Joachim? Confluence of nationalities, need some help

[Barbaraaxt]

DH and I are both originally from Brazil, and are expecting our first baby. My family is part German, DH is half Japanese, and the baby will be born in the UK. It leaves us with a British/Brazilian/Japanese/German boy to name.

We wanted something traditional (not a made up name), that works well at least in English and Portuguese, that fits a Japanese-looking boy, and that is not too common!
We don?t want anything too Japanese, but on the other hand he will be mixed race, so anything like Fritz or Olaf is completely out!

So far I like Joachim, as it is reasonably usual in Brazil and is also used in several other countries (in Portuguese would be spelt Joaquim, in Spanish Joaquin, in German Joachim).

Do you think it is too weird? Would anyone have any problem to pronounce it?

Any risk of people shortening it?

I welcome other suggestions as well.

PS: He won?t have a middle name. It will be First name + my family name (German) + Husband?s family name (Japanese).

(Yes, it all sounds like a puzzle to me).

[CantSupinate]

So you say it Wah-keem or Jah-keem or...?
I like it, and the cultural background makes it make sense.
But I can't comment on whether English people will butcher it!

What's wrong with shortening it? What's the usual Portuguese nickname for it?

[GoldenSnitch]

I think you'll find most brits will struggle. He'll end up Joe-a-chim

[MrsBadger]

ooh tricky

Xavier?

[annasophia]

I know only 60+ year old Germans named Joachim, it is a bit old fashioned (and not yet cool).

I would pronoune it the German way, Yo-a-ch-eem.

[magaddict]

I like it, would pronounce it 'Hoakim' but am a Spanish speaker - most English speakers will pronounce it with a hard J sound, which still sounds nice.

[MrsDippers]

You could try Redbin for a european name.

[sayanything]

I have a Spanish friend called Joaquim, so i pronounce it the Spanish way, I'm not entirely sure how I'd prounce it in English tbh. Joe-akim doesn't sound as nice to me.

How about Christian(o)?

I fully sympathise btw, we're trying to find a Greek-English-French for our boy and it's proving mightily difficult.

[thumbwitch]

What about Stefan? can't go wrong with Stefan in any language and it's much nicer than Stephen, IMO.

Christian also quite nice - Joachim would be a PITA for lots of English people, although Joachim Phoenix has helped (pronounced Wackeem mostly by anyone to do with film/tv)

[southeastastra]

and spelt joaquin, oh he was lovely but he's gone a bit nuts hasn't he

[PrettyCandles]

I like Joachim. You'll almost certainly have to spell it out for people, or tell them how to pronounce it.

How about Benedict? I think it's the same or similar in both Portugese and German, and is also pronounceable for both Japanese and English.

[cloelia]

The only Joachim I know is an adult (German) and he is shortened to Jock here. I think it is a great name to choose, not made up and yet unusual.

[BravoJuliet]

Not easy for the british tongue. It will sound like wack him.

What about Bruno? German in origin but sounds usable in Brazil.

[Barbaraaxt]

Well, thanks for all the help, I found the reactions were more positive than I expected

CantSupinate, I think in Portuguese the nickname would be Joca, or Juca. I asked about shortening because I don't like the idea of people calling him "Joe". But since nobody suggested it so far, perhaps I shouldn't worry about it.

GoldenSnitch that's what I worry about. That people will read it and have no idea how to say that.

MrsBadger my DH would never accept Xavier

annasophia, I didn't know it was an "old people's name" in German, but I don't dislike it. In Brazil it used to be very old fashioned until a couple of years ago, when it became slightly popular again. Personally, I like old fashioned names (I liked to find out that some people think my name, Barbara, is an "old ladies' name" here in the UK).

magaddict I agree that it would sound nice with the hard J. I like it even better than the Spanish pronunciation.

BabyBecks I like Otto, my DH hates it. He thinks it's too German and I agree that it may be too much for a Japanese-looking boy.

sayanything I'm not sure I like Christian enough, but it definitely works.

thumbwitch Stefan? It was out of our radar until now, we can think about it.

southeastastra, yes, Joaquin Phoenix uses the Spanish spelling. Btw, I think in the US people associate the name to the Spanish pronunciation faster than here (probably because there are lots of Spanish speaking people in the US, so they're more used to the language)

(and he is definitely a bit nuts, lately)

PrettyCandles Benedict is really beautiful in English, but in Portuguese it doesn't sound as good - it would be Benedito there.

cloelia Jock doesn't sound that bad

BravoJuliet Bruno is a nice name, but it's way too popular in Brazil.

• I also like Vincent, Hector, Benjamin. But I'm afraid these names may be too popular, almost boring (probably with the exception of Hector - but then isn't it too poncy?)

[mathanxiety]

Hector isn't a bit too poncy, imo.

Would you consider Roman? David? Reuben?

[thumbwitch]

Ooh, I love Hector. Great name, great association, not a bit poncey IMO.

Vincent is one of my DS's names, after FIL's middle name - wouldn't have given it as a first name but it could work for you. I don't think it's that high on the popularity stakes.

Luca, OTOH, which is a great name, I like it a lot, is far too popular as Luke (or it was a few years ago, it might have dropped down the stakes again by now) - still, I offer that as another suggestion for you.

[sausagepastie]

My grandfather's name was this, very very German name imo and no British person could pronounce it without practise. BUT if you spell it like the actor, it will be more manageable.

I really like it.

[bellissima]

Know a 12 year old half German - half Dutch Joachim. But no one here would pronounce it correctly. Or if they do he will get wacky wachim. Suggest Jerome - that's nice whether pronounced with a 'J' or a 'Y'.

[BravoJuliet]

or Victor? viktor

I love Leo. That's a good idea.

[taipo]

Joachim was very popular in the early 60s in Germany so anyone with that name here is almost certainly middle-aged. Could be due a revival though.

The German pronunciation is definitely a problem for English speakers and probably a bit harsh sounding but I think the Brazilian version is easier and a nice name imo.

[Bathsheba]

I'd be put off by just the sheer number of possible pronunciations..

WHACK-eem
Waceem
Joe-A-Chim
Ho-A-kim
Ho-A-Chim
Joe-A-Kim

And on and on.

I think no-one would pronounce it correctly ever when they read it written down (no matter how you pronouce it, with so many varients they are bound to get it wrong) so every day at school, every trip to the dentist, every phone call (Can I speak to.....) would be wrong...

I'm a Share-On but its spelled Sharon and its been pronoucned wrongly every day of my life

[lowrib]

I've also heard it pronounced Yoh-kim and Yoa-kim. This would put me off a bit TBH, unless I loved it in which case I'd go for it anyway!

OK then, lets get my thinking cap on - here are some Portuguese names ...

Natanael - NN Nate? Portuguese and Spanish form of biblical Nathanael, meaning "God has given."

Nicolau - Catalan and Portuguese form of Nicholas, meaning "victory of the people."

Maximino - (or one of the other versions of Max) - would this go well in all the languages?

Osvaldo - NN Ozzy or Waldo? Oswald does sound like an old namen's name to me, but old people names are in! It's definitely known in Portugal and Germany

Ricardo

[lowrib]

Oh - I just found this website. It lists the background of the names clearly.

How about ...

• Alberto - used in Portugal but Germanic origin

• Alwin - again used in Portugal but Gernamic origin. I like this one - means elf-fiend, or noble frind.

• Aldo - again used in Portugal and Germany. This is my favourite so far actually. You could use Aldous in English, and nn Aldo for the Portuguese / Germans.

That website's really good actually (if you can see past the ads) definitely worth a look. I could go on all day, I enjoy this game! But really must get on with something useful!

[lowrib]

Sugar - that should have said Oswald sounds like an old man's name!

Gah!