Hortense?

[Moopsy]

Hello,

I am French and dh is English. Dd is called Josephine and we are expecting another little girl.

Being French, I aboslutely LOVE the name Hortense (pronounced "hor-tawns"), and only get compliments from French people on the name and how graceful, feminine and elegant it is and what a beautiful choice it is for our new arrival. In France, this was the name of the adopted daughter of Napoleon who was very beautiful and kind, and Hortense Mancini another woman famous for her beauty and intelligence. It is a very classic name and quite popular back home.

However whenever I mention it to english speakers they look simply horrified.

So obviously some sort of cultural shock here...

As we will be living mostly in English speaking countries I don't want the little one to be bullied but I just don't quite understand where the issue is... I spot the word game with wh*re, which doesn't disturb me too much as kids will always find something. But what about the name itself? Why do I get such bad reactions from people?

Thanks for your help.

Why would she be mocked for Hortensia in France out of interest?

Yes, I have the same question as mulberry moon.... Please tell us!

How about Genevieve? A beautiful name whether pronounced the French or English way.

Love Genevieve!

Simply because hortensia is a flower in France but not one used as a name and so it would sound just really silly and odd for a French child. Maybe we are a bit narrow minded too...

Fabienne is very 80s and Genevieve very old but not old traditional chic like some other ones...just old...sorry!

I think that's going to be a tough one... Probably a new thread soon...

Thank you again for all the opinions!

Agree with most other posters.
Hor - tense (as it would be pronounced) is really frumpy in English.

There are so many beautiful French names....

Marie
Odette
Amelie
Yvette
Fabienne
Anais
Aurelie
Cecile

etc

Hermione
Henriette
Heloise
Honore
Harriette
Élodie
Stéphanie
Angelique
Pénélope
Clémence
Véronique
Serafina
Juliette
Anastasie

The 'whore' sound doesn't put me off. In fact, I can't quite put my finger on what does put me off.

There is just something about the sound to Anglo ears (or, at least, to my ears - I'm not English/British, by the way) that sounds very clunky, masculine (which isn't bad per se, but when combined with other 'negative' qualities, can be), a bit blue-stocking (again, not bad in and of itself) and, um, does-a-lot-of-good-work-raising-funds-for-the-WI, wears sensible shoes and possibly has a mono-bosom.

I can imagine that it has very, very different connotations to French-speakers and a lot of that is probably in the pronunciation!!

please don't call your daughter Hortense, it would be tantamount to child abuse, and I am not joking.

Would never have thought of 'whore'. I like different, unique, multicultural names so it has nothing to do with me "not being used to it". For me i just don't like the sound of it at all. Can't really explain why...just sounds ugly to my ears, and makes me think of an overweight, uptight, unattractive, boring middle-aged or elderly spinster.
Josephine is very pretty though.
What about other french/english names, like Clara, Emilie, Sophie, Charlotte, Chloe?

I like it but as (similar) for another poster, I hear it as hor-TEN-zeh.

Also agree would never have thought of whore.

I like Maria. it works in most languages.

I may be slightly biased though.

Whore tense? Or Tense whore?

Those are the first words that come to mind. Followed by a question. Did she really say "whore tense"? Or maybe she meant "tense whore"?

You can always expect an honest response from Gertonss.

Zombie Thread

For some reason it makes me think of Babar the Elephant. But that was Celeste, wasn't it?

The French pronunciation is beautiful, however with the best will in the world English speakers will say Haw-Tense and that’s a much harsher sounding name. The ‘Hor’ part may very well invite mockery sadly.

Oh my zombie thread

www.behindthename.com/top/lists/france/2019 There's some pretty names here. Ambre, Luna, Margaux, etc.