Marianne writes:
I have been waiting for Valentine’s Day this year because it was the date of our anatomy ultrasound (my husband wondered what I would get him and I said “either a girl or a boy”!) and lo, we have our answer. It is a boy, the first of his generation and he is a total, complete foreign oddity in our family of sisters and nieces. Due in early July.
We are super excited to have a boy and completely stumped on a name. Not just a name, but a naming universe where my husband and I could theoretically co-exist. So far the very best we can do is come up with one or two names that aren’t immediately rejected. Nothing remotely close to right for us.
We have an almost 2 year old daughter named Beatrix Majel. It took approximately 8 seconds for us to choose her name. My husband’s fist name is Rob and his last name is our daughter’s second middle name and is Belletier with a P (pell-tee-ay). My name is Marianne and my last name (and the kids’ last name) is Bregoire with a G (greg-war). We didn’t hyphenate because that’s too much name! We like the idea of more kids but take it one at a time. Three is definitely plausible.
If the baby had been a girl we were liking Magdalene or Nina Eloise. We tend to like names with nick-names, prefer older over newer varieties and prefer to stay away from classic standards like Michael and Thomas, and I seem to have a problem with last names as first names (Bennett, Conner, Parker etc which are all no-go’s for me). I prefer the name not to be too popular but honestly if we find a name we both like we will clutch it to our chests and never let it go.
My husband seems to prefer names from things he likes (such as Emmett from Back to the Future. Solid films, I agree) and seems to be fine with conventional popular names, although will randomly reject something for an unexpected reason (Theodore is out because of the Chipmunks!).
I know with Beatrix we are in danger of having a hipster name sub-set but I’d rather that over calling this kid “the boy” until he’s old enough to name himself which was our plan until we found out our first was a girl.
Boy names that are on the reluctant maybe list:
Arthur (mine) —>more than OK with the Bea Arthur reference/homage
Martin (Rob’s)
Augustin/Gus (emergency boy name for our daughter, I admit I had a panic the ultrasound tech was wrong when I went into labour)Totally rejected by one of us: Donald, Theodore, Otto, Peter, Pierre, Jasper, Benjamin (already used)
BONUS difficulty: If this makes it to the blog and there are any Franco-American or French Canadian readers a bilingual (French/English) name would be amazing!
I know I listed lots of preferred and not-preferred variables but we are wide open to suggestions! Nothing is really set in stone.
Thanks very much for your time :-)
I think I will just start flinging out names:
1. Pascal. I feel like this name could be a huge success. It has math/science/computer-geek appeal, French appeal, and a cool sound overall. The main problem, I think, is pronunciation. I wasn’t even positive I KNEW how to pronounce it, and my perusal of an assortment of pronunciation sites showed me that it varies a bit. The most prevalent English pronunciation seems to be the one where you say the word “pass” and then you say “cal” as in California. The nickname Cal is available if wanted.
2. Calvin. Great nickname.
3. Claude. I am ready to hear this name again, and I think Claude Gregwar sounds handsome and literary. Or Claudius?
4. Jeremy. Jerome.
5. Ian. I like to say this with your daughter’s name: Beatrix and Ian.
6. Leo.
7. Barnaby.
8. Eamon. I had to learn to pronounce this (AY-mun), but it didn’t take long.
9. Kipling. It’s surnamey, I admit. But so literary with Beatrix! And the wonderful nickname Kip! [Edit: The white supremacist views of Rudyard Kipling have been brought to my attention, and I would no longer recommend this name.]
10. Eliot. Surnamey but literary!
11. Truman. Surnamey but literary!
12. Wesley. I think Wes is my top favorite boy nickname.
13. Oswald.
14. Louis.
15. Edmund.
16. Frederick.
17. Franklin.
18. Harvey. I love this name and wish more people did too. Maybe it will be the next Henry.
19. Malcolm.
20. Sterling.
21. Darius.
22. Rufus.
23. Ruben.
24. Simon.
25. Corin.
26. Oliver.
27. George.
28. Charles.
29. Dean.
30. Paul. I think the eye could accidentally skip past this one in the name book. My eye did (despite it being my husband’s pseudonym on the blog), until my brother and sister-in-law mentioned it was on their name list for my nephew. Suddenly I saw the name in a new light: squeezy, cuddly, adorable little baby PAUL! Paul Gregwar; Beatrix and Paul.
31. Russell.
32. Stuart. I noticed Arthur and Martin both contained “art”. So does Stuart.
33. Murray.
34. Ira.
35. Linus.
26. Ivan.
I am also drawn to Emmett and Augustin from your lists.
I wonder, especially since a boy in this family tree is a relatively rare event, if there are any family men you’d like to honor?
Julian!!! Ooh I just love this name and it’s perfect for a little French-Canadian. You can spell it either the English Julian or the French Julien and both are wonderful. Beatrix and Julian. Love!
I thought of Julian too. It just seems perfect. Nick names include Jules or Jude which are equally nice.
(Beatrix Majel made me think of Majel Barrett from Star Trek which made me think of Julian Bashir from the show…)
I was coming to suggest it as well! Julian is lovely but I’m impartial and have one.
Another cheer for Julian! Love it!
I love Julian.
Adrian and Damian are nice too.
Sheez, Swistle, you didn’t leave us anything to do!
My first thought when reading through the query was Pascal. Then I got to Swistle’s response. We even have a little Pascal in our community, and had he been a girl he was going to be Beatrix. That’s probably why it was my first thought. But I think it’s kind of perfect. And yes, Calvin, #2. And Ian, and Kipling. Really, I don’t even know why I’m chiming in. So many great suggestions.
Good luck!
Aww, I do have a “squeezy, cuddly, adorable little baby PAUL!” and we love it. (He’s actually two now, so not so little, but we are even bigger fans of the name now!)
I had to comment on this because I have a seven-year-old Beatrix! She has an older brother, Ronan. We adore his name! Of course it is primarily Irish, but there is a Locronan in the Brittany region of France, with a St. Ronan church.
Swistle had so many amazing suggestions as well. Theodore was also on our short list, as well as Oliver (this is ten years ago), Dominic, Milo and some others I can’t remember. Best of luck — I’m sure you’ll come up with just the right name.
Beatrix is my number one FAVOURITE girl name. Love it! Beatrix’s little brother…
Hugo
Casper
Eric
Felix
Gabriel
Edmund
George
Tristan
Best of luck!
I LOVE LOVE LOVE Swistle’s suggestion of Jerome!! I cannot get over how much I love this suggestion. It’s currently ranked #121 in Quebec (dropping), so it’s in use in French Canada but not super-popular either. You could take nicknames either from the Jer- syllable or from the -rome syllable, and I think that as a baby nickname I might even go with Jojo – why not? I think it sounds great with both Beatrix and the surname.
I was hoping Swistle would recommend Guillaume ( french william), but Jerome seems a better fit. I second Jerome.
Hugo (No nickname, but multi-lingual and great with Beatrix)
Christophe (Topher)
Emmanuel (Manny)
Leon
Luke/Luc/Lucas
Maurice (Mo)
Sebastian (Seb, bastian, Sebi, Baz)
Tristan
Victor
Vincent (Vin, Vince)
Xavier
Julian, Sebastian, and Christophe are all such great French/English suggestions! A few others I was also going to suggest Emil, Thierry, Gilbert (though maybe not with the alliteration with the surname), Remy, Antoine, Etienne, Frederic and Samuel.
I like Maurice (Mo), Sebastien, Tristan, and Vincent.
In addition to Julian, which I love.
Isaac may work for you. I love it with the last name and with Beatrix, which I adore.
I liked a lot of Swistle’s suggestions, but especially Louis (my son’s middle) and from the commenters Julian’s a great idea. My suggestion is Nathaniel. Beatrix and Nathaniel make a lovely pair.
Wow! I came to suggest Julian/Julien (my preference) too! I think it works perfectly with Beatrix! Beatrix & Julien.
Swistle’s suggestions are so spot on! My favorite being Pascal…
Other suggestions I think pair well with Beatrix:
Anton
Andre
Adrien
Baron (starting a “b” trend, but adore this name) Beatrix & Baron
Gard/Gardiner
Gabriel nn Gabe
Gerard
Jasper
Marcel
Oops! Just remembered Jasper was rejected :/ still love this name for you though!
Just some more french-ish sounding names to suggest :) I second what was said up there … Swistle’s list is awesome! Pascal is such a great fit, I think .. with the literary/french/sciencey feel.
Others:
Xavier (already suggested, but i totally agree!)
Raphael/Rafael
Alexandre
Cedric/Cedrick/Cedrik
Remus (has the great nickname “Remi” .. has a French connection [at least, Remi is #86 on Quebec charts?], has a historic feel, and Lupin is pretty awesome in Harry Potter ;)
Peregrine (love this name! And it fits with Beatrix really well in my head. Nicknames Pere, Reggie, Reg, Perry.. and it has a Tolkien connection? Also, there’s the peregrine falcon, and having a “Falcon” nickname could be pretty awesome……….)
Andre
Stefan
Adrien/Adrian (could totally be “reclaimed” by males..)
Hubert (Huey is such a cute nickname for a little boy!)
Clement
Oscar
Demitri
Aylan … I’ve never even heard of this name and can’t find anything about it, but it’s #420 on the Quebec list? Huh!
Abel
Roen (pronounced like “Rowan” .. but somehow looks much more boyish to me… also, german, not french, but for some reason I thought I’d suggest it?)
Raphael is one of my favorite boy names.
Oscar also works well.
Hubert seems too nerdy/reminds me of the word “puberty”, but maybe that’s just me.
Wow, not much to add, there are a lot of great options listed above!!
First of all, I live in Canada, and all the Pascal’s I know are pronounced as Swistle did, Pass-cal. I actually really like this option!
I love love love Olivier (french spelling) or Oliver (english). swoon. I have a little Oliver and we love his name so much. So many compliments on it. Beatrix and Olivier. Bea and Ollie. SWOONING. I personally would stop here.
My next LOVE would be Louis (lou-ee).
Jules is very french, our Oliver’s middle name is Jules as my husband’s side is French and come from a long line of Jules’. Or Jude is SOO GREAT. Beatrix and Jude. Also loving this. I don’t know why, but I find Julian feels quite feminine to me for some reason…
Ohhh… Beatrix and Walter. Bea and Walt. SUPER CUTE!!!!
What about Raphael/Rafael? This is super cute and underused.
I also LOVE Oswald with Beatrix. Bea and Oz.
Emil. (eh-meel).
Maxime nn Max (although there are a ton of little Max’s running around these days, might be too popular). OR you could go with Maxwell and use nn Wells. I love the reuse of “x” in both names, although if you had a third, would you feel pressured to find another name with an “x” in it?
Others:
Luc – French spelling of Luke. Or could use Lucas nn Luc. Luc Gregwar. That sounds very nice.
Charles
Jack
Arthur nn Artie
Alec
August/Augustin/Augustus
Simon – although is a chipmunk too so hubby might not like
OK… so I think you have a TON of great options. Good luck and keep us posted!!!!
I’m another vote for Pascal – although I never thought there would be a pronounciation issue.. we learned about Pascals Triangle etc. a lot in school. It is Pass-Cal exactly as Swistle said.
I like the suggestion of Barnaby & Felix as well.
I’m not in the Julian corner, just not a fan.
If hubby likes Emmett (I love B2TF as well) maybe Emeric?
My hubby has a best friend from France – Giles. I also might suggest Cassius or Alistair.
Quentin. A top 40 name in France. I’ve had a few young students (teens and young adults) from France named this and it has suited all of them. Definitely a handsome, familiar, yet stand-out kind of name.
Victor? That’s my son’s name. Works in English, French, Spanish, Russian, etc, etc, etc – sounds great with Beatrix – has the nn Vic for short and is, in my opinion, one of those great flexible names – a kid can be bookish or sporty, outgoing or reserved, and the name still fits. Victor!
Before I even got to your “reluctant maybe” list, I thought of Martin, so I’d encourage you to give it a second look. (Even if your husband likes it because of the BTTF reference, haha!) I love this name as a “fresh” classic and I think it pairs so well with Beatrix in that category. And bonus, it translates beautifully into many languages. Happy naming!
I love the suggestion of Pascal! I also really like Ruben. Bea and Ben is a great combo.
If Calvin wasn’t quite right, what about Kelvin? It is science-nerdy with a great nickname.
I like Roland for you. French. I wouldn’t use a nickname, but Rollie could work, just Ollie with an R.
If Paul is close, how about Saul? Avoiding a nickname of Paul-y “Polly” would be important to me, but I dig Sully.
I like the nickname Jed and think it goes well with Bea. Instead of using the Biblical Jedidiah to get there, perhaps a J name followed by a middle name of Edward. Jerome Edward, Josiah Edward, and Joel Edward with the nickname Jed are my favorites for you.
Good luck!
Some Frenchy boy names I love:
Batiste
Eduoard
Jerome
Julian
Remy
Roman
Sebastian
Bertrand
Fabien
Christophe
Arnaud
Lucas
Good luck!
Have you seen eponymia’s list of old Quebec names? Most of them would be very daring…but it sounds like you guys are looking to expand your universe of possibilities.
http://eponymia.blogspot.com/search/label/old%20qu%C3%A9bec%20names
Swistle suggested Simon…but how about Simeon? I love the idea of this name on a little guy!
What about Aristead/Aristid (air-i-sted) and you could use nn ar-ie (like car) or (air-ie) depending on your preference. It is an old French name, my husbands grandpa had a brother with this name.
I also really like the previous suggestion of Giles/Gilles or Saul nn Sully is super cute.
Oops… The beginning comment I meant to say you could use nn Arie pronounced ar-ie (like car at the beginning) or else air-ie.
I love Harvey and I’m so glad Swistle is a champion of it! Maybe the French version, Herve?
I love all these name options! My best girlfriend is French-Canadian and just had a son that they named Remy (there’s an accent on the E but I can’t remember which way it goes!). I think it’s kind of a cool name, different but easy to say and spell.
I like Remy a lot. I have a (female) coworker named Remy.
If you wanted a longer/more masculine form, you could use Remington or Rembrandt.
Eric, Louis, Hugo, Simon, Olivier, Calvin, or Julien are my top picks.
I love Xavier with Beatrix. How cool to share that rare letter.
Oh that would be cool!
My earlier suggestions of Hugo, Sebastian, and Xavier are still my favorite, but what about Arno? No nickname, but live the o ending.
Anatole. Remy. Emile. Pierre.
I do really like Julian, Emil, and Gabriel. From Swistle’s list Jerome seems best.
I would add Isaiah and Francis.
Monty??
Beatrix and Monty are pretty cute together!
Everett came to mind when I saw Emmett on your husband’s list, I think Everett nn Rett goes great with Beatrix! From your list my favorite is Augustin nn Gus, love it with Beatrix!
I love this list.
And I am thrilled to see Claude on it. I agree that Claude deserves a comeback.
These are my favorites from others’ suggestions:
Raphael/Rafael
Julian/Julien
Adrian/Adrien
Leo
Eliot/Elliot
Emmett
Oscar
Remy
I love Felix, but I think it’s too matchy with Beatrix. Having another X in the family would be cool (Xavier, Max), but would you feel pressured to give future children X names too? There just aren’t that many.
There are a few names people suggested that just sound too nerdy/old man/dog name too me:
Barnaby
Rufus
Linus
I love this list! I like Pascal, Claude, and Stefan but also wanted to suggest Bernard. It’s sounds good with Beatrix but is not matchy and is beautiful with a French accent.
I admit this might be a little dark, but I live in Maine and have come across the most amazing names in the obituaries section of our local newspapers in Lewiston, Portland and Bangor… there’s a huge Franco-American population here, many of whom have very traditional names – especially the older first-generation immigrants. Just a thought!