Boy name help - Beau, Jacques or Miles

[afrenchmum]

Hi all,

Due in September and struggling on a boys name. It’s between Beau, Miles and Jacques. What do we think of each name and which is your favourite. Thanks in advance for the help!

Beau also Beaudie

How is Miles pronounced in French? I'm afraid it would sound very different and not as nice.

I vote Beau

Miles. It's the one that's least likely to be mispronounced or spelt incorrectly.

I like Beau. Prefer the Bodhi spelling (but know that's not French). Depending on where you are will depend on how people say Jaques (have taught one and he got called Jack a lot).

We live in the UK so pronunciations would be Bo, Myles and Jacks phonetically.

Do you have French family? Just asking because of your username.

I have family from an East Asian country and deliberately chose a name for Dd that's pronounced the same in both languages... just my viewpoint but I'd hate it if I had a son called Miles (which is a lovely name) but his grandparents called him Meal or however it might be pronounced in French. Or the dgp might make an effort to pronounce it correctly but it'd be an effort every time.

My mum can't pronounce the "oh" vowel sound: she calls the Pope the Pop! The drink Coke she pronounces Cock. I love the name Hope but she'd forever be calling her Hop lol. So, I chose a name she could pronounce easily lol

@Mummy08m my dad is French and mum English, realised my username is possibly misleading now come to think of it, just couldn’t think of something else at the time! I just seem to like French names but would be open to English ones too I guess. Jude has been another contender, it just seems to be super popular at the moment!

Ps @Mummy08m, laughing at the ‘Coke’ pronunciation!

I have a Miles and we all agree it’s a splendid name that can be used by itself if you have a tricky surname to book tables in restaurants, et cetera

Beau is a bit mrs Hinch

Beau-Jacques, particularly if your surname happens to be Horseman

Did your dad talk French with you; are you fluent?
Have you spent much time in France, visiting family or just in general?

I find it hard to believe that anyone who speaks French (to a decent standard) and/or spends any time in France would have that name shortlist.

Beau is the male form of "beautiful"; so it means handsome, I guess. No French person would use it.

Jacques is not pronounced "Jacks" (you saying that makes me think you don't speak French); it's pronounced similar to Jack but the j is soft (like the s in "pleasure") and the s is silent.

Miles is not a French name and the French would probably pronounce it the same as mille (sounds like "meel") which means a thousand.

Are there any other names you like?
Is your partner British? What names does he like?

These are names that are popular in France at the moment. Lots of them work in English.

https://www.parents.fr/prenoms/top-100-des-prenoms-de-garcons-100988

Is Jacques pronounced Jacks? One of my colleagues in France is called Jacques but I’ve been calling him “Jack” (with a soft J). Oops.

@NameChange30 I get Jacques has a soft j but I’m reality I assume most people in England would just pronounce is Jacks as would we too.

Yes I spoke French a lot when I was young and went across to visit relatives often and vice versa. The name list is just preference over it being about French heritage. They’re just names we have agreed on and like.

Other names we have toyed with are Jude, Jack, and Rafe.

*in reality. @AgentProvocateur I think you’ve been saying it right! It definitely has a soft J sound at least.

Beau isn't a French name though. Being called Beau won't be much fun if he actually wants to spend any time in France because most French people will think it is a ridiculous name.

Jacques is OK but a bit of an old man name.

I would choose Miles.

Or if you like Jude and Miles, how about Jules?

How about Jack?

Beau will be unfortunate if he is not?

No-one with say Jacks because that isnt how it is said?

If you had a child named Jacques and pronounced it Jacks I would think you were thick as two short planks, frankly. Or should that be planques?

Beau is awful, particularly if he turns out not to be.
Miles is nice and also Jack. Jacques is a bit pretentious fancy if you're living in the U.K.

To be fair, I have a family member called Jacques and most people in UK pronounce it Jax, even with correction people struggle to pronounce it correctly.

Miles, of the three. Both the Beaus I know are nightmares, so that's not helping.

That's really made me laugh.

No to Bo, Miles or Jack. Not anything that could be pronounced Jacks, otherwise it's a short hop to adding a 'y'. No one wants to be called Jacksy with a soft or hard J.