babynames | (no subject)

(no subject)

I was on the train home today, and there were two beautiful, articulate and polite children with their grandmother. Seriously the nicest kids, I couldn't get over it! The girl told her grandmother that she really appreciated how much she'd been doing for them lately - which is fair enough for an older child - but the girl must have only been about 7 or 8.

Aaaaanyway, I overheard her name as Lily, which I'm kind of indifferent about (I find it awkward to say), but her little brother's name was Raphael. I'm kinda agonising about whether I should add it to my names list or not! I really don't like how it looks written, but then again I really really like how it sounds!

WDYT?

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I actually had to google 'Raphael the turtle' haha. I never watched TMNT, the only association with Raphael I had was the artist!
(wikipedia just told me that Raphael the turtle WAS in fact named after the artist.)

I do like the spelling Rafael just as much, if not more - but I'd feel funny using it unless I was living in Spain or something.

I love both names, but could never use them (I have a cousin named Lily and my dad's best friend's name is Rafael).

you could always name your son in honour of your dad's best friend - that's only if you're close to him though! Otherwise it may be a little strange.

lol yeah I don't know my dad's friend too well, so I think it would be weird!

Oh, Raphaël (with ë because that's how it must be written in French) is my mother's favourite name! She's always regretted not to have had a son to name him that.

Now I wonder how it sounds when pronounced by a non-French speaking person...

I was *just* thinking about the French spelling because I speak French and understand how it's pronounced spelt like that. It's also really beautiful.

HOWEVER the most common pronounciating in English speaking countries would be Raff-ay-EL.

Ah, tu parles français ? Alors je vais écrire en français : merci de m'avoir donné la prononciation anglophone. ^^

I think I would seriously consider using the name if I had a son (because my mother would be pleased, and because I like it too, having always known it could have been my brother's name). People would probably think it's weirdly out of fashion because most Raphaëls are around my age (I'm 32) but still, I like it a lot. I like names ending with el, anyway (Gabriel and Gaël are in my favourite list too).

I actually quite like Raphael as a boy's name, but I like Raphaela for a girl even more. I like the spelling better than the pronunciation though.

There's always Rafael too :)
In italian it's Raffaello.

oh and there's the more modern version Raffaele too (italian)

Raffaello is awesome. I wish I was Italian/could claim some valid reason for naming my son that.

well, there's still the famous painter :D

I love it :) I think that it is an absolutely gorgeous name, and one that looks amazing on paper.

I like it.

I really like it. Pretty sure my SO won't go for it though.

i absolutely LOVE lily! i am not a huge fan of raphael, its a bit too, i dont know, flowery (?) for my taste. i do like the idea of rafael though, with the nickname rafe.

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