I've always liked
Joseph - I had an Uncle
Joe who was very nice indeed and died far too young. Not keen on other-language versions. But given enough sons, I'd use
Joseph, nn
Joe, which I think is one of the friendliest nns in existence. As names go, I think I might prefer
Joel, but, hey, family reasons are powerful.
One of my lecturers at uni was a Gildas and very Welsh indeed; he pronounced it GILdas. And I liked him a lot: pleasant, professional, well-informed, all the right things. If I recall, the original Gildas (back in the mists of time) started out Welsh and crossed the Channel, where he presumably became known as Zheelda. Is it used in French at all, do you know? I do like the sound, but I prefer the Gildas version.