A boy's name that travels well!

[Peregrane]

I am due in weeks and need a name for DS2. I like classical names that are timeless and classless. DH would probably prefer something mellifluous/with artistic flair but still fitting into the classical category. Bonus points for a name that works in several languages as we are a multilingual family.

My preferred names were:

Peter (DH thinks it's too boring, doesn't like the nicknames in his mother tongue or in English. I pointed out that the child could just be called Peter, without the need for a nickname...)

Paul (again DH finds it boring and too short - I pointed out that shorter names work better with his surname)

DH has advanced some suggestions that just would not work - e.g. because they are too strongly associated with another nationality that we don't actually have any links to.

We would be both ok with Francis as a middle name (it's a family name on my side) but not as a first one. We both like William and Edward but they are taken. I would veto Lucas and Oscar as they are much too popular round here and I don't like them very much.

Any ideas?

Classic boys names from European/International families that I know include

Thomas
Quentin
Sebastian
Raphael
Theodor(e)

Otto or Jack?

Jack would be Yak in German

What countries? We used Henrik as a name that would work in both English and my Northern European husband's language. Not sure it work in Southern European/Mediterranean countries though.

Luke/Luca/Lucas
James
Harry
Christian
Charles

Alexander / Aleksander
Joseph / Jozef
Jacob
Thomas

Johnathan
Thomas
Muhammad

We're a multilingual family. Our shortlist for boys included John, Matthew (or Matthieu), George. There are lots of French/English names that work. eg Remi, David, Louis, Jasper. Biblical names usually work too.

Vincent
Alexander
Michael
Daniel
Nicholas
Philip
Henry
Robert
David
Christopher

Alexander
Leo
Maximillian
Lawrence
Felix

Adam

I chose international names but they are pronounced subtly differently in each language, no name is actually international though obviously some have more wildly different pronunciations than other (not that it matters, my kids are perfectly content to say their names differently in each language and did automatically right from toddlerhood, they never use a "foreign" pronunciation in the language it doesn't "go with".)

Biblical names work in most languages but obviously with different pronunciations. They do tend to be a bit boring.

For DC 3 we went with a well known royal type English name and unlike dc1 and 2s "international" names everyone pronounced it the same way and nobody well meaning asks how to pronounce it thinking we might be stroppy about insisting on using a foreign pronunciation :o

Erik
Kris
John
Frank
Samuel

Xavier? Very international if you are open to pronunciation changing depending on locality. Extra points if you're Catholic

I'm in Spain. Jack would be Yak here.

Whenever I've talked about names that would travel well with friends/school mums/parents in the park, overwhelmingly Alex comes out top. Every language knows how to say it.

Raphael (as already suggested) might just about meet both your criteria.

Anselm.

Stephan
Christoph
(Both wouldn't raise eyebrows in English despite not being the English versions and sound less like middle aged accounts than Stephan and Christopher).

Alexander

Casper or Kasper

Tobias

The name Jack is well enough known not to be Yak in German, just as no German would ever mispronounce James as Yames, unless they were a 7 year old who'd only learnt to read within the last six months and only seen it written down).

and George would be pn whore-hay here

George does not travel imo - it's a name in German too but pronounced Gay-org.

Don't be so sure about Jack catinasplashofsunshine. I know it's a well known name but DP is a Jack and he gets called Yak all the time.

J, Th, and ch sounds are not the same in many other tongues.
Something like Leo would work.
Peter and Con are probably best avoided in France.

Also Daniel is pn Danielle here.

Although any name that's been used for a royal baby widely reported in the international press or is the name of an enduring A list international celebrity type people will not struggle with using the a universally familiar English pronunciation of, so the English pronunciation of George would be easily absorbed (due to George Clooney and the small prince).

Leo would be pn Lay-Oh, there are 2 in DC's class.

I prefer lay-oh to leo weirdly

Nope Hor-Hay is always how they say it. Clooney and the royal family doesn't change a thing. It's a popular name here, easily top 20, always hor-hay.