Vianney?

[Moopsy]

Hello,

We are a French-English family and I am pregnant with DC3, a little boy. We are still searching for that perfect name..........

Our DDs have bilingual names (J osephine and I ris) but I really like Vianney (pronounced "viah-nay") for our little boy, which is a very classic male French name.

However how does it come across to British people? Do you think it would carry ok in the UK? What are your first thoughts at hearing it?

Thank you. :)

I like the actual pronunciation but on first reading it I pronouned it Viayeney and thought it might have been a girls name.

I would have thought it was a girls name at first site. I'm not sure it would work well in the UK.

It sounds too much like the V & A which is a well known museum in London.

St John Vianney, would be my first thought (a Catholic saint, and there are a few churches dedicated to him) so definitely a male name, and probably familiar to a few Catholics at least as such.

It doesn't work well in English, like your other two names do. I'm guessing the French pronounciation of Iris is very different to the English one, though?

But people in the UK are very accustomed to "forrin" names, and if you like it, go for it.

It's quite a nice name and I was able to pronounce it from the way it was written. It does sound more feminine in English than masculine I think though, so it depends on whether that bothers you or not.

I would first notice that your DD's names are very normal (nice though!) and Vianney is very unusual, but that doesn't really matter I suppose.

I have never heard the name before, I would have thought it was a girl's name.

What is the typical nickname? When I thought it was a name for a girl I was thinking she might end up as a Vi or an Annie for short.

Umm, it's a boy's name, CrispyFern?

Oh, sorry. I didn't read your post properly. Ironic, considering that I was suggesting you hadn't read the OP properly.

I must confess I have always thought that Vianney was a surname! I've only encountered it as the name of the saint.

Prefer Vinnie - I know it's not French but you could have Vincent nn Vinnie?

Vincent is definitely French!

I actually know a female Vianney (pronounced Via-nee in this case). I think it's really nice but since I know a woman with the name I can't imagine it on a little boy now!

Makes me think of the saint too! (catholic upbringing). Never heard it used as a first name but I do like it a lot and with your french background, why not!

I also associate the name with a famous saint (one of my favorites) so any Catholic would be familiar with it and see it as male. I really like it.

However all the non-Catholics seem baffled.

It's not a name I've ever seen before, and I would have assumed it was a girl's name.
I was guessing Vi - Annie as a pronunciation.

Incidentally, I'm Catholic, and haven't heard of that saint, so I wouldn't assume that all Catholics would get this name right either.

Similar French background and heritage here

Vianney I agree is a classic good French name. Not a name much used in Eng, though. I think people would be more familiar with it as a surname. Pronunciation not quite the same, but that shouldn't be an obstacle.

Vincent similarly classic in France and picking up over in England too now. That might be a good alternative, if you like it.

www.americancatholic.org/Messenger/Mar2003/Feature3.asp

John Vianney is the patron saint of parish priests. He struggled to attain an education and was assigned a very small rural parish (basically a backwater) upon ordination. People were not attending church, gambling, unhappy, not caring for each other etc. Vianney's great sanctity transformed his parish into a very loving and holy community. People traveled huge distances for him to hear their confession and attend Mass. He often spent 16 hours a day in the confessional.

He was a very gentle, loving man with great faith who had a great devotion to St. Francis.