WoinParis

Robin is a name used a lot in Belgium - even more in Flanders. A beautiful name not yet overused.
Always male here.
Old names coming back are Quentin (started 30 years ago) Louis...
Marie is an old name always in fashion. Alice. Marie-Rose doesn't even sound strange nowadays.

WoinParis

Funny. Was buying bread and saw this thread. Made me go to the cemetery (500 m) where a kid I knew well is buried. Name is Robin actually.
Good kid.

annhig

Nice thing to do, WoinP.

Robyn tends to be a girls' name here [I think we got it from Australia] and Robin is a boys' name, but it's not a fixed rule.

There are more cross-over names than you'd think - Lesley/Leslie, Hilary, Vivian, Tracy, and [pace John Wayne] Marion. The very large and undoubtedly masculine wrestler, Big Daddy, was really Shirley Crabtree.

And back to my clients again, I have seen Morgan used for both girls and boys, along with Ashley, Kayden, Kelly, Shane, Skylar,Taylor, and probably quite a few more I've forgotten.

WoinParis

Claude is both male/female here but not much used nowadays.
Frederic and frederique are very close.
Emmanuel and Emmanuelle. Often called Manu btw.
Then Alexandre Alexis and alexia all often called Alex.

fuzzbucket

I once hired a cook who found out she was pregnant with twins. She named her two boys Lemonjelo (Leh MOHN jello) and Oranjelo (Oh RAHN jello) because that's all she could stand to eat when she was pregnant. This is a true story, by the way - but everybody always called the boys LJ and OJ for short.

jtpj777

I know a couple in France called Dany (woman) and Michel (man). Of course, in the UK we would expect Danny (man) and Michelle (woman).

It's what makes travelling interesting(and educational!)

vincenzo32951

bil: >>just trying to bridge the gap vincenzo, <<

Hmmm. So an obvious criticism and mocking tone (re photo Xmas cards) serve to bridge the gap? I'll have to remember that one.

bilboburgler

vincenzo, perhaps the gap that you see is that self-mockery is the natural way of the English man and woman.

I remember an English friend of mine (a world expert in his medical field) attending a conference in the States and being asked if he knew anything about the subject, "I dabble" he said and the American walked away leaving both the Brit and the American feeling confused.

Just because, in the UK, the things seem to have come from the Royal family doesn't mean I don't want to know why Americans do it, and I like the whole military story, makes sense before t'internet.

kerouac

I think I am beginning to lose track of what this thread is about.

quokka

>I know a couple in France called Dany (woman) and Michel (man). Of course, in the UK we would expect Danny (man) and Michelle (woman).

Michel is a man and Michelle or Michèle is a woman in France.

Just like Daniel and Danielle. Dany is probably short for Danielle.

vincenzo32951

bil: >>vincenzo, perhaps the gap that you see is that self-mockery is the natural way of the English man and woman.<<

Self-mockery? OK, now you're being funny.

"Do Americans go in for damn silly names for their kids off bottle labels, town names or bling suppliers?"

annhig

<<Self-mockery? OK, now you're being funny.

"Do Americans go in for damn silly names for their kids off bottle labels, town names or bling suppliers?">>

you see, now I have no idea whether you're being ironical or literal, V.

for a prime example of british humour, try this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b083vq05

WoinParis

11. sense of humour.

We dont share the same, obviously.

I have also seen that deprecating oneself, usual in some of our countries doesn't work that well in the US - they tend to believe that indeed if you say you are stupid, well you are.
Seems no US citizen would ever say he is (stupid).

The Robin I was mentioning would still crack a joke when I visited him, 1-2 days before his death.
Actually it was :
God tells Adam he has 2 good news and one piece of bad news :
Good news : Adam'll get a penis and a brain.
Adam ? 'what is the bad news then'
God : 'they will never be functioning both at the same time'.