Ou

Since I was talking about a Swiss family yesterday, it seems as if we should continue our continental talk by retreating once again back to France. You see, I was scrolling through the 2010 French data on BehindTheName, when I noticed that an awful lot of names contained the letters o and u side-by-side – especially a lot of lou names (Woo!).

Here’s a complete list of the names in alphabetical order, with the majority of meanings courtesy of MeilleurPrénoms:

BOYS:

Abdoulaye (#439) – servant of God, Arabic. Abdoulaye Méïté plays for Dijon FC and Abdoulaye Wade is the former President of Senegal.

Amadou (#468) – possibly a variant of Amadeus, which means love of God in Latin. Could also be taken from the French word amadou, which means tinder or derive from Arabic and mean praiseworthy

Ayoub (#95) – repentance, Arabic

Édouard (#209) – French form of Edward, which means guardian of wealth

Elouan (#170) – possibly derives from Celtic and means light

Lou (#451) – short for Lou- names

Louca (#307) – variation of Luke, which means from Lucania

Loucas (#325) – see Louca

Louis (#5) – derives from Ludwig and means famous warrior

Louison (#321) – could mean son of Louis or simply be a petform of the name Louis/Louise

Louka (#85) – see Louca

Loukas (#449) – see Louca

Mahamadou (#459) – praiseworthy, Arabic

Mamadou (#316) – newly weaned, Arabic

Marouane (#340) – rock, quartz, Arabic

Moussa (#251) – saved from the waters, Arabic

Ousmane (#475) – young serpent/snake, Arabic

Souleymane (#370) – healthy, intact, safe, Arabic

Titouan (#59) – variant of Antoine, which means flower, Greek or invaluable, Latin

Youcef (#335) – God will save, Hebrew

Younes (#105) – close to God, Hebrew

Youssef (#145) – see Youcef

GIRLS

Anouk (#154) – grace, Hebrew

Dounia (#237) – wealth, Arabic

Fatoumata (#214) – small camel that has just been weaned, Arabic

Leelou (#381) – variant of Lilou

Lilou (#12) – derived from the character in Luc Besson’s film The Fifth Element

Lou (#25) – short form of Lou- names

Lou-Ann (#156) – combination of the name Lou and the name Ann

Lou-Anne (#167) – variant of Lou-Ann

Louane (#29) – variant of Lou-Ann

Louann (#327) – variant of Lou-Ann

Louanne (#200) – variant of Lou-Ann

Louisa (#195) – famed warrior, Germanic

Louise (#10) – variant of Louisa

Louison (#274) – see Louison above

Louna (#19) – variant of Luna, which means moon

Lylou (#105) – see Lilou

Maimouna (#403) – happy, Arabic

Marilou (#284) – smoosh of Marie and Lou

Marylou (#291) – see Marilou

Nour (#117) – variant of Noor, which means light in Arabic

Soukaina (#486) – wellness, Arabic

Soumaya (#331) – perfect, high, Arabic

Youna (#453) – if, Celtic

Yousra (#256) – who has good character, Arabic

Weekend Post: Bowling Alley Aliases

That epic 92 score, yeah, that’s mine 🙂

It may seem an odd topic to cover, but a valid one since going bowling is one of the easiest ways to spot names, given that there a giant screens down the length of the building, each displaying on average 4 names.

As it so happens, in the past 12 months or so, I’ve been to French bowling alleys more than ones in England. This is possibly because it is one of the easiest activities to do with people who don’t speak your language proficiently; the only French/English you need to know is how to shriek with delight when you get a strike. In this case, the French version of yeah is ouais, which is pronounced pretty much the same way as the English word way.

One of the best things about French bowling alleys is that if you want to see what your name translate in France, the bowling alley is the place to go. I’ve already mentioned this week that my sister went from Heather to Hayley at a French bowling alley, and another friend went from Bethan to Bella. Personally, I usually become Lucie, as that is the more popular spelling in France.

As for my many other friends with whom I’ve shared a lane:

• Cait became Kate (this could happen anywhere, though)
• Caprice became Capucine (not through the attendant mis-understanding her, more to do with Caprice choosing to be Capucine in France)
• Helen became Hélène
• Lénaïg became Lena (this is a French girl; her name is a Breton form of Helen)

Speaking of the French, want to hear some of the awesome names I’ve seen on other French people whilst at the bowling alley? Here you go (I’ve approximated the ages):

• Sisters Anya & Alexia; between 13-18 ish
• Brothers Camille & Yannick; mid-20s ish, possibly twins
• A 30-something female Laurence
• Twin sisters Louna & Jade; 4-6ish
• Brothers Quentin & Julien; both under 10.
• A 50-something Sylvie – was with her 18-25 yr old son, Florian
• A teen-aged girl named Tameline
• A 20-something Younes, male – was with either a male friend or relative of similar age named Bouna