My friend just called her baby

[Fifi2406]

Briseis ...it's from Greek mythology...what do you think?!!

[pixiestix]

I wouldn't mind the associations but I really dislike the sound of it.

[Janeatthebarre]

I don't like it at all. I'm all for people moving away from the uber popular names and trying to be a bit original, but I would consider this name to be going a bit far.

Also, don't agree with the poster who thinks we shouldn't post unusual names we've heard being used and ask what people think. Its a forum to discuss baby names, not just names you're considering for your own baby.

[LeMousquetaireAnonyme]

"brise" in french is a gentle wind which feels nice.
I would pronounced it Bree-Zai-ees which I know is as wrong as the "gentle wind" is (I googled and the meaning is unknown but when I read the Illiad in my youth I thought it was the true meaning)
Very feminine, and beautiful and then in complete disagreement with the cankles remark.

[EvilTwins]

I think it's lovely, though she will spend her entire life telling people how to spell/pronounce it. IIRC, it's pronounced incorrectly all the bloody way through "Troy", which annoyed me intensely. But then, the film is a pile of pants anyway.

[itsallinmyhead]

My sister's friend has a DD names Briseis.

I love it!! She is a beautiful little thing. She mostly calls her Bree, which I also love.

[OatyBeatie]

She was "like golden Aphrodite" from the calves up, but her ankles were her Achilles heel.

[FairPhyllis]

Come, come, the Iliad may be silent on the subject of her ankles, but she is 'like golden Aphrodite' ffs.

[BangOffTrend]

Yep, circumcision sprang to mind.
Oh well. I have a Henry and you could argue that serial adultering, wife decapitating king springs to mind.

[Chubfuddler]

I'm turning over a new leaf with baby names. Unless someone calls their baby aryan nation I'm no longer going to judge.

[CheungFun]

I must admit I didn't know how to pronounce it, bu I guess with any name, once someone tells you, you remember and it fits that person.

[thegreylady]

I cant get past the 3 year old Ptolemy I know !

[ChippingInLovesAutumn]

I thought of a Bris as well. Poor kid :(

[YouOldSlag]

her name then. It's still a silly name whether it's him or her. Besides it reminds me of the Jewish circumcision ceremony- the Bris.

[Fifi2406]

Youold...its a girls name!!

[YouOldSlag]

purplecrayon has hit the nail on the head. The child will have a lifetime of people either giving him a nickname or deciding not to use his name or frowning when they see it written down.

I'm all for beautiful or unusual names but you have to think what problems this will cause for a child and adult throughout life. It's just not worth it just so the parents can look "special" and different.

[purplecrayon]

I just think that nobody will be able to pronounce it and the child will probably find it frustrating. I would have had no idea how to pronounce it and for that reason, I'd avoid saying it.

Also no idea whether male or female.

Lifetime of being spelt incorrectly.

Embarrassing to give name on phone.

etc

[OatyBeatie]

And Achilles is clearly head over heels for Patroclus, so even without her thick ankles, the poor sap is basically unwanted except as a way of proving a point.

[iklboo]

I've got shankles never mind cankles.

[maamalady]

Thick ankles :( I'm so self-conscious about my cankles, but was trying to convince myself that no-one really notices or cares. Apparently this is not the case.

[AlwaysHoldingOnToStarbug]

I like it, it was a name in one of my favourite books too.

[Alisvolatpropiis]

Oooh Bri-say-iss! That's not bad sounding at all.

It doesn't have the on-ee ending I am so fond of though

[Alisvolatpropiis]

*Lebkuchen there was an Antigone a couple of years below me at school who went by Tiggy. I thought it was gorgeous. DP did not

[Fifi2406]

Lebkuch...I was curious what people thought that's all! I'd not heard it used before!!

[almapudden]

Yes, Briseis is Achilles' geras (battle prize), taken from him by Agamemnon because Agamemnon had to shore up his own status as King of Kings after he had to give his own prize, Chryseis, back to her father Chryses in order to make Apollo end the plague on the Greeks that Chryses had called down.

She is a plot device, basically: Agamemnon's slight on Achilles' kleos (glory, reputation) leads to his withdrawal from battle and everything that unfolds thereafter.

It's also a pretty unfeminine name. I imagine a Briseis would have thick ankles.