Needing French boy names!

[blueorange94.livejournal.com]

We're expecting our first child around the end of February, and although we've been talking about what to name our children for about ten years, most of those names were girl names. Well, it's not a girl! Now we're finding ourselves wracking our brains for boy names.

My family is French, and I would dearly love to have names that are French or can be easily pronounced in French. Nothing that sounds the same for the masculine and feminine form (e.g. Michel/Michelle), and I know my husband would prefer a name with no 'r', because he has great trouble rolling his 'r's in French. ;-D

We're rather traditional but don't mind something a little different. Some names we bandied about were Camden, Xavier, and Aaron, but we've pretty much settled on Henry/Henri for a first name (which I'll pronounce 'ahn-ree').

But a suitable middle name totally escapes us. We really wanted to go with a grandparent's name, or at least someone from our extensive family trees. But with the last name MacDonald and two grandparents named Donald (the others were Mel and Léandre), well...

I have very few repeating names on my side of the family (Michel, Joseph, and Pierre are the only ones I could find that had been used more than twice), and the only adaptable names on his side of the family, David and Daniel, are used so often we personally boycotted them years ago. So if anyone has any suggestions on how to Frenchify the blank for Henry [ _____ ] MacDonald, they are more than welcome!

Comments

[spaceandclouds.livejournal.com]

First thing that came to mind: Julien. Henry Julien?

[buttonmoulder.livejournal.com]

Some of the boy names used by a couple of the French families I know are:
Arnaud
Léo
Francois
étienne

[blueorange94.livejournal.com]

Léo has a nice ring, and would perhaps be a suitable tribute to my grandfather Léandre. Funny thing is, I couldn't remember what his name actually was for the longest time (curse you, baby brain), because half of my family would always call him "Mon Oncle Leonard" (pronounced like in English, leh-nerd). Thanks for the idea! :D

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

Florian is my favorite French boy name.

And you don't roll Rs in French. An easy way to teach the French R is to have the learner say the following until he gets it.

Ka
Ga
Ra

Holding the mouth in the same position for each. The G here being an English hard G, naturally.

[spaceandclouds.livejournal.com]

I already knew the French R, but that IS a good method! Awesome! =)

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

It's how I learned. I had a wonderful French teacher.

[frost.livejournal.com]

Florian is on my list; love it.

[octobre09.livejournal.com]

I like the name Henry, good choice.:)

Henry Léon
Henry Vincent
Henry Matéo
Henry Guillaume
Henry Sébastien
Henry Louis
Henry Etienne
Henry Antoine

[a1.livejournal.com]

Your names are very similar to ones that I have debated over as my last name is French and wanted some French influence considering my married last name is very un-French.
My brother has been referring to our unborn child as Henry as I agreed that I liked that name, but we have decided on a different name.

One family name I liked belonged to my great uncle: Elzear.
My grandfather's name was Donat and while I love the name, it just wouldn't fly these days or in the US.

[blueorange94.livejournal.com]

A lot of the male names on my mom's side of the family are very "old man" French, as my mother jokes ("des noms pepères"): Gerald, Alonzo, Randolphe, Aurel, and Georges. On my dad's side there are even more of them: Roderick, Archibald, Walter, and Duncan. One name from my dad's side that I like, but isn't French at all, is Hazen (some great-grandfather's middle name). But too many h's?

[pleasure-past.livejournal.com]

Wow. I wish you luck. It's going to be difficult "Frenchifying" any name with a surname like MacDonald. :) The first thing that comes to my mind, though (that I think sounds good in both languages), is Henry Louis MacDonald.

[soph-posh.livejournal.com]

Henry Loïc MacDonald
Henry Mathis MacDonald
Henry Alain MacDonald
Henry Théo MacDonald
Herny Lucien MacDonald
Henry Emile MacDonald
Henry Olivier MacDonald
Henry Cédric MacDonald
Henry Romain MacDonald

[jexia]

Étienne is my son's middle name.

[lethe-cat.livejournal.com]

Henry Ilan MacDonald.

Ilan is pronounced EE-lahn. Its getting to be very popular amongst Parisian celebrities/politicians apparently (My french-canadian uncle told me that when he came back from vacationing there, so this is second-hand info. I'm sure that's how it is spelled though.)

[mossmade.livejournal.com]

Henri Charles?

[my-little-voice.livejournal.com]

Laurent?