I’m always interested in seeing what names are popular in other countries, so I’m gonna assume you guys are interested in this as well!
I live in the northern part of Belgium, Flanders, where people speak Dutch. Still, the French influence on names is pretty big. This creates an interesting mixture of Dutch and French names.
I’ll underline the names that are Dutch (or simply germanic), and put the French names in italics. The names that are neither I’ll leave untouched.
Some of the French names are pretty common in the US as well, but I’m considering them as French, because of the way they are pronounced here.
These are the Top20 for Flanders since [name]January[/name] of this year.
If anybody wants to know how some of these names are pronounced, just let me know!
I’d like to hear your opinions on these names and their popularity!!
[name]Nina[/name] is also popular in Switzerland and [name]France[/name]. [name]Do[/name] you know why? A cultural reference such as a tv character, book, movie, etc?
I can’t really think of anything…
I think it’s just a name that has everything parents are looking for these days… It’s short but cute, girly but not too frilly, it’s an international name, and it’s common without being too popular (I know it’s in the top20, but that’s a recent change, I think, it used to be one of those names that was always somewhere on the charts, without ever getting really high).
I think [name]Mila[/name] is about to take over though, similar sound, but a little fresher to most people.
I really like [name]Mathis[/name], [name]Arthur[/name], [name]Noor[/name], [name]Amelie[/name], [name]Charlotte[/name], and [name]Louise[/name]. Wout, [name]Daan[/name], Senne, and Fien are certainly intriguing. And [name]Amber[/name] seems really out of place here!
I’m curious, what names are considered dated in Belgium? I’ve always found that interesting-- some of my favorite French names are apparently considered middle-aged or old-lady in [name]France[/name], and I’ve heard that [name]Priya[/name] is [name]India[/name]'s equivalent of [name]Jennifer[/name]. Kind of like how [name]Lisa[/name] and [name]Julie[/name] appear high on this list, while in the US they’re considered dated.
Names like [name]Lisa[/name] and [name]Julie[/name] sound a little bit dated to me, because I’m so interested in names, and consequently a little bit ahead of most people ;), but apparently they still work for lots of people. However, it’s definitely different than in the US. The oldest people I know who are named [name]Lisa[/name] and [name]Julie[/name] are about 20-25. Same goes for [name]Laura[/name], [name]Charlotte[/name], [name]Eline[/name] and a couple other ones. They just seem to remain on top of the charts for ever and ever and ever… This top 20 is quite boring to me
Names that are dated in Belgium… There are tons of them, but a couple I can think of right now: [name]Ann[/name], [name]Anne[/name] (but nnot [name]Anna[/name]!), [name]Maria[/name], Lieve, [name]Linda[/name], [name]Dani[/name]”lle, [name]Christine[/name], [name]Martine[/name], [name]Marianne[/name], [name]Vivianne[/name], [name]Els[/name], [name]Sabine[/name], also [name]Isabelle[/name], which might seem surprising to you guys!
I can’t really explain how to pronounce Wout and Senne, but [name]Daan[/name] and Fien should be doable: [name]Daan[/name] -> Pronounced sorta like d-eye-n, but without the -y-sound. Fien -> pronounced as f-ee-n, the -ee-sound is rather short. This is actually an abbreviation for [name]Josephine[/name], sometimes spelled Josefien here, but Fien is now more common than either spelling of [name]Josephine[/name].
Interesting topic…
Although I live in [name]Canada[/name], my father is from Belgium and I am trying to incorporate our Flemish heritage into my daughter’s middle name. My other daughters middle is named after our cousin [name]Eliana[/name] in Belgium.
I like [name]Amelie[/name] a lot, but I worry that it is too french sounding. As I said, my family is from the Flemish region. I’d be interested to hear from you how strong the cross-over in naming trends are in the country. I have never been there myself. My information comes only from my father and I will admit he may have a strong bias for Flemish names. But is there really a difference between the two?
My daughter will proably have the first name [name]Tessa[/name]. Any great middles that come to mind from Belgium? If baby was a boy, the middle would have been Emiel.
Here is a short list of some of our family names there:
Thank you [name]Annabelle[/name] (lovely name by the way). Another question, please. What about [name]Mareike[/name]? I know a liitle [name]Mareike[/name] – in Mexico City! Her uncle married a woman from Bruges. Her mother fell in love with the name when she went there for the wedding so she decided that if her next child was a girl she would be named [name]Mareike[/name].
@Hulius: I think it’s a lovely idea, honoring your Flemish heritage through your kids’ middle names!
Emiel is definitely Flemish ([name]Emile[/name] is French, but would never be spelled Emiel in [name]France[/name]), so good choice!
Although all the names your list, except for [name]Alma[/name] and [name]Rosetta[/name], are pretty common names in Flandres, however, none of them are really Flemish/Dutch…
A couple suggestions for you:
(the first couple are from the Top 20, the others are just names I can think of right now)
[name]Lore[/name] (has 2 syllables!)
Fien
[name]Hanne[/name]
[name]Lena[/name]
[name]Kato[/name]/[name]Cato[/name] (I know Nameberry lists this name as a boys’ name, but it is a common name for girls here!)
[name]Febe[/name]
[name]Marthe[/name]
Femke
[name]Margot[/name] (t is silent)
[name]Silke[/name]
[name]Aline[/name]
[name]Lise[/name]/[name]Lize[/name]/Lieze (all common spellings, all have two syllables though)
Elien
[name]Elisa[/name]
[name]Hannelore[/name]
I think Fien, [name]Cato[/name], [name]Margot[/name], Elien or [name]Hannelore[/name] work best with [name]Tessa[/name]!
@victoriaanne: haha, I too know a ton of girls named [name]Marie[/name], it’s an incredibly popular name, and has been for a long time!
@ybp: you’re welcome!
About [name]Mareike[/name]… I can’t say I have ever heard that name before… I know [name]Marijke[/name], which would be pronounced exactly the same, but is the common spelling of this name. The other possibility is that you’ve misspelled it, and the name is actually [name]Marieke[/name]??
[name]Marijke[/name] is a common name among women in their thirties and forties, [name]Marieke[/name] is common among girls in their teens and twenties.
I am pretty sure both of them are derivants of [name]Maria[/name].
[name]Lovely[/name] story!!
[name]Annabelle[/name] is not my actual name unfortunately, just one that I like…
