Geneviève

It's such a classy & elegant name for a child. I love it!

Elegant and timeless.

I hope it doesn’t get too popular, because I really like it.

Elegant and unique sounding.

My parents named me Genevieve, they understood it to mean 'white waves' which I think is awesome. Growing up, I had the hardest time writing my lowercase 'e's (which there are 4 in my first name alone) so my kindergarten teacher nicknamed me Gen. People would write my name as Jen, and assumed my name was Jennifer which drove me nuts. The worst was being called "Genny" UGH! Terrible. Once I moved out at 17 and got my own place in a new state, I realized I had so many options for nicknames in my long name, so I became Eve, which I still use to this day with casual friends. Eve evolved into Evelyn for a select few, and EveNation to my friends in the rave scene. When I moved back to the bay area and started working in high end retail, I started introducing myself as Genevieve again. Basically I only allow family and people who knew me as a kid to call me Gen. Say what you want about us Yankees "butchering" the pronunciation, but as a few people mentioned, not everyone speaks french. When anyone says my name in the French pronunciation, I'm always pleased, but I don't think it's THAT much more beautiful than the English way. My father was Mexican, and my Spanish speaking family calls me Genoveva (pronounced hen-o-veva) My newest email is my name made into a play on words: gen. Of. eve (generation of eve) I love my name! Took me awhile, but I think it's unique and powerful.

I can't be the only one who prefers the "American mispronunciation" (which is not a mispronunciation at all, just the Anglicized version). Je-ne-veev is light, elegant, feminine and rolls off the tongue nicely. Zhe-ne-vyev is pretty as well but doesn't quite have the same charm. And zhawn-vyev is positively hideous.

Geneviève is such a beautiful name, especially pronounced the correct, French way. I love it.

Despite extremely disliking the name Genevieve, the pronunciation of Geneviève (zhe-nə-VYEV) seems to make all the difference. Sounds very pretty.

Love this name, HATE the nicknames.

Genevieve makes me think of a generous girl. It has some innocence too it. I prefer the French version more than the English version because it is more unique and it has a nice flow to it especially if you're fluent in french. (not too brag, but I'm happy I know how to pronounce this name correctly). It also doesn't sound too innocent and can be used on an older person.

I only like the correct pronunciation of this name. The butchered English pronunciation sounds terrible.

I think the French pronunciation is much better.

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Genevieve really is a gorgeous name, but to be honest all I think of when I hear it is that dog off the cartoon Madeline when I was a kid. Therefore, I don't think I could name a child Genevieve; or a character, even.

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That dog is the name Genevieve personified in the psyche younger members of Generation Y.

My name is Genevieve and I absolutely love it. It's pronounced the American way, but if I go to a different place, I think I'll tell everyone it's the French pronunciation. I also really don't like being called "Gen". It's boring and common. I'd much prefer Ginny as a nickname.

To be honest, I like the English pronunciation better then the French pronunciation. To me, Jennaveev sounds much prettier.

Such a pretty name. If I should have a daughter, I've thought of giving her this name and calling her Ginny for short. It seems to be a unique name without being way out there and the meaning is decent too. I'm a tad turned off after reading the other entries though. Has anyone known a nice, normal, kind, relaxed Genevieve? Or are they all "mean" and uptight?

I am a normal person bearing the name Genevieve. It is a lovely name, meaning, I believe, "Pure" or "White" I will probably name one of my children "Genevieve" and thereby carry on the name.

If you pick this name, don't whine about how no one can pronounce it right. It's a French name, and many people, especially in the US, can't speak French, and pronounce French in an atrocious way, for that matter. Pretentious people who think French names sound all sophisticated and classy pick this name, and then grit their teeth when, surprise surprise, people don't pronounce it in the French way. Besides, this name isn't very pretty, and it comes off as old-fashioned in addition to the snottiness. With all those pretty French names out there, why go for this one?

This is an elegant name with a beautiful sound. I vastly prefer the French pronunciation; the English version 'jen-a-veev' is clunky.

If people are going to insist that we pronounce Genevieve jon-vi-ev, they might as well insist that we pronounce William gwee-yom, or Janice jon-ees.

I have a friend named Genevieve, but she goes by Gen. She hates how everyone always spells it "Jen" if they don't know her real name. I can see how that would get annoying.

In the sacrament of Confimation, Catholics choose the name of a saint to call themselves as they enter the Church. It's kind of like naming yourself. When I made my Confirmation, I chose the name of Saint Genevieve. While mostly I chose this because of the namesake, I also chose it because it seems very pretty and French to me. I pronounce the French way, Zhyen e VIVE. However, with my first name being Danielle and my last and middle names both excruciating long Italian names, my name is very long now! Best hope that when I get married it's not to a guy with the last name of Smith! But I love this name, it's a good name for a girl.

My grandmother had this name and it was pronounced jenna-veeve and they called her Jenny. I thought it was a pretty name but she was a mean woman.

This was to be my name, but my mother hated how the name was butchered into jenna-VEEV whenever she told someone about it.

If I have a daughter, I want to name her Genevieve or Genowefa. Genowefa is the Polish version of Genevieve. Sounds like: shjen-o-vee-fuh.

I have to agree with the poster above, different countries, different cultures, different pronunciation, doesn't make it wrong. The only people I have met with this name pronounce it JENNA-VEEV.

This was almost my name, but my mother decided against it. She was afraid that people would say JENNA-VIVE instead of the lovely (and correct) French pronunciation!

I love this name, but wouldn't use it because it would ultimately be shortened to Gen, which is boring! Oh and I like it pronounced the English way better than the French way.

Genevieve is a lovely name, whether pronounced in the American way ("the American mispronunciation"), Jenna-veev, or the French way, Zhahn-vyev.

I think this name is beautiful the way it's actually meant to be, but the only way I've ever actually heard it is the 'American mispronunciation' jenna-veev. We somehow manage to screw up everything over here don't we? :) Anyway like I said this name is beautiful, I just can't seem to pronounce it right and the pronunciation guide didn't help me at all.

Americans do not "always find a way to mess things up" as you say. People in different countries say and do things differently, it has to do with a difference of language and accents that give names different sounds. We don't speak French so we are not going to pronounce it like the French. I like Genevieve pronounced both the American way and the French way.

I like Genevieve with the nickname Evie.

It's a beautiful name. I might want it someday for my own child.