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Baby names

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

Original poster

Names for a Franglais baby

58 replies

Steoh1 · 08/11/2024 13:31

Hi All

we are a French/ English couple living in the uk and expecting a boy.

my wife likes the name Sacha (amongst others) which is more popular in France.

at first I didn’t like it (reminds me of Sacha baron cohen and Borat) but now it’s growing on me.

It quite unusual but wondering if we may grow to dislike it over time.

any thoughts?

thanks

OP posts:
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BlastedPimples · 08/11/2024 18:35

Reuben
Jude

I love Sacha though.

U13579 · 08/11/2024 18:31

I like Etienne but no idea if it is dated in France?
From the link provided upthread I like Matheo

Cakey46 · 08/11/2024 18:30

Didier is a strong but cute boys name I think

gettingolderbutcooler · 08/11/2024 18:24

Francois/e?

WineseCuisine · 08/11/2024 18:22

I’d definitely go for something that’s pronounced more or less the same in both lanuages.

Off the top of my head: Marc, Paul, Alfred, Christian, Eric, Elliott, Louis, Raphael, André, Gregory, Xavier, Cedric, Bruno, Marcel, Florian, Raoul, Victor, Adam.

NameChange30 · 08/11/2024 18:19

ginasevern · 08/11/2024 17:34

Sacha will most likely be perceived as a girl's name in the UK. Your wife is wrong, Louis will not be pronounced Lewis over here. Louis is a well known name in the UK, not least because of the Royal Family.

How about Beau. It's unusual and can't be shortened. A change from all the Noahs and Olivers.

Beau is the most ridiculous name for an English child, let alone a French one.

Allthegoodnamesarechosen · 08/11/2024 18:03

My next door neighbour ( who spoke not a word of English) was Kevin.

Bruno ( great guy) on the other side

JaneJeffer · 08/11/2024 18:00

Fabrice

Anonymousess · 08/11/2024 17:59

I’m not French, from an English standpoint his name will be mistaken for Sasha and he’ll probably be misgendered

Personally I wouldn’t want to set my child up for that if avoidable

SquirrelHash · 08/11/2024 17:54

Felix

pamshortsbrokenbothherlegs · 08/11/2024 17:54

I love Sacha, I know two little boys called this here in London so no, I would not assume girl. Sasha for a girl is a) spelled differently and b) quite dated anyway, surely?!

I also think that the risk of you eventually disliking a name you choose for your child is slim. Attaching names to our kids tends to freeze them in a positive light.

But agree with others that the standard pronunciation of Louis here is like the prince and not Lewis! So that's a good option (though I prefer Sacha).

TISSHA · 08/11/2024 17:53

Hugo works in both languages!

AsFunAsEnglishWeather · 08/11/2024 17:52

Franglais boys I've met:

Henry (easy to pronounce in both nations)
Maxime (Max) - said how it sounds in the UK so no issues.

They're not the most exciting names though!

StormingNorman · 08/11/2024 17:51

Louis wouldn’t be pronounced Lewis, especially since Prince Louis.

QAOPspaceman · 08/11/2024 17:49

John-Luke

WhereAreWeNow · 08/11/2024 17:47

I like Sacha

Luc, Marc, and Sébastien are all lovely names that work well in both countries.

MerryMarys · 08/11/2024 17:44

Louis will not be pronounced Lewis over here.

Actually I know at least one Louis who goes by Lou-is.

And doesn't the famous gymnast Louis Smith not also pronounce it Lou-is (Lewis)?

ginasevern · 08/11/2024 17:34

Sacha will most likely be perceived as a girl's name in the UK. Your wife is wrong, Louis will not be pronounced Lewis over here. Louis is a well known name in the UK, not least because of the Royal Family.

How about Beau. It's unusual and can't be shortened. A change from all the Noahs and Olivers.

MerryMarys · 08/11/2024 16:41

I like Sacha, especially the French spelling like this.

It's a boys name to me as I only know boys named Sacha (or Sascha in German)

I also like the following for a French/UK boy
Clément
Quentin
Sébastien

KnickerlessParsons · 08/11/2024 16:31

Patrick
Alain
Emanuel
Charles
Robert
Albert
Christophe

Original poster
Steoh1 · 08/11/2024 16:24

We already have a Noah. We love the name but there's just so many of them around these days, which got us thinking about going for something less popular this time.

Same goes for the likes of Theo, Leo, Oliver etc. All nice names but just feels like we've heard them too many times.

I'm a big fan of Louis, but my wife things it might be pronounced Lewis in the UK.

Robin is nice but it's already taken in our family too. Clement is nice but might become Clemmy when he gets to school, which reminds me of Clammy.

Alot of the more traditional French names are pretty dated over there.

Sacha seems to be well received by our French friends and is a top 10/20 name there, however might be one that isn't liked so much in the UK.

Sods law we had some great girls names lined up! 😂

OP posts:
NameChange30 · 08/11/2024 15:59

I ruled out Gabriel for that reason. The French pronounce it like the English "Gabrielle". Ditto Daniel / "Danielle".

Guillaume and Philippe are dated in France (and not in a good way!)

GU24Mum · 08/11/2024 15:24

I wouldn't go for a name which looks the same as an English name but is pronounced differently (David, Edith, Laurent etc). Something like Louis is reasonably safe, ditto Luke/Luc. Or I'd go for something French but which people will learn (Guillaume, Philippe).

boysmuminherts · 08/11/2024 15:18

Sasha is a girls name in the UK
I'd prefer
Louis, Milo, Sebastien, Gabriel and Raphael.

Charlottejbt · 08/11/2024 15:14

It's short for Alexander, so I'd use that. Or Alexandre, if you don't mind English people misreading it as Alexandra!