Help French boys name!

[wildswimmer20]

Pregnant with no. 2, hubbie is French but we live in the UK. 1st child has an unusual Celtic name and this time would like to choose a French name but struggling! Needs to be fairly easy to say/spell in both languages. Wouldn’t probably go for a very traditional French name.

Top choice at the moment is Artus, like the nicknames Art and Artie. Would be pronounced quite differently in French and English, does it sound ok in English?

Other options -
Léon
Sylvain
Mathis / Matisse
Malo

Open to suggestion!

I think Hugo pronounced in French sounds like an entirely different name!

Pascal
Yvon
Marc
Max

Pascal?

As @puttingontheritz says Maxence, Clovis or Marius are all lovely!

I live in France and the biggest shock I got was one of my kids coming home saying there was a little boy in their class called Swan 🦢
Pierre
Antoine
Henri
Marin
Léon
Rémy
Gilles
Luc
Marc
I think they are all lovely classy names 😊

If you have any French female friends, or if your partner has a sister who you're on good terms with, I'd suggest asking them. Lots of French names have generational associations or other unwanted connotations that aren't obvious to English speakers.

Well there must be thousands millions of people across the English speaking world called Malcolm or Norma who were children at some point, but they‘re not names you tend to hear babies called these days.

I think PP was just saying these names aren‘t in fashion at the moment in France and tend to be associated with older people.

That's what happens on these threads.
Some of my suggestions are the names of adults I know, and they are not all from France.

Yes, it's always the same, people suggest the French names they've heard, without any idea or consideration of the associations of the name in France and/or among French people! I find it mildly amusing and/or irritating depending on my mood

@NameChange30 , many of the names seem to be misspelt, and some aren't even French.

People I know with half-french children have given them names like Leo and Sophie

Lol, yes!

Yes that's what I was trying to say!

I was trying to be helpful by sharing how some of these names would actually be perceived in France at the moment.

I like all of @puttingontheritz suggestions - they are current with a traditional feel the OP is I think looking for.

Here's a list from a baby name site:
Most Popular Names in France | Nameberry

Many of the names don't seem traditionally French, and many would probably not 'work' in the UK (spelling/mispronunciations/dated)

Names that only sound right when pronounced with a French accent seem a bit daft if you live in UK?

I'd go for something that works in both -
Felix
Daniel
Louis
Nathan
Sacha
Aaron

There's a whole list here https://namerology.com/baby-name-atlas/most-popular-boys-names-in-france/

Or do you want something that announces Frenchness, like Pierre etc?

Someone said Marius, I'd call off the search and use that. Really strong sounding name and can't see anything to make it not work in the UK.

Slightly offtopic, but DH is French.

He has a friend who's name sounds very exotic in French. Until I realised it was Cyrill. 😂

@LoveTheDramaMick , it looks too close to Marion, Marie etc

I love Hubert. I'm not expecting a lot of love here to be honest.

I've heard Swann too (also Swan), I don't know if they are fans of Marcel Proust or Dave (the singer).

Thanks everyone some great suggestions in there and looking forward to discussing with DH tonight! Particularly love Marius 🙂

As others have said it is difficult as many names get vetoed due to being the “wrong generation” even if I think they would sound lovely here in the UK! Don’t want him laughed at by all his French cousins though 😅

Emmanuel nn Mani

I came here to say Etienne too. First to pop into my head!

Liam is popular in France right now.

Manu (for Emanuel)
Vadim
Baptiste
Maël
Téo
Mathias
Mattéo
Hugo (better inEnglish than Hugues)
Valentin
Romain

There are thousands of Garys and Staceys and Brians and Lindas across the Anglophone world, but would you call your child one of those names?