Our first son is named [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] and we are considering [name_m]Mathias[/name_m] (Muh-TEE-us) for his brother who is arriving this spring. Both names work well for us because we need international names that work in several languages (English, Spanish and [name_m]French[/name_m] most importantly).
I love the name but am worried that maybe it rhymes too much with [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]. What do you think? Can you think of any other names that are easily pronounced in these languages and that go well with [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]?
I’m French, my partner is American, we also speak German in my family. So, we are also looking for international names.
Matthias is a nice name, but I think in America they say it Ma-thigh-us. I don’t know if that bothers you or no.
Let me try:
Adam
Paul
Lucian
Ezekiel
Jonah
Evan
Ezra
Elias
Laszlo
Roman
Romeo
Charles
Tobias
Noah
Emrys
Simon
Liam
Pablo
Carl
Oscar
Sacha
Rowan
Anton
Andrea
Leo
Adrian
Gabriel
Louis
Lucas
Nathan
Nathaniel
Remi
Silas
Bastian
Sebastian
Jacob
Ruben
Benjamin
Victor
Felix
Nicolas
I’d say mah-[name_m]TYE[/name_m]-us (the first syllable being a cross between mah and muh). What about [name_m]Matteo[/name_m]/[name_m]Mateo[/name_m]? I think it’s fairly popular in both [name_f]France[/name_f] and in Spain.
I love Mathias! For what it’s worth, I’m American and I say mah-TEE-us.
I think Thomas and Mathias are both very international names that work well in all three cultures! Americans might say THIGH or TYE in the middle, but it’s an easy correction. I’d not be too concerned about the similar endings–I noticed they both ended in “S”, but not in a way that would make me want to eliminate it at all as an option, if that makes sense? I think they’re perfect for brothers! I think a lot of -ian names would work well in English, French, and Spanish, too–the Spanish have Julián, the English have Julian, and the French have Julien, for example, and similarly with Sebastian, Florian (although I believe it’s Florin in French, but still easily pronounced!), Killian (although Kilian would probably be better for Spanish-speakers), etc. A lot of Biblical names work across linguistic lines, too–like Adam, Daniel, Paul, Samuel, Emmanuel, etc. A lot of -eo names are popular in France right now, too, which translate well to Spanish (Theo, Teo, Matteo, Leo, etc.). Also Lucas. You can’t get much more international than Lucas!
Good luck!
ETA: There’s also Dominic. It might be Dominique in France, and Domingo in Spain, but there’s Domenico in Italian, and, from my limited amount of information regarding both French and Spanish, I don’t foresee a huge amount of pronunciation problems in either language with the name.
[name_u]Florian[/name_u] is also a classique [name_m]French[/name_m] name [name_m]Florin[/name_m] is actually very uncommon in [name_f]France[/name_f] (my name is F.lorine :D).
Thanks for the ideas! These are great ideas so far. I should just say that although I like names like [name_m]Leo[/name_m], [name_m]Matteo[/name_m] and [name_u]Theo[/name_u] they are a bit too trendy here in [name_f]France[/name_f] at the moment. I’m looking for names that are classic and timeless. Keep the good ideas coming! (Also, your thoughts on wether you think [name_m]Thomas[/name_m] and [name_m]Mathias[/name_m] rhyme too much
[name_m]Florin[/name_m] is actually very uncommon in [name_f]France[/name_f] (my name is F.lorine :D).