Pascal or Joel - to go with French surname

[Melonmoonmum]

Hi
We have 2 boys already Luc and Jacques and are expecting our third boy in about 4 days time. Panic stations no name decided on yet! One of us likes Pascal - to go with our French theme. (Hubby's father is French and we have a French surname) and we both love French names, and one of us prefers Joel - not French, but just sweet and simple.
Any thoughts really appreciated...

I love both names, but think Pascal will fit better with Luc and Jacques.

Not much help I know, but I like both. I think I'd stick with the French theme though, now that you've started it.

I would say Pascal, but only because people may mishear Joel as Joe. Agree that Pascal fits better with his brothers' names.

Pascal is lovely. Joel sounds a bit dated and nineties to me.

Both are quite dated. I think Pascal goes better with Luc and Jacques.

A friend of mine when I was younger's mum was french, his name was Joel and she pronounced it 'joe-elle' - I assumed at the time it could be a French name in that case? The only Pascale I know is a girl!

Pascal is much nicer and goes much better with Luc and Jacues. Great name imo.

With Joel there is a difference of pronounciation, Pascal would be the same.
They are both dated as Javotte said, but in an cool old man name way.
I would prefer Pascal.

Edit: NOT in an cool old man way.

Thank you for the imput. The third contender is Mathis, which is pronounced Matisse like the artist. But neither of us like Mat which is probably what it would be shortened to - what do you reckon? And we worried he would always be not only spelling out his name (and surname) and also having to clarify pronounciation. I really like the sound of Mathis (Matisse) though - apparently a popular top 5 boys name in France for a few years just not in UK. But anyway that's why we are kind of leaning towards Pascal or Joel now. Actually I'm completely confused now, so much responsibility in just the choosing of a name!
I know Pascal is an older French name but all the oldies come back round again...????!

What do you mean NOT a cool old man way? Not an old man that's cool? Do you mean like Arthur, or Alfie like the old names in Uk that are really old that now have come back to be cool? Or infact the opposite?

Joel is the best name ever. Fact.

HTH :)

Pascal would be great if your EDD is around Easter.

I think Joel is a lovely name.

Joel is very french (with an umlaut on the e, the feminine form is joelle) pronounced Jo-el. It is a very old man name in France and it is too early for a revival (if ever it needs to be revived)! joel

Lots of Pascal my generation and a bit younger (30-40s), and is quite nice

Mathis is very now but nice too

Both DDs have very long name that never have been shortened, if you and your son doesn't want a nickname he won't have one but he might think differently from you when old enough.

To clarify, I'd say Joel is dated in England in a 10-15 years ago kind of way (there seemed to be a period in the late 90s when every other kid on a bus was called Joel or Callum or Connor. Maybe they were just a bit of a triumvirate where I lived). Not in an "old man" kind of way.

Neither of them thrill me but I'd plump for Joel given the choice.

Pascal is quite a popular name in rural Ireland. Think ruddy faced elderly farmer who wears a woolly jumper under his tweed blazer and tells you have a 'fine child bearing hips'. Although there it's pronounced PAH-skl rather than the French Pah-SKAL.

Xavier?

(runs)

I like Xavier.

Me too Squoosh. Better than the other options

(runs again)

Joel is a great name!

Really really don't like Pascale, sorry! I think it's because there were lots of them on the French exchange I went on at school in the '80s.

:)

Well you get some good honest views here don't you?! Makes me realise that you just gotta go with the one that sounds right to you. I think that it's impossible to pick a name that everyone likes, people seem pretty split between Pascal and Joel with quite strong views either way! Any other opinions welcome... Thank you

I adore both. I'd probably go with Pascal because it goes better with Luc and Jacques,but they're both great,and you can't go wrong with either.

That probably wasn't terribly helpful.