Posh/Wannabe/not posh at all? Please vote...[confused]

[MagdalenaAlec]

Baby#2 will be here in 2 1/2 months and we still do not have decided on a name if it is a boy... I am French, DH is British and we live in the US, so we have to come up with a name that rolls off the tongue in both languages. Because of this, and let's be honest because we are a little snobby too - at least DH is :o , our list probably contains "posh" names.

Question is: which ones would you consider posh and more importantly how posh are they?

Henry
Gabriel
Hadrian (or Hadrien - French spelling)
Amaury
Virgile
Victor
Etienne
Clement
Constant
Joseph
Baptiste
Ian or Iain
Ivan or Iven
Ariel
Ralph ("Rafe"): I know this one is posh..
Barthélémy

We do not really mind if the name is posh, we just want to avoid the "try hard", "wannabe" label. FYI, DS1 is called Alec Charles, and if baby#2 is a girl, her name will either be Adelaide Poppy or Octavia Louise.

Besides, what do you think of the boy names I listed? Would you find some of them too odd? Especially thinking of Amaury, Ariel (too feminine? I love the name for a boy...), Constant and Barthélémy...

Many thanks for your help!!!!

I thought it was 'Ivor the engine' not ivan?

Yes it was

Queenofsiburbia: a goddess name is (almost) always lovely (except for Demeter I think)! I also liked Athenaïs for a girl but Athenaïs de Montespan was one of Louis XIV's mistresses and tried to poison half the Court so DH vetoed the name (it did not prevent him from suggesting Lucrezia though..lol)

As to Ivan/Ivor the engine: if I understand correctly, naming baby#2 Ivan would be like naming him Ariel?

Any except Ariel, which is a washing powder. Depends which school the kid will go to and how good teachers and kids are at pronounciation.

This is Virgil from the Thunderbirds. It's a classic English-language TV series, and so the association that will be both widespread and enduring (sorry).

No worries, this is precisely why I need your opinions! DH was brought up in the Middle East and therefore has no knowledge of this kind of things and we do not want to involve our families in the naming process. So, I guess Ivan and Ariel (heartbroken...) are out.

Keep the opinions/suggestions going - it is very helpful!

Of all your names, I think the easiest for all the nationalities involved (French/British/US) would be Clement, Joseph, Gabriel, and Henry/i.

Adrian is a girl's name in the US, isn't it?

Anything with accents may cause confusion with bureaucracy in the UK (although I imagine the US to be more set for names with accents, could be wrong about that though)

I respectfully suggest that anything that is pronounced very differently in French and English may be best to avoid, although you have given your first child a very British name and apparently all is well!

Ian sticks out as being very non posh to me. Not common but so bog standard it couldn't be considered posh.

magdelenaAlec love your stories about louis' XIV mistresses! (in fact, what about Louis?)

I think Ivan is best avoided as whenever I think of the name I automatically think Ivan the Terrible. No idea who that was, maybe a Russian despot?!

Am posting without reading other replies to give unbiased opinions and will then read back!

Henry - I wouldn't consider this particularly posh. Quite a lot of Henrys around at the moment too.
Gabriel - a bit posh. Nice name.

Hadrian (or Hadrien - French spelling) - weird rather than posh. Built a wall.
Amaury - not really come across it, so unusual rather than posh. Just makes me think French.

Virgile - a bit pretentious rather than posh imo. A bit like Atticus.
Victor - good solid classic name. A bit posh possibly.

Etienne - French with no class connotations for me.
Clement - posh. Makes me think of Clement Freud and his big dog.
Constant - this is an adjective rather than a name to me.

Joseph - Same as Henry.

Baptiste - says religion rather than poshness to me.
Ian or Iain - like Henry and Josepsh
Ivan or Iven - ditto
Ariel - isn't this The Little Mermaid?
Ralph ("Rafe"): I know this one is posh.. - This is posher when pronounce Rafe imo.

Barthélémy - see Etienne above

duchesse Adrian can be a girl name in the US, but it is not popular: most people usually use Adrienne instead. I am going to look it up for Hadrian, but my guess is that it is male only.

Poor "Ian", it might be next to go then.. I love how the name sounds in English but 1) I do not like how the French pronounce it ("EE-an" is apparently too much to ask them for, they always say "Yann" - like Ann, again); 2) After Alec, I feel we need an uncommon yet classic name with a latin origin preferably (to keep the balance between the British and the French origins).

Queenofsiburbia: haha, some names sound really good until you learn of evil historical figures who went by the same one... Ivan the Terrible was the first Tzar of Russia and was also nicknamed the "Cruel". Definitely a bummer then.
I did not think that people would directly link the name with this character though considering that it is still a widely used name on an international scale.
I cannot use "Louis": it is Alec's third name and my cousin (Alec's godmother) just named her son like this.

By the way, tip for those of you who are thinking of giving all the names they like to their firstborn: DON'T! I deeply regret calling my son Alec, Charles, Louis, because the last two would have been perfect for baby#2..

Oooh, you've got me thinking about histirical associations and what about Peter? (...the great!)
Always makes me think of Chronicles of Narnia so is a very safe posh English name, although maybe abit old fashioned? Not necessarily a bad thing.
Not keen on Pete though.

On the same Narnia stem, there's also Edmund. Does that work in French?

^I like Peter but it rhymes with our last name and I agree "Pete" is lacking something IMO (probably its last letter..). I find Piers a lot better (does not work either with the family name) than Pete! Pierre (FR) was one of my all times favorites too.

As to Edmund (FR: Edmond) I strongly advise you to avoid it if you plan on living in France one day: I cannot think of a British equivalent but it is very common among the 60/70 years old and has the image of a "redneck". Besides there are lots of puns on this name because the two syllables sound like: Ed = "help" and Mond = "my"... you can guess the kind of jokes..

Isn't Péter 'to fart' in French?

On the other hand, Pierre is well enough known to be OK in UK.

^You are right it does mean "to fart", but the same principle applies, it is quite well known so it would have been ok. Like Peter, Pierre ends with the same sound as our last name, so it is out too.

Henry Gabriel Joseph and Ivan are fine
I like Raphael better than Ralph
Ian/Iain is a nice solid name

Well we (similar situation, other way round) have a DS called Marc-something and are thinking Victor if we have another DS.

Henry/i - top choice. Solid. Works invite languages. DHs name do out for us. It is quite posh.
Gabriel - getting very popular in France if you look at the INSEE, not posh in the UK
Hadrian - I like it actually (adds to list), probably outlandish enough to be posh
Amaury - will get mangled
Virgile - Thunderbirds, yes
Victor - see above!
Etienne - Iove this, unfortunately surname begins with t but you should definitely us it
Clement - also love it but it does bring Clement Attlee to mind and yes, it's posh
Constant - too much like Constance for the anglophones
Joseph - I wouldn't call this posh
Baptiste - very religious
Ian or Iain - very Scottish
Ivan or Iven - the terrible
Ariel - washing powder
Ralph ("Rafe"): I know this one is posh.. - yes, yes it is
Barthélémy - will again confuse the anglophones bit if you live it then it's worth the risk

Good choice of Adelaide too

What about George? Edouard? Albert? Geoffrey? I would love, but am also not allowed are Armand and Jérôme. Oh and I'm with you on Americans especially saying Benoit in a way that means they're trying but not quite there.

^ DH has already vetoed all hyphenated names when we had Alec for it sounds to him "like we could not decide between the two". Pfff. My first choices for Alec were Pierre-Alexandre or Louis-Gabriel. I love these names!! I am curious to know what are the reactions to a hyphenated name in the UK since I believe such names are not so popular? (perhaps I could try to persuade DH with your experience: #IWillNeverGiveUp :) )

It find it weird that Baptiste is seen as such a religious name, since in France it is a very classic name that has been in the top 100 for the last century and a half. Anyway, we will probably give up on this one too.

If you like Hadrian, I should probably warn you that the pronunciation is very different from Hadrien in France: we still have not decided between the two because we would like to avoid the "Adrienne" in the UK/US (with Hadrien) and the rhyme with flan, pan, clan in French (cannot find an English equivalent) with Hadrian. The idea would be to stay close to the French Hadrien (-ien, like "bien").

As to George, Armand and Albert, they are a little too old for me. People who go by these name in France are of the same age as "Edmond" (a little younger maybe) but the image is quite the same (less true for George). I do not really like Jérôme and Geoffrey, Edouard has already been given in my family.

Honest opinions:

Henry Normal, fine
Gabriel Slightly more unusual (I know 2 personally), but also fine
Hadrian (or Hadrien - French spelling) OK I guess, but not my taste
Amaury Eh? Wouldn't know if this is a boy or a girl or how to pronounce
Virgile Trying very hard. Please avoid.
Victor Just makes me think of the crocodile. Rather old-manish
Etienne This one is lovely
Clement Another old manish one. Not for me
Constant Trying pretty hard again
Joseph Normal, and lovely
Baptiste Doesn't really work in Elnglish, sounds more like a surname
Ian or Iain No. Just no.
Ivan or Iven OK
Ariel For a boy? Really? I'd say no.
Ralph ("Rafe") No, this one is trying very hard and is hideous.
Barthélémy Not keen.

Benoit is lovely, and totally pronounceable in English -moreso in fact than several of the ones on your list.

Octavia is trying v v hard, so not keen on that one. Martha is lovely, as is Adelaide.

Also Alec is just delightful, good choice

Will be v blunt... apologies.

Henry fine
Gabriel fine
Hadrian (or Hadrien - French spelling) ugly
Amaury difficult for English speakers
Virgile will be bullied
Victor posh/horrible
Etienne fine
Clement poshish but lovely
Constant bullied
Joseph fine
Baptiste bullied
Ian or Iain horrible horrible name
Ivan or Iven fine
Ariel The Little Mermaid?!!
Ralph ("Rafe"): I know this one is posh.. vvv posh
Barthélémy OKish

George and Albert, really? I know littlies with those names - born in the last year in France, and more than one of each. Perhaps it's the granny chic factor. Or they may just be traditional family names, which given the sibsets is quite likely...

Baptise - classic in France, religious in the UK

Hadrien I like, Hay-dree-un I don't. But it's only my family we need to worry about really as international schools take them as they come and if we went to London they'd be at the lycee. By the time more people will mangle it, it'll be their problem. They may not thank me for that!

Armand was a very sexy lifeguard. Mmmmm.

Since when was Ralph posh? It's the name that a boy gives his penis in a very famous Judy Blume book!!! Oh, and the name of an anoraked geek who rode a motorcycle combination in a UK sitcom called Dear John in the 80s. Posh? Not round here!!!

Oh I missed that your ds1 was Alec. You can't have Sacha and Alec for obvious reasons. I'm desperate for somebody to use it. Or Gilbert. I loved that too.

Ralph not posh, 'Rafe' vvvvvvvvvv posh.