Diminutives for these French names
I'm looking for French diminutives for these French names:
Frédérique
Napoléon
Arthurine
Victorique or Victoire
Clovis
Micheline
Gratien
I've read one source that said Fredille is a nickname for Frédérique, is that true?
Frédérique
Napoléon
Arthurine
Victorique or Victoire
Clovis
Micheline
Gratien
I've read one source that said Fredille is a nickname for Frédérique, is that true?
This message was edited 5/2/2018, 6:40 PM
Replies
Take a look at this useful article on Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diminutives_by_language#French (in English)
In summary, French given names can be turned into a diminutive by adding one of the following suffixes to them:
* -el for men and -elle for women
* -et for men and -ette for women
* -in for men and -ine for women
* -on for men and women (see Manon & Marion) and -onne for women exclusively
* -ot for men and -otte for women
* -ou for men and women
It's possible that -il (for men) and -ille (for women) are (archaic) diminutive suffixes as well, since their Latin equivalent should be -illus and -illa and French is descended from Latin. As such, I think it's certainly within the realm of possibility that Frédille is a diminutive of Frédérique.
With that said, I can say the following for the names that you listed:
- Arthurine = this is already a diminutive, as it is the feminine form of Arthurin, a masculine diminutive of Arthur. Still, you could turn it into a double diminutive, in which case Arthurinette seems like the best option.
- Clovis = Cloviset, Clovisin, Clovisot. These would be very old-fashioned though, so you'd be (slightly) better off with something like Clovet, Clovin and Clovon instead.
- Gratien = Gratiennet, Gratiennot. These would be very old-fashioned though, so you'd be (slightly) better off with something like Gratin, Graton and Gratou instead.
- Frédérique = Frédériquette. This is obviously quite a mouthful, so it would be better to go for something shorter instead, such as Frédette, Frédine, Frédonne and Frédou.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_diminutives_by_language#French (in English)
In summary, French given names can be turned into a diminutive by adding one of the following suffixes to them:
* -el for men and -elle for women
* -et for men and -ette for women
* -in for men and -ine for women
* -on for men and women (see Manon & Marion) and -onne for women exclusively
* -ot for men and -otte for women
* -ou for men and women
It's possible that -il (for men) and -ille (for women) are (archaic) diminutive suffixes as well, since their Latin equivalent should be -illus and -illa and French is descended from Latin. As such, I think it's certainly within the realm of possibility that Frédille is a diminutive of Frédérique.
With that said, I can say the following for the names that you listed:
- Arthurine = this is already a diminutive, as it is the feminine form of Arthurin, a masculine diminutive of Arthur. Still, you could turn it into a double diminutive, in which case Arthurinette seems like the best option.
- Clovis = Cloviset, Clovisin, Clovisot. These would be very old-fashioned though, so you'd be (slightly) better off with something like Clovet, Clovin and Clovon instead.
- Gratien = Gratiennet, Gratiennot. These would be very old-fashioned though, so you'd be (slightly) better off with something like Gratin, Graton and Gratou instead.
- Frédérique = Frédériquette. This is obviously quite a mouthful, so it would be better to go for something shorter instead, such as Frédette, Frédine, Frédonne and Frédou.
Thank you!