[name_f]Apolline[/name_f] has been on my list for about a month now and I have some worries about it. I’m 50/50 on whether I should keep it in the middle or take a risk with it as a first name.
Is it too unusual in the US?
I live in [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_m]York[/name_m] which is rather diverse, but I’m pretty sure I will never run into a [name_f]Apolline[/name_f].
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think it’d be too hard to live with?
I think it might be a bit difficult to have this name as a child, but I plan to name my first son [name_m]Alaric[/name_m] which will probably also have pronunciation issues. The difference in the situation is that [name_m]Alaric[/name_m] is becoming more well known because of a popular tv show. I won’t be using the pronunciation on the show, but the familiarity with the name is still there.
[name_m]How[/name_m] would you pronounce it?
I pronounce it [name_m]Ah[/name_m]-poe-leen.
I pronounce it a-po-LEEN, stress on the last syllable.
I wouldn’t say it’d be difficult to live with, but I’m not going to say she’ll never run into pronunciation or spelling issues either. [name_m]Even[/name_m] I get spelling issues, and my name is a word.
I think [name_f]Apolline[/name_f] is perfectly wearable in the US. Now that [name_m]Apollo[/name_m] is well into the top 1000, I don’t think a feminine form will confuse too many people. You can say just that when people question your daughter’s name; it’s a feminine form (variant?) of [name_m]Apollo[/name_m]. As for the spelling and pronunciation issues, I think almost everyone has those nowadays. My surname is an animal name, and I’ve had a shocking number of people mispronounce it.
I’d prefer to know the surname it would be going with before making a call - I think that would make a huge difference.
As to your specific questions:
I expect it’s super unusual in the US, but I don’t think that’s important in and of itself. Your question about whether it’d be hard to live with is more important and I don’t know… to me it’s an unusual but awesome name, and I know how to say it when I see it (though I could imagine its spelling would get butchered pretty regularly). It does provide the very straightforward [name_f]Lina[/name_f] as a possible nickname, which might be helpful to fall back on. I think it would be easier to get people squared away with [name_f]Apolline[/name_f] than with an obscure pronunciation of [name_m]Alaric[/name_m], if that helps.
I pronounce it the same way as you, I think - I stress the last syllable. I imagine a lot of Americans would say it kind of like apple-een, which isn’t so far off I don’t think.
I like the French pronunciation but not the English one, it looses it’s softness.
It’s certainly wearable as it’s quite easy to remember, has no weird spelling, “it’s Apolline, like Apollo” will make the spelling easier for most people and has no bad associations. I do think the pronunciation will vary, some might say “Appleleen” or “Apollyn” with the emphasis on the “poll” but you tend to introuce yourself to people, so they should be able to copy the pronunciation she uses.
But now I’m interested in how you pronounce Alaric?
I would pronounce as [name_m]AH[/name_m]-[name_u]PO[/name_u]-LEEN
I believe the kid will live long and well with [name_f]Apolline[/name_f] as her first name.