I like the idea of a French performer having the stage name "Fantine D'Estelle" or "Fantine D'Étoile" which would very roughly translate to "star child". You could also use that for a character in a story! Probably would be to on the nose to make their actual name though.
It's a beautiful name. I plan on giving it to my best friend's daughter's child. Don't ambush the name just because it sounds like a hair brand. The hair brand came in 1947, this name came out in 1862.
"Fantine" is pretty as a name, but given the character's life of misfortune (abandoned as a little girl; used and then abandoned by a boyfriend at age 18, resulting in her daughter, Cosette; forced to leave the toddler Cosette under the care of the cruel, deceptive Thenardier family while she works to pay for Cosette's care; fired from her job when she is revealed as an unmarried mother; hounded by the Thenardiers for money; forced to sell anything that she can to pay to support Cosette, ending up as a prostitute and sick from the strain of life on the street; dying of consumption before she has a chance to see her daughter again, after five years apart), giving the name Fantine to your offspring just seems like you're begging for misfortune. I envision the name as a term for any single mother of young children who has fallen on hard times and is willing to do almost anything to give her children a chance at a better life.
I think it's a pretty name, but given Fantine's fate in the novel (i.e. she had to support her child by selling herself, both figuratively and literally, then died before she even got a chance to see her child again) I'm not sure about using it for your child.
I love Fantine from Les Miserables! She was my favorite character in the movie! I might consider this as one of the middle names for my daughter(s). Because of the character Fantine in Les Miserables.
― Anonymous User 1/1/2011
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The look and sound of this name don't quite fit my style despite my love for Les Misérables.I would, however, delight in meeting a little [or big!] Fantine.