[Opinions] Hortense
Replies
I hate it. The 'Hort' bit reminds me of 'haughty' (or worse) and 'tense' ... well, it just sounds a bit stressful! I'd probably use it for an 'ugly sisters' character.
It’s so ugly and old fashioned, it’s almost feels like a parody of ugly old fashioned names.
It's more usable than Hydrangea.
I think it's the type of French name that's never going to be accused of being "faux French" due to prettiness, similar to Olympe. But it's respectable.
I think it's the type of French name that's never going to be accused of being "faux French" due to prettiness, similar to Olympe. But it's respectable.
This message was edited 12/16/2021, 8:33 PM
It just gives me an awful flat, hollow, austere feeling. Feels too cold and square to be stylishly-clunky like Florence or Harriet or Mavis or even Gertrude. Has no appealing images attached to it at all. If someone wants to use the name Hortense really bad, they should make it their own legal name, and live with it, themselves. jmho
Hortensia would not be quite as bad. Still ugly, but at least it's not shaped entirely like pain. imo. Might make me think slightly of gardening.
Hortensia would not be quite as bad. Still ugly, but at least it's not shaped entirely like pain. imo. Might make me think slightly of gardening.
This message was edited 12/16/2021, 8:31 PM
It sounds German or Scottish.
Seems very staunch and uptight. Really only works for an old lady.
Hortense as a girl name is too masculine-sounding for me. I prefer the spelling Hortence. It looks a bit more feminine, and at least the word tense is no longer in it.
I'm sorry, but I've never liked it. Not the Hor or the Tense portion.
But Hor is probably the worst part.
I'm sorry, but I've never liked it. Not the Hor or the Tense portion.
But Hor is probably the worst part.
I love it! It's grandiose but dusty. It was my grandmother Janice's middle name, though according to my mother, she loathed it.
I like Tess, Tessie, and Tennie as nicknames.
I like Tess, Tessie, and Tennie as nicknames.
Janice Hortense! Nnnasty.
There was considerable French Huguenot immmigration into South Africa after 1685, to avoid religious persecution at home. Many surnames and given names in the Afrikaans community (South Africa was Dutch at the time, and on and off until after the Napoleonic Wars) are still recognisably French. Present-day South Africans are, generally, not good at French, but that doesn't stop them! I was at school with a girl - Elizabeth - whose little sister was Hortense. The family always called her Tensie, and pronounced the Tens- element correctly, with nasalisation. And then that -ie diminutive ... I can't remember if they pronounced the H-; I rather think they did. Tessie would have been much nicer.
I actually like those nicknames. All of them are better than Horry, Tense or Tensie...*shudders*
Don't like it at all
So I said to the nervous hooker, I said, "Hortense ..."
It's ugly beyond redemption.
It's ugly beyond redemption.