though, I think it’s definitely due a come back.

Our boy list was Gabriel, Louis, Christophe, Philippe, Hugo, Sebastian.

HaveringWavering · 07/10/2022 13:30

Living in Scotland, you need to be aware that a "Gael" (pronounced like the wind, gale) is a person who speaks Gaelic. You say you like Breton names so perhaps there is a connection between Gaelic and Breton culture (I know the Bretons have bagpipes for example!). But if it is not connected, be prepared for people to think it is appreciation/appropriation of Gaelic culture.

That's on top of the confusion with Gail.

"Tim" is not in any way an old man's name in the U.K. In Scotland everyone definitely has an old uncle Jim (or Jimmy) but not Tim/Timmy. That said, it's not been popular for children for the last 20 years or so. I'd say it's most common amongst men in their 30s to 50s.