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HelpOpinions on baby name Soleil
Last year Soleil premiered for the first recorded time on the top 1000 for girls. This is the French word for sun. What do you think of this name? Any associations? Too pretentious?
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Loooove Soleil! She's just gorgeous, warm and bright.
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I think it’s pretty enough sound wise. I always wonder how much of a pain having a name that does not use English phonemes would be in the US though. I definitely don’t see it as pretentious. It makes me think of the circus, but as far as sun imagery goes it’s better than the English option surely.
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It's really pretty. I don't really have any associations for it, and maybe that's why I like it. It sounds elegant, but not pretentious.
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Soleil, Sol, Sole, Sunny are all rising in usage somewhere.
I don't find it pretentious, more kind of...camp? I prefer the straightforwardness of Sunny, but it's not just the language difference because I like Sol about as much as Sunny. I think I also prefer Solaris, Sola, and Solace...but not Sloan or Scarlet or Solstice for whatever that's worth. I guess it's about equal with Sole imo.
I remember liking Soleil back when I first joined BtN in 2006. I don't remember exactly why, but in retrospect, I think it was related to Cirque du Soleil's Beatles show being mentioned and me just thinking the word sounded good. I think I posted about it and eventually someone said something that convinced me I didn't like it. I associate it with other names I liked back then and don't so much anymore, so looking back at my teenage polls...
Lotus Aurelia
Mirabella Rain
Luna Melody
Lily Therese
Thisbe Avalon
Bellatrix Soleil (!) I'd forgotten I liked Bellatrix, yikes
Alora Caprice
It's a sparkly ephemeral fairy type name.
Some other names that seem kinda adjacent stylewise: Layla, Zola, Sylvie, Selene, Nova, Summer,
I don't find it pretentious, more kind of...camp? I prefer the straightforwardness of Sunny, but it's not just the language difference because I like Sol about as much as Sunny. I think I also prefer Solaris, Sola, and Solace...but not Sloan or Scarlet or Solstice for whatever that's worth. I guess it's about equal with Sole imo.
I remember liking Soleil back when I first joined BtN in 2006. I don't remember exactly why, but in retrospect, I think it was related to Cirque du Soleil's Beatles show being mentioned and me just thinking the word sounded good. I think I posted about it and eventually someone said something that convinced me I didn't like it. I associate it with other names I liked back then and don't so much anymore, so looking back at my teenage polls...
Lotus Aurelia
Mirabella Rain
Luna Melody
Lily Therese
Thisbe Avalon
Bellatrix Soleil (!) I'd forgotten I liked Bellatrix, yikes
Alora Caprice
It's a sparkly ephemeral fairy type name.
Some other names that seem kinda adjacent stylewise: Layla, Zola, Sylvie, Selene, Nova, Summer,
This message was edited 3/24/2023, 1:26 PM
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I think you’re spot on. All of those names are very effervescent and seem like names that readers would like to find in a YA fantasy novel. Camp is probably the perfect description, which isn’t terrible. Solaris is also nice.
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I don't agree that camp is a good description. To me, a camp name would be something like Adonis or Godiva. Or Greer or Vyvyan.
Soleil seems to me to be used more innocently, in a hippie-ish style, aiming for simple and pure but creative and free, not even caring about it being relatively synthetic. Camp is like, aiming to show that one is too clever and witty and well-read to respect ordinary tastes, while actually being obsessed with taste.
Soleil seems to me to be used more innocently, in a hippie-ish style, aiming for simple and pure but creative and free, not even caring about it being relatively synthetic. Camp is like, aiming to show that one is too clever and witty and well-read to respect ordinary tastes, while actually being obsessed with taste.
This message was edited 3/24/2023, 10:34 AM
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By camp, I meant like stagey/theatrical and faux-sophisticated. It has those connotations to me because Cirque du Soleil seems like it could be a prominent association for Americans who don't speak French (I'm assuming this is who is using it for the most part), and because it's French but not really used in France. I don't see that as contradictive of your free, pure, creative, synthetic and uncaring description, because that's part of my impression. A nature name that's less concerned about being showy or fancy is more like Sunny imo.
This message was edited 3/24/2023, 1:25 PM
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ohh Cirque, I didn't think of that! Now I understand how you got there.
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In the eighties there was a TV show called Punky Brewster and Punky was played by an actress named Soleil Moon-Fry. (Sun Moon-Fry? That name comboination sounds like something you might find at a Chinese restaurant.)
I know someone with a cat named Soleil.
I think it's kind of pretty, but hard to say, and also sounds like sunscreen lotion.
I know someone with a cat named Soleil.
I think it's kind of pretty, but hard to say, and also sounds like sunscreen lotion.
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I did feel like I've seen it in the pharmacy section of stores. Took me a while to make the connection, but it's the name of razors I buy.
This message was edited 3/24/2023, 12:37 PM
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I like it, though more as a middle name than a first name. The French combo Marie Soleil (which seems to have more use in Quebec than France) is charming, indeed.
Pretentious isn't the word I'd use - at least, I don't think young Soleil is attending an elite college preparatory school. Her parents might be pretentiously "crunchy," though.
Pretentious isn't the word I'd use - at least, I don't think young Soleil is attending an elite college preparatory school. Her parents might be pretentiously "crunchy," though.
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I added it a long time, but admins deleted it: https://www.behindthename.com/name/marie00soleil/submitted
I'm not sure how it wasn't compliant with combined name guidelines.
I'm not sure how it wasn't compliant with combined name guidelines.
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I think it should be re-added, it's vernacular to Québéc.
I also noticed Verveine was deleted as well. :(
I also noticed Verveine was deleted as well. :(
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I don’t think it’s pretentious at all. It’s very pretty and yellow and…well, sunny!
I like it but would only use it in the middle name spot.
My only association is the actress Soleil Moon Frye.
I like it but would only use it in the middle name spot.
My only association is the actress Soleil Moon Frye.
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Don't like it
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I associate it as a second-gen urban-hippie name from the 80s/90s... Probably just something about the context of when I first heard it?
Not pretentious. My impression is like Sierra, Ciara, Raven, India, Janae, Jade, Jazmine, Monet, Selena, Asia, Destiny. Also I think it would fit in with newer usage names like Alizee, Zara, Azalea, Juniper, Topaz, Ireland, Ember. I like a lot of names in that style, and Soleil is one of them, although it's not a favorite.
Not pretentious. My impression is like Sierra, Ciara, Raven, India, Janae, Jade, Jazmine, Monet, Selena, Asia, Destiny. Also I think it would fit in with newer usage names like Alizee, Zara, Azalea, Juniper, Topaz, Ireland, Ember. I like a lot of names in that style, and Soleil is one of them, although it's not a favorite.
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Wow, all of those names have the exact same energy. Good points you make!
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Pretentious it is! I much prefer Sally. My aunt and uncle used to live in a house named Beau Soleil, which was no such thing: small, suburban and rather dark. I never knew if they'd named it or if it came complete with the name.
If it were used as a m name - it's grammatically m in French anyway - it could shorten to Sol. I prefer Sol to Soleil, but I'd rather see it as a nn for Solomon.
If it were used as a m name - it's grammatically m in French anyway - it could shorten to Sol. I prefer Sol to Soleil, but I'd rather see it as a nn for Solomon.
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Lovely name for a house.
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