I just threw a baby name book across the room - argh!

[Somerville]

Stupid baby name book, where the boy section is missing one syllable names.

Well... there are a few that are short for something (Matt, Nick), which I dislike on their own, and having a longer name on BC defeats the purpose.

And a few more that are just... not very dashing interesting.

Oh and others that don't fit our other essential criteria - which is not ending with the letter L and being able to work okay in both France and Ireland as well as UK.

Indulge me for a moment that the issue is my baby name book and not our (unfortunately, wholly necessary) criteria, alright?! Any ideas?

Max, Guy or Yann are all good names, and they'd work equally well in English and French, I think.

I like Ray but DH vetoed it because of ré du cul

Lots of good one-syllable English names sound a bit... weird in French, unfortunately. (Kit, Cole, Nate etc.) You might have to go more classic than you otherwise would, e.g. Ben, Sam, Jo(e) etc.

Mark/Marc.

Greg? (If you don't mind the fact that it's short for Gregory/Grégoire - I do think it works well on its own.

Ben..?

Charles
Drew
Jack
Jake
James
John
Max
Rhys
Sam
Tom

If you love Kit why would you need to go long with Christopher?

I suppose because my older DC have long names that are shortened to Kit-type-nn's. And I don't want baby to feel short-changed that he only gets the short nn IYSWIM.

Sem
Luc if you don't like Luke?
Tom
Paul
Fred(eric)
I love Guy though the different pronunciation thing is a pain.

How about:
Fred (reminds me of First Dates Fred who is awesome!)
Zack (don't know any French people with the name, but they should pronounce it ok)

Miles wouldn't work at all - French would pronounce it "mille".

And I would avoid all names with "th" so that rules out Seth anyway.

God, I'm getting behind, sorry.

Why can't the name end in L?

Hi Em. Because my surname sounds better coming first, except with a name that ends with L, in which case DH's surname would sound better first.

And why one syllable - if I remember rightly you want to keep it short because of a long surname?

That's right. Both of our surnames are very long, and he's getting both.

We have a two syllable name that we both really like. It doesn't scan well with the monstrous amount of surname syallables, but no two syllable names do. So we're still trying to find a monosyllabic first name.

Marc, John, Jack, Zach, Karl, Claude, piers, Troy, dax, roy

Are you hyphenating? If you don't hyphenate, it gives the child the option to use one or both surnames. And it also has the effect of making the last surname more dominant, as the first surname is a bit more like a middle name, IYSWIM? So you could use a first name ending in L but drop the hyphen so your surname goes last but stands out more

Are your surnames blendable? I suppose that's not really an option as you already have DCs and would ideally like them to share a surname with their little brother?

Oh and please do tell us the two syllable name you both like! As I'm nosy it could inspire more suggestions

DH's answer to Flynn was you've watched Tangled one time too many.

OhtheRoses
Chuck

Rex
Max
Jack/Jacques
Fred
Paul
Luke/Luc

Em
Zach and Fred would make me feel guilty that he's not Zachary or Frederick.
And stop backing up DH on all the names I like being unpronounceable in bloody France!

(I've told you the two syllable name before I think. Begins with T.)

Conor? Sound like one syllable followed by a very very short one when I say it!

James
Neil
Niall
Pierce - quite close to Piers so maybe would work in french?

Blaise
Brice
Jack/Jacques
John/Jean
Jules
Mark/Marc
Raoul
Serge
Sixte (French version of Sixtus if you want to follow Mr Rees Mogg )

Hmm, Max is at least a little bit dashing. As is Rafe.

Lol, he's right I'm afraid! But I'm sure you've vetoed loads of his suggestions too, if they're anything like my DH's were?! (Quite a lot of French boys' names sound very feminine to an English ear, so I vetoed a few on those grounds!)

I think the two syllable name you both like is lovely. And I don't think it's the end of the world to have a long name, people will get used to it or get over it. But if you really must have one syllable... how about Stan?? Or do you think that would feel incomplete without being Stanley?

I'd say HE has watched Tangled one time too many 😂

I like Tangled, but it didn't even ring a bell when Flynn was mentioned.

One syllable, works in English, Irish, French & doesn't end in L. Plus, obviously, isn't bloody awful...

...you don't want much 🤣

Off to google...

Flavia
What accent do you have that enables you to say Conor and Niall each with just one syllable????

Max would definitely have been on my list if it hadn't sounded clunky with the surname. Love it! I like Maxim as a full name but it does work well as just Max.

I fear your DH might veto Rafe, the French would pronounce it "Raff" I think.

I give you permission to use the name we picked if you can lift the embargo on names ending in L

Sorry, I'm a bit confused because you say you want a one syllable name but also say you would feel guilty giving a one syllable name as your other DC have longer names?

Are you looking for a long name with a one-syllable shortening or do you want a name that is only one syllable? Can think of lots of the first but not as many of the latter!

Chad
Keir
James
Craig
Max
Jed
George