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Help[Opinions] French equivillant of McKenna, Ashlynne, etc
in reply to a message by UniqueNameLover
Personally I cannot stand this name but I know it's a little irrational. About the French thing, in France it's considered "beauf" which is basically the same as redneck or trashy. I have a friend who describes it as "beau beauf" meaning a tacky name that some people consider to be refined and unfortunately I agree. Ocean is masculine and océane is feminine for me.
Sorry if this comes off as rude maybe it would be fresh and interesting in the states or other places?
Sorry if this comes off as rude maybe it would be fresh and interesting in the states or other places?
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That is interesting. I did not realize that. Thanks for letting me know that it is considered "trendy" in France.
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It's not really true
I'm bilingual, my mom is from France. It is a new name that didn't become popular till the 2000s but it's not seen as tacky or trashy at all which is how many people view McKenna and Ashlynne. It is also not misspelled and not a surname.
It is derived from the French word océan, which means ocean, of course. I would compare it to Skye, Brooke (only that Brooke was common in the 70s and Oceane in the 2000s) and other nature inspired name. It has a very innocent nature feel to it, not a tacky one like Ashlynne (I actually like Aislin and don't mind Ashlyn, it's just that most people think of it as tacky). Also in terms of popularity it was way more common than Ashlynne and McKenna. Ashlynne and McKenna were never really common at all and just used a bit because they're similar to Ashley and Mackenzie.
Again, it is more of an innocent nature name and even though it is new I wouldn't really say it's trendy. I'd also not really say Skye is trendy even though it hasn't been used in the US before the 80s, just that Oceane is more common. Maybe you could compare it to Autumn which is in the top 100 or Brooke which was in the top 50. Oceane has also been used since the 70s but didn't become really popular till the late 90s and peaked in 2000.
I'm bilingual, my mom is from France. It is a new name that didn't become popular till the 2000s but it's not seen as tacky or trashy at all which is how many people view McKenna and Ashlynne. It is also not misspelled and not a surname.
It is derived from the French word océan, which means ocean, of course. I would compare it to Skye, Brooke (only that Brooke was common in the 70s and Oceane in the 2000s) and other nature inspired name. It has a very innocent nature feel to it, not a tacky one like Ashlynne (I actually like Aislin and don't mind Ashlyn, it's just that most people think of it as tacky). Also in terms of popularity it was way more common than Ashlynne and McKenna. Ashlynne and McKenna were never really common at all and just used a bit because they're similar to Ashley and Mackenzie.
Again, it is more of an innocent nature name and even though it is new I wouldn't really say it's trendy. I'd also not really say Skye is trendy even though it hasn't been used in the US before the 80s, just that Oceane is more common. Maybe you could compare it to Autumn which is in the top 100 or Brooke which was in the top 50. Oceane has also been used since the 70s but didn't become really popular till the late 90s and peaked in 2000.
This message was edited 6/3/2012, 1:45 PM
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Maybe I gave poor examples but it's true
I could have chosen better examples but I couldnt think of English equivalents, all you have to do it google "Quels sont les prénoms les plus beaufs que vous avez entendus","Que pensez vous du prénom Océane" etc, and you will see that like names on US boards it gets some good reviews from mainly trendy/unique or Sophie/Isabel crowd but overall people are getting sick of the name and comparing it to Brenda, Kelly, Dylan, etc...the name is not exactly BCBG.
I have lived in both countries, husband grew up in France is 1/2 French.
I could have chosen better examples but I couldnt think of English equivalents, all you have to do it google "Quels sont les prénoms les plus beaufs que vous avez entendus","Que pensez vous du prénom Océane" etc, and you will see that like names on US boards it gets some good reviews from mainly trendy/unique or Sophie/Isabel crowd but overall people are getting sick of the name and comparing it to Brenda, Kelly, Dylan, etc...the name is not exactly BCBG.
I have lived in both countries, husband grew up in France is 1/2 French.
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I didn't get that impression at all. I copied and googled what you searched for and most people liked Oceane or thought it was boring. Many mentioned the nature image and the nice sound. There were quite a few who said it was boring and overused or who said 'it's nice but too common'. But there were hardly any who thought it sounded trashy, tacky or trendy. Hardly anyone who had any strong negative opinions. Also I didn't find a thread in which it was compared to Kevin or Brenda.
Here is exactly what I found:
I googled 'Que pensez vous du prénom Océane' and yes, there are some people who think it's horrible but also many who like it. I didn't find a single thread in which everyone thought it was horrible, dated or tacky. Most people who didn't like it just thought it was boring. You would get the same results if you googled Hannah or Alexis, probably even Elizabeth or Margaret (in the US).
I also googled this:
'Quels sont les prénoms les plus beaufs que vous avez entendus'
I guess you found this thread:
http://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091005034336AAslS9o&cp=2
I didn't find a single thread in which people compared Oceane to Kevin and Dylan. I found only ONE thread in which someone listed Oceane at all, which is the one I linked above. In the others Kevin, Stacy, Brandon, Kimberly etc are listed multiple times but never Oceane. I would say it's a coincidence. Theodora, Bernadette and Theo were also listed in the thread above and I think they are generally thought of as nice names in France. The reason why Kevin, Brenda and Dylan are listed multiple times is that American/English names are usually perceived as trashy in non-English speaking countries in Europe. My dad is German and it's the same there. German comedians are making fun of names like Kevin and Cheyenne on a regular basis.
I go to France at least once a year for several months and never got the impression that people thought of it as trendy or uneducated or anything. My aunt's friend was considering it for her daughter last summer when I was there and she received many positive comments on how beautiful it is. She also considered Lea which got many negative comments (boring, generic etc). I mean Lea was number 1 for some time as far as I know but Oceane was almost as common (number 7, I believe), so it surprised me a little. She named her Victoire, by the way :P
Here is exactly what I found:
I googled 'Que pensez vous du prénom Océane' and yes, there are some people who think it's horrible but also many who like it. I didn't find a single thread in which everyone thought it was horrible, dated or tacky. Most people who didn't like it just thought it was boring. You would get the same results if you googled Hannah or Alexis, probably even Elizabeth or Margaret (in the US).
I also googled this:
'Quels sont les prénoms les plus beaufs que vous avez entendus'
I guess you found this thread:
http://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091005034336AAslS9o&cp=2
I didn't find a single thread in which people compared Oceane to Kevin and Dylan. I found only ONE thread in which someone listed Oceane at all, which is the one I linked above. In the others Kevin, Stacy, Brandon, Kimberly etc are listed multiple times but never Oceane. I would say it's a coincidence. Theodora, Bernadette and Theo were also listed in the thread above and I think they are generally thought of as nice names in France. The reason why Kevin, Brenda and Dylan are listed multiple times is that American/English names are usually perceived as trashy in non-English speaking countries in Europe. My dad is German and it's the same there. German comedians are making fun of names like Kevin and Cheyenne on a regular basis.
I go to France at least once a year for several months and never got the impression that people thought of it as trendy or uneducated or anything. My aunt's friend was considering it for her daughter last summer when I was there and she received many positive comments on how beautiful it is. She also considered Lea which got many negative comments (boring, generic etc). I mean Lea was number 1 for some time as far as I know but Oceane was almost as common (number 7, I believe), so it surprised me a little. She named her Victoire, by the way :P
This message was edited 6/3/2012, 5:49 PM
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Off topic comment
I`m intrigued by the use of Victoire. I was sure that that name had been nearly dead and replaced by Victoria since the era of la reine du meme prénom. Especially interesting considering her other choices. I haven`t checked the stats, though, am I wrong in this perception? Maybe this is only true in Canada.
I`m intrigued by the use of Victoire. I was sure that that name had been nearly dead and replaced by Victoria since the era of la reine du meme prénom. Especially interesting considering her other choices. I haven`t checked the stats, though, am I wrong in this perception? Maybe this is only true in Canada.
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Victoire
The name has had a big spike in popularity in France over the last 10-20 years, it's always been a pretty steady name but it's come back pretty big right now along with a lot of other older, traditional names.
http://www.aufeminin.com/w/prenom/p19482/victoire.html
The name has had a big spike in popularity in France over the last 10-20 years, it's always been a pretty steady name but it's come back pretty big right now along with a lot of other older, traditional names.
http://www.aufeminin.com/w/prenom/p19482/victoire.html
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Yeah, see, in Quebec it`s been 1 a year for the past 6 years and 2 last year. Compared to 263 little Victorias in 2011. Huh.
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Yeah, see, in Quebec it`s been 1 a year for the past 6 years and 2 last year. Compared to 263 little Victorias in 2011. Huh.
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Victoire vs Victoria
Victoria is going pretty strong too
http://www.aufeminin.com/w/prenom/p19489/victoria.html
So expect to see a name bashlack within 10-15 years
Victoria is going pretty strong too
http://www.aufeminin.com/w/prenom/p19489/victoria.html
So expect to see a name bashlack within 10-15 years
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it's cool we can disagree
Maybe it's mainly on sites I post aufeminin.com, people I know dont like Oceane that much but maybe that's the area we live in when we go there? Who knows but it's fine to disagree, obviously any name that has a big popularity boom is going to be liked by a good number of people.
About Dylan: any name related to 90210 or most American TV shows is considered sort of lower class by a lot of people.
Maybe it's mainly on sites I post aufeminin.com, people I know dont like Oceane that much but maybe that's the area we live in when we go there? Who knows but it's fine to disagree, obviously any name that has a big popularity boom is going to be liked by a good number of people.
About Dylan: any name related to 90210 or most American TV shows is considered sort of lower class by a lot of people.
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Hahaha how could I not have noticed! You're right Dylan, Brandon, Brenda and Kelly were all on that show.
Yes, it could be a regional thing!
Yes, it could be a regional thing!
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Re:I included more in my text
In case you're looking for a longer answer, I didnt want to post lots of links but I put a few things to google that lead to some threads and more info
In case you're looking for a longer answer, I didnt want to post lots of links but I put a few things to google that lead to some threads and more info
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