View Message

[Opinions] Isabeau
I love Isabeau for a girl (apparently it was used for girls in the middle ages). The thing is that I speak French and the -beau part is masculine. I like it anyway. Does it sound very masculine to you ? I'd use it as a middle name. What do you think of Estella Isabeau ?
Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

I speak French and it doesn't sound masculine to me. But that's because I'm familiar with the name.Between 1900 and 2003 this name was used 145 times in France if you're interested in statistics.
vote up1
Because of the reasons you state yourself (beau is maculine and belle is feminine) I consider Isabeau to be masculine and Isabelle to be feminine. However I think you can use it as a middle name for a girl if you really love it.
vote up1
Oh, I love Isabeau, but I've always worried that people wouldn't know how to prn the -beau ending, or if they did, they'd think the name was weird and masculine. I like the idea of using it as a mn. Estella Isabeau is pretty, but I think Estelle Isabeau flows better.
vote up1
I prefer Isobel.
vote up1
I'm not a huge fan of Isabeau. There are a few things that contribute to this - 1. my 1 year old male cousin's name is Beau, therefore I see the -beau as being masculine and 2. I am an Isobel / Isabel / Isabelle etc fan and would prefer the isa-bell names anytime over Isabeau.However I think it is very usual especially as a middle name and Estella Isabeau is lovely
vote up1
I think Isabel sounds better. But Estella is better than both Isabeau AND Isabel.
vote up1
I think this name is nasty it totally ruins the beauty of Isabel and Isabella in my opinion. sorry
vote up1
I don't find it masculine at all, but I'm American and don't speak French so my perspective might be off on that. I personally find it a beautiful alternative to Isabelle. Estella Isabeau just doesn't sound right to me though. I think it's just a matter of flow. Isabeau Estelle comes to mind, but you said you prefer ISabeau as a mn.
vote up1
The ending is actually eau not beau something which has been discussed quite a bit in the past on these boards :)
I find it a very feminine name.
I dont like Estella Isabeau though I can't quite figure out why as I like both names individually.
vote up1
so is it pronounced Isab-eau ? I don't get it....all I know is that I find it so weird when people name a girl Beau (I know one)...eau is the French word for water...I kind of like that. plus l'eau is feminine hehe
vote up1
Its pronounced sort of like Iz-ah-boh I am not very good at writing down pronounciations.
If you do a search for the name you will find it disscussed by people who are far better at explaining things than me.
It might be clearer if you also know that Isabelle isn't actually Isa-belle but Isab-elle.
vote up1
yes you're right that Isabelle is more like Isab-elle....I never even noticed. I speak French and I say Isabeau like ee-sah-bo but I'm also not good at writing down pronunciations :P
vote up1
Isabeau is very pretty. I don't think that it sounds too masculine especially since I know that it's a feminine name plus it's close enough to Isabel / Isabelle that I don't think it will be a problem. Estella Isabeau is pretty, but I prefer Estelle Isabeau.

This message was edited 8/31/2008, 3:51 PM

vote up1