Forum Baby Names

What are real Belgian names?

28 replies · page 1 of 2

EvenlienGuest ·
Out of curiosity, I was wondering what real Belgian names are.

Replies

Page 1 of 2

  1. Max Guest #2

    Here’s an overview of real, old-fashioned, typically Flemish first names:

    http://www.vernoeming.nl/ouderwetse-vlaamse-voornamen

  2. Iza #3

    Tobias
    Guy
    Jean

  3. sita Guest #4

    Carmen

  4. Miss Butterfly #5

    I live in Belgium (I'm Belgian) and I don't know that many people who are called Tobias, Guy, or Jean these days. My uncles and such are called that, but they're quite a bit older (in their fifties/sixties). You hear Carmen a bit more often. Nowadays, lots of little ones here are called Emma or Marie. Then there's Lotte, Lauren, Laure. Katrien and Sophie remain popular. For the boys, you often see Mats, Mattiz, Thomas, Lucas, and Kristof these days. I see those names a lot among my students too (they're about eleven now).

  5. annemarie Guest #6

    Pascalle for a girl, I'm crazy about Belgium there.

  6. annemarie Guest #7

    I think people there are much neater. By the way, I’m from Rotterdam, but I have a little house in Brasschaat, Belgium. Greetings, Annemarie

  7. Miss Butterfly #8

    I did check that list (link) that was posted here, by the way. Sorry, but it's totally irrelevant. It's about names that once appeared in a West Flemish newspaper and which one author found to sound un-Dutch. I looked at the list in question: I hardly know anyone with those names. A few do show up here, like Cyriel and Valère, but mostly among the older generations. As for female names, I only know two from the entire list. I'm certainly not THE ultimate reference, but I've done quite a bit of genealogical research on many families, so I've seen a lot of old names. As for modern names, I'm very much into onomastics (the study of names) and I have around 500 students every year, who of course all have names.

    If you're really looking for THE typical names for men or women, then for women (I'm pretty sure about this), across all Flemish provinces, it's definitely Maria by a wide margin (followed by Annie, Irma). For men, it would be Leon/Leo, Frank, Jules, Albert, Jan, and Jef.

    In West Flanders, by the way, there are also a few first names that you hardly hear anywhere else in Belgium. For example, Lieven for a boy. My husband is from West Flanders, and in his family and circle of friends, there are many people with names I've never heard in Limburg.

  8. Miss Butterfly #9

    The typical old-fashioned names are those, of course! Not the ones of my students now.

  9. rieta Guest #10

    polleke

  10. miera Guest #11

    Savje for a young one is, I think, also Belgian. Greetings, Miera.

  11. Mar83 #12

    Kobe is a common boys' name derived from the name Jacob.
    Additionally, these names (often) are used in Belgium today:

    For a boy:
    Silas
    Ferre
    Loic
    Thibe
    Cedric
    Matteo
    Stan
    Stef
    Maxim
    Mathis
    Vic
    Milo
    Lucas
    Jurre
    Finn
    Thibault
    Nicolas
    Gilles

    For a girl:
    Mila
    Louise
    Lois
    Emma
    Julie
    Amelie
    Aurelie / Aurelia
    Esmee
    Elise
    Veerle
    Karen
    Carlein
    Catho
    Sophie
    Anna
    Tove
    Camille

  12. Miss Butterfly #13

    @Mira: You do hear that sometimes here (and indeed, much more so in the past: it's a classic name), but we spell it Xavier. You do pronounce it "savjee".
    By the way (with a few hundred students each year): I've never seen a Tove or a Silas. You also hardly ever hear Esmee here. Nor Carlein. The rest, definitely: that list seems quite common. You also often hear Milan for boys.
    First names are my hobby, sorry for the subject nerdiness... I just can't help myself ;-)

  13. Miss Butterfly #14

    And Kobe, indeed, you hear that a lot here.

  14. miera Guest #15

    oo, don't mind me, I've never been good at spelling, so you write Xavier and pronounce it Savje? Thanks for correcting me. Greetings, Miera

  15. irma Guest #16

    I have 2 nephews in Belgium, one of them is called Cederick. I just don't know if I'm spelling it correctly.

  16. vicky #17

    Marie and Louis, you hear Rune a lot these days, both for boys and girls.
    As for now, Jeff or Viktor are also quite popular, and for girls, Lore or Emma.
    Fien is also something that's trending now.

  17. rikky Guest #18

    and also the boy's name Baltazar, did you hear that one in Belgium before?

  18. Anonymous Guest #19

    Balthazar you hear about sometimes but not so very often and it is indeed a name from the past. I think they used that in The Champions because it has something exotic and special about it. The names Vicky mentions I currently have in my classes in large numbers (11-12 and 13 year olds) but they are still hyper popular for newborns.

  19. Mommy-Of-Nyana #20

    well, I'm so glad with my girl, her name is Nyana, you don't come across that often she calls herself Nyana
    otherwise, at my previous job (daycare), the following names were common:
    girls:
    Nora
    Mila
    Roos
    Emilie
    Ayla
    Paulien
    Maarit
    Marie
    Sam
    Olivia
    Jenthe
    Janne

    Boys:
    Jens
    Arne
    Victor
    Vince
    Lewis
    Juul
    Guust
    Jonas
    Kamiel
    Rune
    Floris
    Aris
    Ben
    Tuur
    Jannes
    Karel
    Stan

    etc...

Add your reply

Share what helped you, or ask a question.

Sign in to join the conversation.

Continue with Google

Takes a moment. You’ll come straight back here to reply.