Ghislaine??

[goatshavestrangeeyes]

any thoughts on this for a girl?

If it's pronounced the same way as Robert Maxwell's daughter, it's pronounced more like Jeeshlaine (with the J pronounced very softly like the J Angelina's Jolie and the word jolie in french).

If you go for this, your dd will become absolutely sick of spelling it out for people. It looks absolutely impossible to pronounce tbh and she'll probably end up shortening it.

Funny, I always assumed that it was pn with a hard G (as in garden) and that was why the 'h' was in there. As in Italian, eg Lamborghini.

It can be both- we have a "happy birthday ghislaine" CD and the singer pronounces it with a J sound, and we laughed at that...it's the OP's choice, she should make what she wants to out of it. Personally I'd go for the less messy-sounding option.

This thread is a little old but I just thought I'd clear up some misconceptions. It's a French name, a boy's name if you take off the 'e' and it's relatively common for both genders in Francophone countries and still used in France and Belgium. Most people assume it's Welsh or Irish when they see it.

My name is Ghislaine and I've met others, mostly French speakers. In English it is pronounced Gil-lan, it sounds like Dylan. In France the G is soft, not a j but a French G as in "gentil" and the laine is more like "len".

In my experience if you tell people your name before they see it written down they usually get it right and if not I get Gillian, with both hard and soft Gs. I have to say, I've never had any of the (frankly horrid) nicknames you mentioned on the board. I usually got very positive reactions and curiosity as to the origin. I took great delight as a child in rhyming it with "villain" so I could be like Ivy the Terrible our of the Beano! As to the difficulty of it, whereas friends who were called, say, Katherine with a K or Kirstie with an IE got Christmas cards addressed wrongly to Catharine and Kirsty every year, people made a real effort to learn my name and spell it correctly.

and, yes, patriciathestripper you're right, it is a hard G. :)

It's a pretty name. I used to know a Ghislaine (pronounced with a soft 'G' like Gerry). There is Jizz, though, I am afraid.

Just seen your post, Macaroni678... The Ghislaine I knew pronounced hers Jizz-lain-er. I think it's one of those French names - like Genevieve and Aurelie - that have become Anglicised over time.

Sounds ok, looks terrible

too like gism. There's a reason this one is rare.

I never thought I'd say this but, in my oppinion it is too much.

And that is coming from a woman with Ariadne Beatrice and Cordelia Cecelia still on her shortlist.