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I'd assume it was after Margaret of Anjou, and they wanted a quirky way to Annie.

My first thought was not the place but the Japanese surname. A French place name, hmmm... it's fine as long as there is a sentimental or physical connection to said place. I'm not opposed at all, but I don't know how to say it the French way so I can't say if it's pretty or not.

My first thought would be they went to the market and named her after a pear. D’Anjou pears are the most common type of pear where I live. I would think they were not very intelligent.

At first glance the name makes me think of Maya Angelou. And then there’s Margaret of Anjou.

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As a first name it looks made up, maybe named after her parents Anton & Journey. I can’t say I like it.

Is it just pronounced “Awn-joo”? If so, I don’t like it. To me it sounds like an incomplete name, or a nickname for Anjali or Angela.

Don't really like it

I think of pears and also the medieval duchy of Anjou. Anjou is a fun word, it has the same sort of feeling as something like Camelot or Avalon, because my brain thinks of it as a place name that is so ancient it's part of folklore. I don't think it exists anymore, does it?

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Anyway, it has a whimsical historical thing going on. If I came across it as a name I'd think the parents (or the person themselves, Anjou comes across as a self-chosen name) were history nerds, or maybe had ties to that area in their ancestry and wanted to have fun with it. It's florid and romantic. Anjou is on the same wavelength as something like Guinevere or Charlemagne.

My first thought is "Duke of Anjou"; specifically the one who famously crossdressed because he's in movies, but what stands out to me is the title. So it seems pseudo aristocratic but not like Earl or Duke, more like Orsino (so, maybe it could be a literary reference that goes over my head, seems a bit swotty or try-hard romantic but not embarrassingly so) or Essex (African American names like this date back to slavery, so can seem traditional and humble but also kind of sharp?) or it could possibly have something to do with military (it used to be kind of popular to name kids after war leaders, so theoretically could be an obscure antique name in that way - or from a video game, haha: I googled, and there's a Warhammer character called Lord-General Anjou)...though chances seem good it's just a name someone thought was pretty, randomly.

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My 2nd thought is that it seems cooler than Bijou and prettier than Dutton (which yeah, has been used for girls).

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My 3rd thought is of that joke from Robin Hood Men in Tights ("I'm Ahchoo." - "Bless you!" - "NO, my name is Ahchoo!!") I'm imagining "I'm ahn-ZHOO" being mistaken for a sneeze.

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After reading responses, I think it's kind of fun that it's also a Japanese surname and a pear (it's also the name of a perfume apparently). But I'm glad it's not my name. I like Anjali at least twice as much.

This message was edited 1/19/2024, 4:43 PM

Back in high school, in my budding name nerdiness, I thought Anjou was so cool. It would take a big personality to pull it off, though, and a real-life bearer would likely just go by Annie.

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It's also the name of a pear, so... there's that.

My first thought was of an aristocrat. My 2nd thought was of condiments; I'm guessing I've had mustard or pickles from Anjou. Apart from that, it sounds like a name that might be found in New Orleans. French but not a name that would be used in France.

Reminds me too much of the various Anjou dynasties.