Respondents: 42 (This poll is closed)
I say yes 
While it is a girls name, it doesn’t have a particularly feminine sound. It’s been used as a unisex name before, it’s in the middle spot and has heaps of personal significance to you, I would say everything speaks in favour of you using it.
I also love how well it flows! ^^
Though I’m aware that [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] has some history of use on boys, I still see it as very much a feminine name, and I feel that’s how most people perceive it as well. However, I’m a firm believer that for middle names, anything can work.
If you want a related name that’s more clearly masculine, there’s [name_m]Carmelo[/name_m].
I love the music from [name_u]Carmen[/name_u]! I’ve learned a little bit on the piano, little pieces here and there, and it’s so powerful. I love it.
I think [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] is great, and I wouldn’t have found an issue with it, especially since there was a [name_m]Christian[/name_m] singer from the 90s (80s?) called [name_u]Carman[/name_u] (this spelling), and he was definitely a dude. I think it’s fine, and [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] is great. Besides, [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] is so significant to you! [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_u]Carmine[/name_u] is really cool, too, but if you prefer [name_u]Carmen[/name_u], you should go for it. I think it fits in really well with [name_m]William[/name_m] [name_m]Balthazar[/name_m] and [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f]!
I definitely think it works on a boy. I know both boy and girl [name_u]Carmen[/name_u]'s and think it works ether way. I personally wouldn’t use it as a first, but it definitely works for a boy in the middle slot.
I think it might be problematic, because the fact is, [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] in this day and age is 100 percent a girls name. So what if, at school, kids are sharing middle names and they ask for his? Exposing his middle name would cause many laughs. The last thing you want is someone being ashamed of their name and actively trying to hide it.
I know this is a hypothetical situation, but you do want to consider some scenarios first.
I think it works, especially as a middle name with [name_m]Alexander[/name_m]. If you’re not quite sure [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] might be an alternative worth considering?
I like [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] for a boy.
One of my better friends is called [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] so I have trouble picturing it on a boy because for me it’s a strong feminine name and I don’t think I’m the only one… [name_u]Carmine[/name_u] seems cooler to me, and I wonder whether there are perhaps any other [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] related names, be it the name or the opera or a performer of the version you watched which you could use which has less girl affiliation?
Thank you for all your thoughts. Looking at the poll so far, it looks like most think [name_u]Carmen[/name_u]'s fine as a boy’s middle name, which I’m glad to see, although I’m actually starting to like [name_u]Carmine[/name_u] a little more now! (At least pronounced the proper Italian way, Car-mee-neh; Car-mine is just terrible!) We also considered [name_m]Carmelo[/name_m], but feel it’s a bit far too removed from [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] to have the same meaning to us since [name_m]Carmelo[/name_m] is more related to the place [name_u]Carmel[/name_u] than the Latin word for “song”.
The suggestion of a name related to the opera is pretty clever! Lessee… [name_u]Carmen[/name_u]'s two love interests were [name_m]Don[/name_m] [name_m]Jose[/name_m] and Escamillo. [name_m]Jose[/name_m] is too common of a name to really bring [name_u]Carmen[/name_u] to mind, but Escamillo has possibility. Does anybody have any info on the name? When I try to google it, pretty much all the results are about the opera, making me think it might be made up? The composer was [name_m]Georges[/name_m] Bizet. [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_m]Georges[/name_m] is nice, but reminds me a lot of [name_m]Prince[/name_m] [name_m]George[/name_m] [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_m]Louis[/name_m]. (And considering that we already have children named [name_m]William[/name_m] and [name_f]Catherine[/name_f]…yeah, no, that’s not going to work.) I don’t care for Bizet. Maybe [name_m]Ludovic[/name_m]? [name_m]Ludovic[/name_m] Halevy was one of the librettists, and we actually had [name_m]Ludovic[/name_m] on a previous list as a more appealing version of Beethoven’s first name ([name_m]Ludwig[/name_m]).
Well, anyway, at the moment, I think I’ll add [name_u]Carmen[/name_u], [name_u]Carmine[/name_u], and maybe [name_m]Ludovic[/name_m] and Escamillo on our current list of possibilities.
I tried to find something on Escamillo but at best it’s a rare surname I guess? I’m not an opera fan but I tried to do research and the most interesting things I came across was the name [name_m]Prosper[/name_m] Mérimée - the author of the work the opera was based on and the fact that [name_m]Georges[/name_m] Bizet was actually called [name_m]Alexandre[/name_m] César Léopold. Or [name_f]Seville[/name_f] as a reference? Okay, perhaps this is more difficult than I expected it would be.