Recently I’ve been loving the name [name_f]Alouette[/name_f], but is it useable or strictly GP territory? I know many people associate it with the song, which is a rather unpleasant association, considering the bird gets plucked. After what I’ve read, french speaking people tend to dislike the use of [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] as a name, partly because of the song, and partly because it’s a word. So, I’m wondering if you guys think [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] would be useable for a baby, or if it would seem, in french territories, like you’re a ”dumb foreigner” for using it.
[name_f][/name_f]What do you think?
A non-Frenchie here: I think it’s pretty - but it would be butchered by the Australian accent - with a long A, slow “Lou” and the use of a W (“wette”). It would sound more like “Ullah-wet”. It would also be given nicknames like Ali, Lou & Lettie such that you may as well not have used the longer name. So I wouldn’t use it or in second spot only.
Meanwhile, it’s def worth checking whether names seem outdated or strange in the “original” country - but I wouldn’t be swayed if they didn’t love it mostly because it’s a word there for eg. Names can have different & unexpected meanings in new contexts. For eg, I remember meeting a few very self-satisfied Kevins in France at a time when that would have been the dorkiest punish of a name in Australia at the time. Of course we live more globally now and you want your kid to be able to travel without too many concerns about their name - but unless a French person gives you the full “no way”, and assuming people where you are will be able to say it fairly easily, I would keep it on the list!
1 Like
There’s plenty of [name_f]French[/name_f] words that became names in [name_f]English[/name_f], although many of them are not overly popular. Also, you can’t have name fashionable in every country, so don’t try to please the [name_f]French[/name_f] for [name_f]French[/name_f] sake.
[name_f][/name_f]If I were to use [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] I would say it’s [name_f]English[/name_f] name of [name_f]French[/name_f] origin, so would that sound good to you?
1 Like
I’m not [name_f]French[/name_f], so take this with a pinch of salt, but I really like the name! I think it has a beautiful sound and really darling nicknames. That said, the song feels quite creepy in the context of a baby named [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] 
[name_f][/name_f] Maybe it depends on how common the song is where you are? In my country, I remember hearing it once or twice when I was little but no more than that.
1 Like
I’m not [name_f]French[/name_f] and I don’t know what song you’re referring to…
[name_f][/name_f][name_f]Alouette[/name_f] is a beautiful name to me and I don’t see why it would need to be relegated to the GP pile!
1 Like
Very pretty and usable … have adored this name for a while now and has tons of nicknames like [name_f]Ally[/name_f], [name_f]Lou[/name_f] or [name_f]Lulu[/name_f] [name_f][/name_f], Ette 
1 Like
[name_f]Alouette[/name_f] has a pretty, musical and intriguing sound, familiar but rare.
[name_f][/name_f]Not [name_f]French[/name_f], so I’d definitely be interested in [name_f]French[/name_f] perspectives on this! But in terms of the song [name_f][/name_f]- [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] is associated with a song about a person drowning, [name_f]Posy[/name_f] and [name_f]Rosie[/name_f] might be linked to “Ring a ring a roses” about the plague, [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] might be linked to [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] [name_m]Locket[/name_m] (my cousin used to get called that) which might be about courtesans…
[name_f][/name_f]and then there’s [name_f]Prune[/name_f], a word in both [name_f]French[/name_f] and [name_f]English[/name_f], a name in one, but with very different associations in the other 
As I say though, I’d be interested to hear [name_f]French[/name_f] perspectives!
1 Like
It would be hard for me to see/say the name without singing the song.
1 Like
[name_f]French[/name_f] speaker here. [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] seems a little peculiar to me[name_f][/name_f], but I certainly wouldn’t call it unusable! If [name_m]Robin[/name_m] and [name_f]Wren[/name_f] can be names, why not [name_f]Alouette[/name_f]?
[name_f][/name_f][name_f][/name_f]Word names are (and pretty much always were) used all the time in [name_f]French[/name_f]. Another bird name, [name_f]Colombe[/name_f] ("dove"), was in the [name_f]French[/name_f] top 1000 for more than forty years. [name_f]Ambre[/name_f] (“amber”) is currently a top 10 name. [name_f]Victoire[/name_f] (“victory”), [name_f]Reine[/name_f] (“queen”) and Mélodie[name_f][/name_f] (“melody”) are all fairly common/normal. Ditto for flower names such as [name_f]Marguerite[/name_f], [name_f]Capucine[/name_f] and so many others.
(This is a great example!)
[name_f][/name_f]However, the nursery rhyme is[name_f][/name_f] very well-known so I would expect a few comments here and there.
3 Likes
as a [name_f]French[/name_f] speaker, I would be pretty surprised to hear of a [name_f]French[/name_f] person named [name_f]Alouette[/name_f]. as @Demoiselle[name_f][/name_f] mentioned, there are a fair few [name_f]French[/name_f] names that are also words, however the [name_f]French[/name_f] don’t tend to add on to their list of usable word names. unlike in [name_f]English[/name_f], which sees new words being used as names all the time, the [name_f]French[/name_f] don’t really do that.
[name_f][/name_f]as far as I know, [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] is not used in [name_f]France[/name_f], and I think it would get weird looks given the song. I can’t get over the association with the song so I find [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] quite morbid as a name (but to be fair, I feel similarly about Clementine—I can’t get over the song, I find it morbid, and I don’t like the name)
3 Likes
Thank you for your thoughts!
1 Like
Yes, that might help a bit
Never heard of the song actually, until I googled tbd name
1 Like
Thank you for your perspective!
1 Like
That’s true ofc, all my facts of opinions come from what french speakers in online forums have written about the name
2 Likes
That’s what I feared, but thank you very much for sharing!
I love [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] in theory but my best friend was [name_f]French[/name_f] and had scathing enough rants on names like [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] (and [name_f]Fleurette[/name_f], and [name_f]Miette[/name_f], and [name_f]Cosette[/name_f], etc.) that it feels better as a middle or a nn for me. [name_f][/name_f] I do like her sound and light and airy feel though. [name_f][/name_f] 
1 Like
[name_f][/name_f]
This might be region-dependent (as I do not live in [name_f]France[/name_f], but in the French-speaking part of Belgium) however, I actually feel like [name_f]French[/name_f] word names are[name_f][/name_f] at least somewhat expanding? [name_m]Just[/name_m] in the last few years, I’ve met children named Romarin[name_f][/name_f] (“rosemary”) [name_f]Noisette[/name_f], [name_f]Pomme[/name_f] and Alexandrin[name_f][/name_f] (“alexandrine”). None of these are traditionally[name_f][/name_f] given as names (the only one I had previously come across is [name_f]Pomme[/name_f], in a [name_f]Colette[/name_f] novel) yet once I heard them on kids, they suddenly felt very name-like, to be honest.
[name_f][/name_f]I still think [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] is a little odd, but not any more so than many other word names.
1 Like
Oh, I really like [name_f]Noisette[/name_f]
2 Likes
I’m [name_f]French[/name_f] and I personally think it’s a GP only [name_f][/name_f]!
[name_f][/name_f]In my opinion, the issue is not just that it’s a word name. It’s more that it’s an uncommon bird, only associated with the kid song (not a great association). When you hear “alouette” in french, you only think of the song.
[name_f][/name_f]It’s not like Clémentine, which is a fruit as well as the feminine version of [name_m]Clément[/name_m], and has been used as a name for a very long time. [name_f]Pomme[/name_f], [name_f]Prune[/name_f], Louve are more bold, but still useable, I think. But [name_f]Alouette[/name_f] is way too specific for me, and the “ette” suffix (meaning “little XXX”) makes it even more childish.
[name_f][/name_f]I guess for a foreigner living outside of [name_f]France[/name_f], it wouldn’t matter on a daily basis. But [name_f]French[/name_f] people would definitely see it as a weird choice by someone who doesn’t know the song and just likes the sound
1 Like