Alain?

[BettyNetty]

Hi - we're thinking of naming our baby Alain, pronounced A-la like the philosopher Alain de Botton.

Would love to know what people think of this name.

Yes if your French

If not, it's Alan

Alain isn't pronounced 'A-la', OP. It's pronounced Ah-LANN.

Hyva is right with the pronounciation. It's basically the French form of Alan.

Fine if you're French, dreadfully Hyacinth Bucket if you're not.

If it helps, in Scotland the formal name 'Allan' (=popular Scottish spelling) is sometimes shortened to the nickname 'Alla'. But, as others have said, 'Allan' itself is always pronounced Al-an.

Welsh Mumsnetters may be able to confirm - I think there is also a Welsh version of the name spelled 'Alun'.

Bettynetty is right. Alain is pronounced in French aH - la (ng) with the last syllable nasalised. The ah- LANN thing is Wrong wrong wrong

Afraid you're 'wrong, wrong, wrong' there, Sweetish!

No Hyva, Sweetish is right. The French -ain sound does not have a pronounced final n- it is definitely not A-LANN.

Although I suppose an English speaker making a stab at the name Alain might pronounce it A-LANN.

Never pronounce the final 'N' in French 'Alain'. Unless you want to look like someone who can't pronounce French, of course, in which case knock yourself out.

Putain, copain, Balmain.

No N.

Sweetish is quite right - my (French) bil was Alain. It's not Ah-Lann.

And, as an aside, Raymond (as in Raymond Blanc) is not pronounced Ray-MONDE that is a girl's name.

The french doesn't have a hard n - but It's not pronounced 'ala' either - there is a nasalised / glopal stop (sp?) sound that 'closes' it .
It's a hard one for English speakers.... Which may or may not bother you

Ps . I do really like it tho!

It's a grandad name in French too. My 70 yr old FIL is called Alain.

And a-LANN would be the Breton pronunciation.

/smartypants

Oh, just call him Alan . Or he'll spend the rest of his life doing the bucket/bouquet thing.

Sweetish is right. LOL at Hyva saying she was "wrong, wrong, wrong."

But even in French, it's not Al-a. The nasal bit at the end gives it a proper end that would sound crap in not French. There's a hidden n.

I think it's lovely and I like the way it looks written down too, but think the pronunciation issues would be a pain tbh.