View Message

[Opinions] Ocean
Ever since finding out that Forest Whittaker has a son named Ocean Alexander, I really have been liking the name Ocean. Ocean Alexander and Ocean Phoenix are some top contenders.What do you think? Do you like the name Ocean? How about Oceane or Oceana, the female equivalent? Oceane is very popular in France and I think it is stunning. What middle names would you use for Ocean and Oceane/ Oceana? Do you think Ocean is usable, and do you think it is more masculine or feminine?
Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

I slightly prefer Ocean for a girl and River for a boy but I feel like Ocean and River are names that work great for both genders.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
vote up1
French equivillant of McKenna, Ashlynne, etcPersonally I cannot stand this name but I know it's a little irrational. About the French thing, in France it's considered "beauf" which is basically the same as redneck or trashy. I have a friend who describes it as "beau beauf" meaning a tacky name that some people consider to be refined and unfortunately I agree. Ocean is masculine and océane is feminine for me.Sorry if this comes off as rude maybe it would be fresh and interesting in the states or other places?
vote up1
That is interesting. I did not realize that. Thanks for letting me know that it is considered "trendy" in France.
vote up1
It's not really trueI'm bilingual, my mom is from France. It is a new name that didn't become popular till the 2000s but it's not seen as tacky or trashy at all which is how many people view McKenna and Ashlynne. It is also not misspelled and not a surname. It is derived from the French word océan, which means ocean, of course. I would compare it to Skye, Brooke (only that Brooke was common in the 70s and Oceane in the 2000s) and other nature inspired name. It has a very innocent nature feel to it, not a tacky one like Ashlynne (I actually like Aislin and don't mind Ashlyn, it's just that most people think of it as tacky). Also in terms of popularity it was way more common than Ashlynne and McKenna. Ashlynne and McKenna were never really common at all and just used a bit because they're similar to Ashley and Mackenzie.Again, it is more of an innocent nature name and even though it is new I wouldn't really say it's trendy. I'd also not really say Skye is trendy even though it hasn't been used in the US before the 80s, just that Oceane is more common. Maybe you could compare it to Autumn which is in the top 100 or Brooke which was in the top 50. Oceane has also been used since the 70s but didn't become really popular till the late 90s and peaked in 2000.

This message was edited 6/3/2012, 1:45 PM

vote up1
Maybe I gave poor examples but it's trueI could have chosen better examples but I couldnt think of English equivalents, all you have to do it google "Quels sont les prénoms les plus beaufs que vous avez entendus","Que pensez vous du prénom Océane" etc, and you will see that like names on US boards it gets some good reviews from mainly trendy/unique or Sophie/Isabel crowd but overall people are getting sick of the name and comparing it to Brenda, Kelly, Dylan, etc...the name is not exactly BCBG. I have lived in both countries, husband grew up in France is 1/2 French.
vote up1
I didn't get that impression at all. I copied and googled what you searched for and most people liked Oceane or thought it was boring. Many mentioned the nature image and the nice sound. There were quite a few who said it was boring and overused or who said 'it's nice but too common'. But there were hardly any who thought it sounded trashy, tacky or trendy. Hardly anyone who had any strong negative opinions. Also I didn't find a thread in which it was compared to Kevin or Brenda. Here is exactly what I found:I googled 'Que pensez vous du prénom Océane' and yes, there are some people who think it's horrible but also many who like it. I didn't find a single thread in which everyone thought it was horrible, dated or tacky. Most people who didn't like it just thought it was boring. You would get the same results if you googled Hannah or Alexis, probably even Elizabeth or Margaret (in the US).I also googled this:
'Quels sont les prénoms les plus beaufs que vous avez entendus'
I guess you found this thread:
http://fr.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091005034336AAslS9o&cp=2I didn't find a single thread in which people compared Oceane to Kevin and Dylan. I found only ONE thread in which someone listed Oceane at all, which is the one I linked above. In the others Kevin, Stacy, Brandon, Kimberly etc are listed multiple times but never Oceane. I would say it's a coincidence. Theodora, Bernadette and Theo were also listed in the thread above and I think they are generally thought of as nice names in France. The reason why Kevin, Brenda and Dylan are listed multiple times is that American/English names are usually perceived as trashy in non-English speaking countries in Europe. My dad is German and it's the same there. German comedians are making fun of names like Kevin and Cheyenne on a regular basis.I go to France at least once a year for several months and never got the impression that people thought of it as trendy or uneducated or anything. My aunt's friend was considering it for her daughter last summer when I was there and she received many positive comments on how beautiful it is. She also considered Lea which got many negative comments (boring, generic etc). I mean Lea was number 1 for some time as far as I know but Oceane was almost as common (number 7, I believe), so it surprised me a little. She named her Victoire, by the way :P

... Load Full Message

This message was edited 6/3/2012, 5:49 PM

vote up1
Off topic commentI`m intrigued by the use of Victoire. I was sure that that name had been nearly dead and replaced by Victoria since the era of la reine du meme prénom. Especially interesting considering her other choices. I haven`t checked the stats, though, am I wrong in this perception? Maybe this is only true in Canada.
vote up1
VictoireThe name has had a big spike in popularity in France over the last 10-20 years, it's always been a pretty steady name but it's come back pretty big right now along with a lot of other older, traditional names.http://www.aufeminin.com/w/prenom/p19482/victoire.html
vote up1
Yeah, see, in Quebec it`s been 1 a year for the past 6 years and 2 last year. Compared to 263 little Victorias in 2011. Huh.
vote up1
Yeah, see, in Quebec it`s been 1 a year for the past 6 years and 2 last year. Compared to 263 little Victorias in 2011. Huh.
vote up1
Victoire vs VictoriaVictoria is going pretty strong too
http://www.aufeminin.com/w/prenom/p19489/victoria.htmlSo expect to see a name bashlack within 10-15 years
vote up1
it's cool we can disagreeMaybe it's mainly on sites I post aufeminin.com, people I know dont like Oceane that much but maybe that's the area we live in when we go there? Who knows but it's fine to disagree, obviously any name that has a big popularity boom is going to be liked by a good number of people. About Dylan: any name related to 90210 or most American TV shows is considered sort of lower class by a lot of people.
vote up1
Hahaha how could I not have noticed! You're right Dylan, Brandon, Brenda and Kelly were all on that show.Yes, it could be a regional thing!
vote up1
Re:I included more in my textIn case you're looking for a longer answer, I didnt want to post lots of links but I put a few things to google that lead to some threads and more info
vote up1
I've never considered Ocean as a boys name so that's... interesting. I don't like it as a girls name but now that I'm thinking of it on a boy, I can see the appeal. I almost think it's too word name-y even though I don't have that same hang up about River.Ocean Phoenix is a bit much, but Ocean Alexander is great. Mostly because Alexander is great.
vote up1
I like it for both genders, but not enough to use. I also like Oceane.
Something more common. Ocean Phoenix is too much. Ocean James, Ocean Harvey or Ocean Emmett would be nice. Ocean Catherine, Ocean Emmeline ... something classic.
vote up1
No, I don't like it. I think it's too light and ditzy to make much of an impact, which is a total turn-off for me, name-wise.
vote up1
Try Oceanus.
vote up1