We had a name we like for our little boy, but good friends of ours used it recently, so we are trying to move on. Painful, but friendship is more important My husband is [name]German[/name] and I am American, and while we live in Germany now, we can imagine moving to the US in the next 10 years, so the name has to work in both countries. We have a scant few options on the table:
We are both sort of leaning towards [name]Joaquin[/name]/m, but we aren’t sure how popular it is in the US. We also are having a hard time assessing how it would sound with our last name, Preibisch (rhymes with eye-bish). Here in Germany it’s prounounced szho-ah-keen(m). Would the combo be too much of a mouthful? Does it fit? We’d appreciate any feedback on that or the other two names. No middle name yet, but we fortunately have more of a starting point there.
[name]Hi[/name]! I’m sorry to hear about not being able to use your favorite name now.
[name]Joaquin[/name]/[name]Joaquim[/name]- [name]Joaquin[/name] is ranked #290 in popularity, so it’s not that popular. It’s one of those names that sound great to me, but it’s just not my style. (I also don’t care for its [name]German[/name] pronunciation, but that’s just me.)
[name]Jonah[/name]- A great name in both English and [name]German[/name]
[name]Roman[/name]- Actually more popular here than [name]Joaquin[/name] (#207), but if you love it, go for it! It’s a lovely name that’s both classic and masculine.
I think all three names go nicely with your last name, with [name]Joaquin[/name], of course, being the most exotic choice. For me, the [name]Joaquin[/name] choice isn’t so much a mouthful with your last name, as it is unusual (not a bad thing!)
You’ve got three great choices, so you can’t go wrong! Out of curiosity, what is the name you longer can use?
Here are some more names that work in both [name]German[/name] and English:
[name]August[/name] ([name]Augie[/name], [name]Gus[/name])
[name]Augusten[/name]
[name]Leo[/name]
[name]Theodore[/name]
[name]William[/name]
[name]Willem[/name]
[name]Luke[/name] ([name]Lucas[/name] or the [name]German[/name] [name]Lukas[/name])
[name]Conrad[/name]
[name]Frank[/name]
[name]Frederick[/name]
[name]Henry[/name]
[name]Hugh[/name]
[name]Hugo[/name]
[name]Johan[/name]
Mattaeus
[name]Milo[/name]
[name]Oscar[/name] (or the [name]German[/name] [name]Oskar[/name])
[name]Stefan[/name]
[name]Nicholas[/name]
Thanks for your suggestions. I have free reign on the middle name, and I was thinking perhaps [name]Alexander[/name], but honestly haven’t given it a lot of thought yet. For that I’d choose something more classic in case he needs it for professional reasons someday, or perhaps a family name. But for the first name I’m just not feeling classic. [name]Jill[/name] thanks for the ideas…most of them are either [name]WAY[/name] too popular here (like in the top 10, and likewise taken by friends), have been nixed by my husband, or have something against them like they already belong to the beloved family dog! BTW we would have used [name]Anton[/name]. It’s a very old name here but we thought it had a good feel. But our friends really cared that the name remain individual to their child, and I totally understand that.
Also, the name has to have an A in it, and preferably also an O. Some weird urge of my husband’s…
[name]Joaquin[/name]/m is popular here mostly because of the actor [name]Joaquin[/name] [name]Phoenix[/name], so most people pronounce is the way he does: wah-keen. I do think if you move back to the US you will encounter pronunciation and spelling problems with this first name, especially combined with your last, and the simpler [name]Jonah[/name] or [name]Roman[/name], which are both great names, would be preferable. I’d see both those names as somewhat popular but not too – they fit in that golden middle ground.
My husband is [name]German[/name] and I am American, and while we live in Germany now, we can imagine moving to the US in the next 10 years, so the name has to work in both countries. We have a scant few options on the table: