Pierre, Clement, Etienne, Isaac, Samuel

[peasandbeans]

DH is French and we don't live in the UK, so we're hoping for a name that will work well in French. Our boys name short list at the moment is

Pierre
Etienne
Clement
Isaac
Samuel

What do you think about how these sound in English? I haven't been living in the UK for so long that they just sound normal to me, but I have a feeling that Pierre end Etienne, and maybe even Clement might sound very girly in English.

Isaac is my favorite.

Etienne does sound quite feminine but I like it.

I like Sam but not Samuel. Others I don't like at all sorry.

Do you live in France?

If so I think Pierre and Etienne would be fine (love Etienne btw).

But overall, if you don't want a totally French name, I'd say Samuel.

Isaac is becoming very popular here in the UK. It is set to be the new Noah/Oliver.

We're in uk and know an Etienne and a Pierre, and indeed many many Isaac and Samuels.
Theo also works well in both.
Or Paul (though I think v old fashioned these days).

Clement doesn't sound great, but I dont think Pierre and Etienne sound girly. I think Etienne sounds French-trendy to the casual observer (ie non-French). Clement will be pronounced "-meant" at the end, not "-mon", if you see what I mean.

Samuel of course sounds fine in French and English, but most people wont even realise that you picked a "French" name with that one, nor with Isaac.

Pierre and Etienne are so obviously French that I think people will just treat them as such, not a girly English names.

I toyed with Etienne when pregnant. And was mentioning it to someone who was very encouraging. Until he realised it was a boy's name! I think it's great but wouldn't have used it as am not French

agree with the others:

Pierre - very french
Ettience - percieved as being French trendy
Clement - not attractive
Isaac - normal
Samual - very normal and english

I LOVE Etienne and Clement

I would have loved to call ds3 Etienne, but my surname is Stephens, so it wouldn't really have worked

it's fabulous though

I like Clement, Samuel and Isaac from your choices.

Clement Samuel
Samuel Clement
Samuel Isaac
Isaac Samuel

... would all sound very good

I love Etienne.
Clement is very French
Pierre is too old fahioned and the other two are very normal names in England, not sure how they would be in French.

I largely agree with coffeefestival, otherwise how about Benoir/Gabriel? Only mention as DH is French so we discussed before finding out we were having a girl. Have no idea how trendy or otherwise in France

Oh yes, Benoit is lovely. But possible unpronounceable by Brits

thisisyesterday- we so have the same taste in names! We have spoken before (I was in a previous incarnation) and we have exactly the same taste in boys' names! My DS has a name in the same mode as one of your DS' (forgive me, cannot remember which one, prob DS1)

Forgot to say- I do like Clement a lot too.
And Benoit.

I love Clement, Isaac and Samuel.

thank you all for your helpful replies.

bibbitybobbityhat At the moment we live in a completely French environment, but we may well end up moving to the UK in the next few years. I like both Pierre and Etienne a lot, but I wonder how they would go down in a school of English children.

DD2 would have been a Samuel if she had been a boy, but I think I'm going off it a bit now. I don't really like Sam that much as a nick name.

Opinions seem quite mixed on Clement. I think I like it much better with a French pronunciation, but Fingon I think you are right that it is not that easy for an English tongue, and will either get pronounced the English way, or with a rather definite 'n' at the and of Clemon. DS1 is called Joseph, and I was surprised how many people can't say a french 'J'.

I also like Benoit a lot, but I think that got vetoed by DH!

Do you think Pierre is really perceived as old fashioned in France? There are lots of little boys called Pierre round here... maybe too many.

If we were going to use Isaac it would probably be with a French pronunciation, which I suppose he would end up being called Zack a lot. I'm not sure if I like that or not.

Etienne is lovely.

Also like Isaac.

I think probably the reason Benoit got vetoed was so that people wouldn't think we had called DS Benoit after the Pope. I have a feeling Benoit is quite uncool at the moment in France. But I do like it a lot.

I love Etienne - but your husband's ears will bleed every time he hears it mispronounced.

is it not obvious how to pronounce Etienne?

I like

Isaac
Samuel

but not the others

peasandbeans - I've never heard an Englishman pronounce it well!

I would say that Benoit is cooler than Pierre. Pierre has taken a real dive in popularity lately, and all our French friends would laugh their heads off at the idea of calling one of their children Pierre. (Although dh laughed at Etienne as well, but I think that was a personal thing). I think when it's used now it's because of a family connection.

There are even fewer Benoits, but I think it's just rarer, I dont think people would react badly to it. Of course, the pope thing might make it a bit much. But if you called an English child Benedict I'm not sure most people would think of the pope straight away. Cultural difference there i guess.

oh, and nobody in England pronounces either my german name or dh's french name properly, so you might want to try the names out with a very solid english pronunciation and see what you can live with.

The only problem is that the French are even worse at pronouncing English names than the English are at pronouncing French names!

I feel quite tempted by Etienne, but skihorse can you try and write down how it gets pronounced?? Or is it just an intonation thing?

Vincent?