Jasper, Orson, your thoughts please

[Xavi000]

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are expecting our first baby in December and are currently in the process of going through names.

The two names my wife is currently suggesting are Jasper and Orson. As I am French, those name don't really speak to me as I have never really come across them before. I'm not against those but I don't know much about their perception

What do those names evoque to you and what are your thoughts on those?

Many thanks for your help

Orson brings Orson Welles to mind, personally I'm not keen on that name. I quite like Jasper, although maybe a tad pretentious (only my opinion though).

Have you considered names that work well in both French and English? What names do you like?

Jasper - a bit posh
Orson - it's a surname. There are quite a few surnames used as first names at the moment, like Harrison, Mason, Harvey etc.

Jasper is a (semi) precious stone.
I love the name.

Orson seems a bit dated/old fashioned to me. Or the name of the pig in animal farm? (Or at least an animal, if not the pig?)

What are your suggestions for baby name?

As you are French, I would consider a French name or middle name.

I love etienne and Amelie.

Love jasper!

Thanks for the feedback :)

In terms of the idea behind the name, I'd like the name to be English (vintage/chic type but not too edgy), which can easily be pronounced in french and also not look totally alien in French.

The few names that I liked (and which she didnt) were James, Jude, Lewis, Jesse (there seems to be a J pattern here!)

If it's a girl, she will be a "Rose".

Re Amelie, my wife liked it a lot. But like Etienne, in France it's a name that belongs to the 80s, and is not yet old enough to be vintage in my view :)

I like Jasper. Casper/Caspar also similar.

How about Fabien, Marcus or Anthony?

Orson to anyone of a certain vintage brings to mind....'Mork calling Orson, come in Orson'. But I am quite old.

Personally, I like Orson. I like Ori as a nn and I like the meaning (bear cub).

The main ref for most people would be Orson Welles, I think. There is no 'Orson' in Animal Farm - perhaps PP is confusing it with Orwell (the author)? There is an pig called Orson in a fairly obscure cartoon (Orson's Farm), but doubt many in UK would know it. The Mork ref is 1970s and won't be known by anyone born after about 1990!

Prefer Caspar to Jasper.

Sorry! Yes, orsons farm. It was early.

Orson = Orson Welles. I really dislike surnames as first names and Orson is no exception.

I once knew a dog called Jasper... But to be fair, that can be said about lots of current names! It sounds a little pretentious to me. If you're not going to be sending your son to a public school this is the kind of name that will sound like you wish you were...

My ds has a friend called Jasper - I love it.

I also know 2 other Jaspers - a springer spaniel and a chocolate Labrador.

Both names were on my baby name shortlist. There's a bit of a problem with French/English naming, in that names which are cool in one language tend to be really frumpy in the other (Kevin, Clovis). I'd go for something wildly foreign, like Orlando or Wolfgang or something very Celtic.

I'm half French, and while DD's name works in French, DS's name is pronounced very differently in the two languages, as it ends with an "in".

I know a baby Orson. He and his parents are achingly cool so it's a cool name as far as I am concerned and would sound so much better with a French accent.

Jasper is nice but was my cats name

To be honest, most people would find these names a bit "try hard" and pretentious. Jasper marginally worse.

I like both names, especially Orson. I also know a lovely 6 year old Jasper so like that too.

I prefer Orson.

Jasper just reminds me of a Bertie Wooster sort, posh and dim.

If it's of any help, I believe the French variant of Jasper is Gaspard?

Love Jasper, hate Orson. Just sounds ugly and staid.

Jasper is dashing, fun and a gentleman. Orson has stains on his trousers and a fag in his mouth.

Jasper is dashing, fun and a gentleman.

Noooooooo.

Jasper is an inbred viscount who still sucks his thumb and cries for Nanny.

My ds is a jasper he's definitely dashing and fun and not inbred although he can on occasion suck his thumb and I can't afford a nanny

I think you'll find the inbred viscount is called Roderick squoosh.

Roderick has an unfortunate speech impediment and can't pronounce his Rs......

Shmack I'm sure your Jasper's gene pool is both wide and varied!

Poor Wodwick.

Round these parts a jasper is a slang term for a wasp, its also one of the baddies in 101 Dalmations

Orson I don't like at all, sounds a bit close to whoreson for me which is an outdated insult.

James - fine but less common than it once was, most James's I know are mid 30's. Solid respectable name, its a classic although some would say its boring
Jude - I like it, although people will sing at him all of his life with Hey Jude by the Beatles
Lewis - All of the Lewis's I have known are bad mannered & won't do as they are told, they are mostly under 18
Jesse - another insult, as in 'you big jesse'.

Rose is lovely but there are lots of them & with so many beautiful French girls names it seems a shame, what about Cecily, Genevieve, Adele, Colette etc