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Baby names

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Original poster

Joachim? Confluence of nationalities, need some help

33 replies

Barbaraaxt · 12/03/2010 17:34

DH and I are both originally from Brazil, and are expecting our first baby. My family is part German, DH is half Japanese, and the baby will be born in the UK. It leaves us with a British/Brazilian/Japanese/German boy to name.

We wanted something traditional (not a made up name), that works well at least in English and Portuguese, that fits a Japanese-looking boy, and that is not too common!
We don?t want anything too Japanese, but on the other hand he will be mixed race, so anything like Fritz or Olaf is completely out!

So far I like Joachim, as it is reasonably usual in Brazil and is also used in several other countries (in Portuguese would be spelt Joaquim, in Spanish Joaquin, in German Joachim).

Do you think it is too weird? Would anyone have any problem to pronounce it?

Any risk of people shortening it?

I welcome other suggestions as well.

PS: He won?t have a middle name. It will be First name + my family name (German) + Husband?s family name (Japanese).

(Yes, it all sounds like a puzzle to me).

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mathanxiety · 14/03/2010 01:20

Andre/ Andreas
Arno
Arnold
Aldo
Axel
Bruno
Daniel
Elias
Emil
Ewald/Evald
Fabian
Ferdinand
Louis / Luis
Leonardo/Leo
Mario
Marco/Marko
Martin
Max
Simon
Urban

Would you consider a Japanese name? Ben and Dan are both on this list.

lowrib · 13/03/2010 22:26

Hi Barbaraaxt. Not Nicola! Nicolau. It's basically Nicolas.

If Ricardo is too Latin, you could always go for Richard. It's very popular in Portugal apparently, and it's Germanic by origin.

It's a little boring for my taste though, Aldo, Elias and Leonard are nicer IMO.

MmeLindt · 13/03/2010 21:26

I agree that Joachim is going to be difficult for Brits to pronounce. As Taipo says, it was popular in the 60s in Germany.

Not fond of Aldo. Sounds very old fashioned.

My suggestion would be something international, like Thomas, Alexander, Phillip. Not sure how they translate.

Don't feel that you have to get something that 'translates' into all of your languages. As long as they can pronounce the name. Which for the Germans means no 'th' (Ethan, Nathan etc) as they cannot pronounce that.

My DC have Scottish names and although they are not common in Germany, our relatives and friends there can pronounce them and have learned them. We lived in Germany till about 16 months ago.

One thing to remember is that your families are already international so will be used to names that are unusual/foreign. Don't go mad trying to find the elusive name that sounds great in all languages. Look for one that you like, that works well in the country that you live (or are likely to live in) and goes well with your surnames.

Original poster
Barbaraaxt · 13/03/2010 21:14

Oh, it sounds most of you agree that the pronunciation WILL be a problem

thumbwitch Luca sounds good and works in a number of languages - but I've met so many annoying spoilt Lucas and Lucases that it kind of spoilt the magic to me (unfortunately)

BabyBecks I like Leonard and Leonardo (I would then have to choose one language).

lowrib thanks for all the suggestions! I like Nicola, but here in the UK it seems to be a girl's name, isn't it? Ricardo is my father's name - but doesn't it sound very "latin"? It reminds me of Ricardo Montalban! Aldo and Elias are options. I like short names.

And thanks for the suggestion of site!

AbFabT I have a difficult surname too, and I always have to tell people how to say it. To tell the truth, it never bothered me a bit - specially because after that people tend to remember it!

(hmmm, I never thought about it by this angle. Maybe my son won't mind so much having to tell people how to say it? I'm still not sure about imposing it to him, but now I'm going to think about that)

OP posts:
AbFabT · 13/03/2010 19:48

I think Joachim is wonderful, and I like Joe for short. It's on my list, though we don't really have the heritage for it. I would have thought with Mr.Phoenix being quite well-known, the Wakeem pronunciation is getting more well-known too?
I think people will get used to it, and if people say it incorrectly, they'll soon learn. People hardly ever get my surname right, and it really doesn't bother me. I have a not-unusual first name too, but still some idiots people manage to muck it up - I don't think it's a big deal.

Missus84 · 13/03/2010 14:08

I quite like Joachim but English speakers will struggle with the pronunciation - I think you'll get Joe-ah-chim rather than Yo-ah-keem.

lowrib · 13/03/2010 13:55

Or even!

lowrib · 13/03/2010 13:54

DS is still napping, so here are a few more. They all come from this site again, and are listed as being used in both Portugal and Germany (some more common than others)

Elias -- NN Eli? (as in ee-lie)
Gabriel
Hugo
Jeremias
Levi
Matius - NN Matt / Matty
Otto
Rafael / Raffeal
Siegfried
Wolf
Zacharius
Zeno

HTH [smile}

It's a shame you're not keen on Joe as a NN, because Jo is used as a boy's name in Portugal, Germany and Japan too! (With Josef being used in Portugal and Germany)

Kelvin might work in all languages?

lowrib · 13/03/2010 13:21

Sugar - that should have said Oswald sounds like an old man's name!

Gah!

lowrib · 13/03/2010 13:19

Oh - I just found this website. It lists the background of the names clearly.

How about ...

  • Alberto - used in Portugal but Germanic origin
  • Alwin - again used in Portugal but Gernamic origin. I like this one - means elf-fiend, or noble frind.
  • Aldo - again used in Portugal and Germany. This is my favourite so far actually. You could use Aldous in English, and nn Aldo for the Portuguese / Germans.

That website's really good actually (if you can see past the ads) definitely worth a look. I could go on all day, I enjoy this game! But really must get on with something useful!

lowrib · 13/03/2010 13:09

I've also heard it pronounced Yoh-kim and Yoa-kim. This would put me off a bit TBH, unless I loved it in which case I'd go for it anyway!

OK then, lets get my thinking cap on - here are some Portuguese names ...

Natanael - NN Nate? Portuguese and Spanish form of biblical Nathanael, meaning "God has given."

Nicolau - Catalan and Portuguese form of Nicholas, meaning "victory of the people."

Maximino - (or one of the other versions of Max) - would this go well in all the languages?

Osvaldo - NN Ozzy or Waldo? Oswald does sound like an old namen's name to me, but old people names are in! It's definitely known in Portugal and Germany

Ricardo

Bathsheba · 13/03/2010 12:00

I'd be put off by just the sheer number of possible pronunciations..

WHACK-eem
Waceem
Joe-A-Chim
Ho-A-kim
Ho-A-Chim
Joe-A-Kim

And on and on.

I think no-one would pronounce it correctly ever when they read it written down (no matter how you pronouce it, with so many varients they are bound to get it wrong) so every day at school, every trip to the dentist, every phone call (Can I speak to.....) would be wrong...

I'm a Share-On but its spelled Sharon and its been pronoucned wrongly every day of my life

taipo · 13/03/2010 10:02

Joachim was very popular in the early 60s in Germany so anyone with that name here is almost certainly middle-aged. Could be due a revival though.

The German pronunciation is definitely a problem for English speakers and probably a bit harsh sounding but I think the Brazilian version is easier and a nice name imo.

BravoJuliet · 13/03/2010 09:41

or Victor? viktor

I love Leo. That's a good idea.

BabyBecks · 13/03/2010 08:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

bellissima · 13/03/2010 08:15

Know a 12 year old half German - half Dutch Joachim. But no one here would pronounce it correctly. Or if they do he will get wacky wachim. Suggest Jerome - that's nice whether pronounced with a 'J' or a 'Y'.

sausagepastie · 13/03/2010 06:46

My grandfather's name was this, very very German name imo and no British person could pronounce it without practise. BUT if you spell it like the actor, it will be more manageable.

I really like it.

thumbwitch · 13/03/2010 05:14

Ooh, I love Hector. Great name, great association, not a bit poncey IMO.

Vincent is one of my DS's names, after FIL's middle name - wouldn't have given it as a first name but it could work for you. I don't think it's that high on the popularity stakes.

Luca, OTOH, which is a great name, I like it a lot, is far too popular as Luke (or it was a few years ago, it might have dropped down the stakes again by now) - still, I offer that as another suggestion for you.

mathanxiety · 13/03/2010 03:46

Hector isn't a bit too poncy, imo.

Would you consider Roman? David? Reuben?

Original poster
Barbaraaxt · 13/03/2010 01:56

Well, thanks for all the help, I found the reactions were more positive than I expected

CantSupinate, I think in Portuguese the nickname would be Joca, or Juca. I asked about shortening because I don't like the idea of people calling him "Joe". But since nobody suggested it so far, perhaps I shouldn't worry about it.

GoldenSnitch that's what I worry about. That people will read it and have no idea how to say that.

MrsBadger my DH would never accept Xavier

annasophia, I didn't know it was an "old people's name" in German, but I don't dislike it. In Brazil it used to be very old fashioned until a couple of years ago, when it became slightly popular again. Personally, I like old fashioned names (I liked to find out that some people think my name, Barbara, is an "old ladies' name" here in the UK).

magaddict I agree that it would sound nice with the hard J. I like it even better than the Spanish pronunciation.

BabyBecks I like Otto, my DH hates it. He thinks it's too German and I agree that it may be too much for a Japanese-looking boy.

sayanything I'm not sure I like Christian enough, but it definitely works.

thumbwitch Stefan? It was out of our radar until now, we can think about it.

southeastastra, yes, Joaquin Phoenix uses the Spanish spelling. Btw, I think in the US people associate the name to the Spanish pronunciation faster than here (probably because there are lots of Spanish speaking people in the US, so they're more used to the language)

(and he is definitely a bit nuts, lately)

PrettyCandles Benedict is really beautiful in English, but in Portuguese it doesn't sound as good - it would be Benedito there.

cloelia Jock doesn't sound that bad

BravoJuliet Bruno is a nice name, but it's way too popular in Brazil.

  • I also like Vincent, Hector, Benjamin. But I'm afraid these names may be too popular, almost boring (probably with the exception of Hector - but then isn't it too poncy?)
OP posts:
BravoJuliet · 12/03/2010 23:24

Not easy for the british tongue. It will sound like wack him.

What about Bruno? German in origin but sounds usable in Brazil.

cloelia · 12/03/2010 21:26

The only Joachim I know is an adult (German) and he is shortened to Jock here. I think it is a great name to choose, not made up and yet unusual.

PrettyCandles · 12/03/2010 20:01

I like Joachim. You'll almost certainly have to spell it out for people, or tell them how to pronounce it.

How about Benedict? I think it's the same or similar in both Portugese and German, and is also pronounceable for both Japanese and English.

southeastastra · 12/03/2010 19:49

and spelt joaquin, oh he was lovely but he's gone a bit nuts hasn't he

thumbwitch · 12/03/2010 19:46

What about Stefan? can't go wrong with Stefan in any language and it's much nicer than Stephen, IMO.

Christian also quite nice - Joachim would be a PITA for lots of English people, although Joachim Phoenix has helped (pronounced Wackeem mostly by anyone to do with film/tv)

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