Impressions? Is it too attached to the starlet?
Not to sound rude but aside from [name]Bijou[/name] [name]Philips[/name] the name makes me think of a tiny white dog that a princessy type would own.
Hehe, not at all! It does mean jewel in French (not my favorite meaning in the world), so I’m not surprised at that association.
Yes! I put it in the same category as [name]Jolie[/name], Dolce…girly other-language word names that have sweetness & sparkle
it’s a depersonalizing name. Reducing the girl carrying it to the status of a shiny object.
I actually really like it. I tossed it around after my husband suggested it a while back. It feels [name]New[/name] Orleanian to me. And I don’t think calling a child “jewel” is any more depersonalizing than [name]Ruby[/name], [name]Willow[/name], [name]Heath[/name], [name]Stone[/name], [name]River[/name]… [name]Jewels[/name] come from deep in the earth, they reflect light, stones carry meaning and symbolize all kinds of things other than “filthy lucre.”
I don’t think of it like [name]Bentley[/name] or [name]Cash[/name]…it could skew earthier if only slightly
I have known too many dogs named [name]Bijou[/name]. I live in a french community, so you can just imagine!
I’ve never heard of [name]Bijou[/name] on anything other than pets, so I have a hard time associating it with a child. I guess it can be likened to naming a kid Fido, for me.
I totally agree. And it sounds pretty. I knew a [name]Jewel[/name] growing up and she (and everyone else) liked her name, but I think [name]Bijou[/name] is a classier way to get the same meaning. What’s the difference between [name]Bijou[/name], [name]Jewel[/name], [name]Ruby[/name] and [name]Opal[/name]? I know I’d love it if my name meant jewel.
Honestly, it feels like one of those names like [name]Armani[/name] where someone is trying really hard to make their child sound rich/important and that it comes off tacky. It 1) means jewel and 2) is French. [name]Jewels[/name] I get can be associated with you consider them a jewel in you life but feel more like one of those names like [name]Diamond[/name] (instead of say [name]Ruby[/name]). I understand that logically they should be in the same category but they just don’t have the same feel. And taking the French way - but using a word and not a French name - to me sounds again like someone is trying to hard to make they’re child sound fancy. Sorry.
I know a little black French pug with the name.
But yeah, definitely sounds like a small dog’s name.
To those apologizing for your opinions: please don’t. I didn’t invent the name, nor did I phrase the post as a birth announcement. You owe me no apologies.
Until I looked up the meaning, I had no association other than [name]Bijou[/name] [name]Philips[/name]. I thought it was sweet, spunky-sounding and even a bit tomboyish… which is right in my naming wheelhouse! I tend to agree that it aligns more with the likes of [name]Ruby[/name], [name]Opal[/name] and [name]Pearl[/name] than the likes of [name]Diamond[/name], Chenille or [name]Bentley[/name]. Old-timey cutesy gem names instead of blatant status symbol attempts. That’s such a matter of personal taste and associations, though!
Thanks for all the opinions, it’s super helpful and interesting. The preferences on these boards have changed MASSIVELY in the past couple of years… Things I read/posted about that were getting positive responses a couple years ago are getting negative reactions now, and vice versa. Fascinating.
This is kind of like the [name]Crystal[/name]/stripper debate I see from time to time. (There are hundreds of thousands of normal girls named [name]Crystal[/name] yet the name has an image of a stripper name.) In other words, these are all just opinions, but I think it’s ridiculous to say it’s bad that it means jewel, or that it’s French, or a word name. Those are horrible reasons to dislike a name.
Over here estate agents are the ones most likely to use the word ‘bijou’ and it means something slightly more specific than jewel. Bijou - definition of bijou by The Free Dictionary
I can’t see it as a name as when I hear the word I just think ‘small flat’.