It's French/English saints again, but for a boy this time.

[FingonTheValiant]

Good morning,

I posted a few months ago about trying to find a Saint's name for a French/English baby, who will be born in England, but who will be living in France from about 1yr onwards. Dh and I have now found out that it he will be a boy, and last time I asked for girls names.

We've managed to shortlist about 8 names, and we're definitely going with 1 of those 8. They will all sound absolutely fine in France, but I'm worried people will think we're massively pretentious in England:

Valérian (dh's fave, and really mine too, but I worry about it)
Raphaël (next fave, and leaning towards it)

Then, in no particular order:
Alexis
Theodore
Valentin
Axel (do not like, but dh loves)
Vincent
Xavier

This will hopefully not be our only child, but as we can't guarantee another boy I don't really want to save one for later if we can never use it. Also, middle names are set, so we can't slot them in there.

I'd like to know how people in the UK are likely to react to these, so I'd like your reactions please.

Many thanks, and sorry for a lengthy post

Rubbish, I was sure I'd done the link properly. here

Sorry!

I love Raphael - is a Gabriel kind of name (I love that too - not on your list of course, just thought I'd mention it!)

Gabriel was on my list, but got vetoed by dh.

Please tell me I'm not the only person incapable of naming a child? Every time I rule one out I decide I like it again

Thanks again

I love Raphael too, on our list for dd if she had been a boy (tho Rafael as we were in Spain).

Actually I like all your names, though Axel not so much.

Xavier in particular is very cool, and Xavi is a great nickname.

ooooh Gabriel was on my list if having a boy, DH would have let me too can't agree on anything for a girl, thanks for the link

Ok, I think Xavier has now made it for equal consideration with Valérian and Raphaël. Maybe I should try referring to the bump as each one for a day and see which one it likes we like best.

Xavi is really cute for a little one, and is Raffy. Dh has suggested Valou for a little Valérian, which is his family's favourite affectionate ending.

Thanks Takver and Sedgie

Xavier/Xavi very cool but a lot of Brits will pronounce it ex-AY-vier - could you cope with that for a year?

eeek, no I'd probably hurl a dirty nappy at someone. I loathe it pronounced ex-ay-vier. Good point, well made.

Bugger, that'll have to keep until we have a French born baby I think.

You killjoy

Sorry

Oh, Valou is beautiful!

I think the names Valerian, Valentin and Axel appeal to me partly because they sound a bit Russian as well as French. Thinking of the name Valery in Russian here..

I actually really like Valery for a boy, but as we have no connection to Russia it would be pushing it a bit. Valou is definitely growing on me. Thanks for the positive feedback mathanxiety

I really can't believe that people would pronounce Xavier wrong, and in any event, you can always just tell them how to say it.

Valou is cute, though. (But not as cute as Rafi )

How about Eymeric? You can call him Eric in the UK.

Actually, how about Eric?

Aurelien (often Marc-Aurelien)

Aurelien has already been ruled out, and dh doesn't like "barbarian" sounding names (I suggested Alaric).

Thanks for the suggestions though, I really like them

Takver, I'm sensing a total lack of impartiality on your part you keep trying to sway me back to Raphaël every time I waver. I do love it though.

Raphael best by a mile

Valerian is a herb to me. Although I love Valou. DH and I use -ou as our affectionate ending for our DDs.

Xavier, Xavier, Xavier....People can be taught to pronounce it, especially if you refer to him as Xav (Zav in English). The Ex-ay-vyer thing would only come in when he went to school etc and people see it written before they hear it spoken. Just make sure everyone hears it right, and don't get wound up by doctor's receptionists!

Plus you can't land the poor child with xxxx Xavier Jean Barry YYYYY, especially if it's Axel Xavier Jean Barry YYYY so go with Xavier Biased....

Valou in the UK probably won't go down so well - but is lovely in French!

Unless you can teach your relatives that Vincent is pronounced the French way.

Is there any particular significance for these names re: saints?

Raphaël is really popular here in Belgium. I LOVE Xavier (when pronounced properly ).

frakkit, they are just the names we like, and they are all saints names, or variants of with Axel and Xavier. Saints is the one thing they have to be.

Xavier wouldn't be a mn with Jean Barry, it's just the two of them (thank goodness), but it might make an appearance later as either Xavier or Xaviere.

Gah, I hate that Raphaël is so popular.

May have to be a case of saving Valérian til we're in France, and hope for another boy somewhere down the line. That way we wont have loads of people asking why we named him after a herb.

Axel has probably been relegated to a future girls list, in the form Axelle. Problem is, dh knew one who died young in an kayaking accident a few years ago, so feels bad throwing it out.

Some of my relatives would bother saying Vincent correctly, some would refuse to, partly to aggravate me deliberately. Annoyingly, my brother, who has good French, would be among them.

Sorry, forgot to say, thank you again everyone!

Of your list I think Valerian is the most girly -sounding for English speakers and personally wouldn't

From a pronunciation point of view, Raphael is the easiest to get right in both places. There are 2 in DS's class of 3-6 year olds.

Xavier is good too, just correct anyone who says it wrong the first time and that should sort it.

Why does he have to have a saint's name?

Raphaël and Xavier are clear leaders now, I think.

Castille, is your ds in school in England or France/other french-speaking land?

We want a saint's name because we're Catholic, and it's just traditional. Extra points to Raphaël for also being an arch-angel.

Thanks for replying

Sorry, forgot to say we live in France.

And DS's school is Catholic so it's hardly surprising there are many saints' and popes' names there (Urbain and Pia being the most unusual I have come across there)!

I really like Raphaël, but I have a very unusual (but real) name, and so, to a lesser extent, does my husband, so we've both grown up being the only one anyone has ever met (certainly in my case). As a result I'm irrationally concerned with giving DC1 a popular name. I think I may need to try to work out exactly how popular it is in France.

Two in a class seems like a lot.

Thanks again

Eek, Raphaël was in the top 10 in France last year. It just ruled itself out

Xavier and Valérian take the top spots then.