I would suggest rare literary or historical names. To me they have a similar feel to [name_f]Eponine[/name_f].
DāArtagnan (to me this seems like a near equivalent to [name_f]Eponine[/name_f], in that theyāre both rare names from well-known [name_u]French[/name_u] books)
[name_m]Aramis[/name_m]
[name_m]Galahad[/name_m]
[name_m]Lysander[/name_m]
[name_u]Oberon[/name_u]
[name_m]Octavius[/name_m]
[name_m]Endymion[/name_m]
I think [name_f]Eponine[/name_f] could work as middle name for a boy.
Just chiming in to say that, oddly, I first encountered [name_f]Eponine[/name_f] as a male name because a neighbor used it for her rooster He was a character, but I have no idea why she chose it for him. She was an [name_f]English[/name_f] teacher and a bit of a name nerdāI think she must have known where it came from. (Her [name_u]Golden[/name_u] Retriever was [name_m]Kane[/name_m], kah-nuhāDanish, I think?) I was in for a surprise a few years later when I read Les Miserables!
I want to say another [name_u]French[/name_u] literature name like [name_m]Marius[/name_m] or [name_m]Phoebus[/name_m].
Or [name_m]Philip[/name_m] / [name_m]Philippe[/name_m]? I know [name_f]Eponine[/name_f] has an uncertain meaning but if I connect it to [name_f]Epona[/name_f], it shares a āhorseā meaning with [name_m]Philip[/name_m] + variants.
Oooo⦠I didnāt know this / havenāt seen it before. I canāt find the origin either. Although one of the top hits was to do with [name_f]Epona[/name_f], so maybe it is relatedā¦
Update: did more digging - Eponius is the Latin translation of Epona
So following [name_u]French[/name_u] naming conventions the masculine version would just be Eponin (like other male/female pairs: Valentin/Valentine, Augustin/Augustine), but a Google search shows it doesnāt really exist/isnāt used. But I think you could still use it!