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It does to me, but I'm only one person.

I think it would, but they'll get over it. Like, little Anouk might get a few puzzled looks, but nobody would make fun of her for it. Like someone said, Americans, at least in urban areas, are pretty used to unusual names.

I've met an Anouk, and no one seemed to think her name was all that strange. It's a little different to what we're really used to in America, but it's cute and easy to pronounce, so we're okay with it :)

Yes, I think so. As others have mentioned, it sounds like Chinook or Nanuq or "a nuke".

It sounds totally weird in South Africa. I taught a very quiet, conventional Anouk once, and this seemed incongruous - Anouks should fizz with originality!

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Also, I can't think of another -ouk fn. Chinook and, as you say, Nanook aren't really part of the naming heritage we're most familiar with, and so many actress (and actor) names are made up that people assume the worst. Right now, the assumption might well be that it's a shortened form of Anneka, which it probably was originally.

Yes.

It does to me. It sounds like "a nuke", as in a nuclear weapon.

Anouk is the name of my friend's dog, so I don't find it odd, I just associate it with pets. I had no idea of the gender of the name until your post. I actually thought it was an Indian name, because the friend with the dog Anouk is Indian.

I think it would. I'm American and it sounds weird to me, and I think if I went around asking random people, most of them would think it was weird too.

Anouk is my favorite name and I am an American. ( via British/Australian parents)
I discovered it via the glamourous actress Anouk Aimee's films.
It certainly does not sound weird to me. I hate to generalize but most urban areas have a plethora of unique names and Anouk would certainly fit in. I live in NYC, I can't speak for small town America.

This message was edited 9/22/2011, 5:29 PM

I like it, but unfortunately, my grandmother thought it was horrendous when I mentioned that it was a fave of mine back when I was in my teens. It doesn't sound similar to names that are popular in the States, so the unfamiliar sound might be a turnoff for at least some, particularly if they aren't familiar with French names.

Me too. Anouk Aimee's timeless beauty is what I think of foremost.

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I'm in the U.S. so I hope I can answer this accurately. I agree with Llewella that "Chocolat" made the name Anouk / Anoushka (sp?) much more visible. I see Vianne pop up every now and again on these boards and I can only think of the same influence being responsible. Personally it sounds more Dutch than French. But for most Americans the French / Chocolat connection is what will come to mind, if anything.

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That said, we also give names to children like L'mauisfwe89r3ijbfs and pronounce it Ava. (I should talk. I'd name a nn Niamh, Aoife, Sinead or Mairead.) So why would an Anouk feel out of place in all of that? Why bother worrying about what a name looks or sounds like in an atmosphere of, "We named her Desstineigh because it's yooneek." At least Anouk's pronunciation is apparent from the spelling.

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If you're still not completely comfortable, you could name her Anne and use Anouk as a nn. Or not.

This message was edited 9/22/2011, 4:08 PM

I'd say Eskimo too. When I think of French names, I think of something more elegant and sophisticated, but this seems more like something I'd see on a map of Alaska.

It definitely sounds Inuit, and I wouldn't guess it were French if I had never seen it before. I only know of it from Chocolat, and so I only associate it with that little girl and thus it's a very youthful name. I can't really picture it on an adult. I don't think it would be unusable in the US though.