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FRENCH LANGUAGE

The 9 boys’ names that mean something very different in French

Most foreigners who move to France have to accept that their name will be pronounced very differently here - but what about those poor souls whose name takes on a totally different meaning in French?

The 9 boys' names that mean something very different in French
Canadian actor Ryan Gosling who stars as 'Ken' in the Barbie movie. (Photo by Bridget BENNETT / AFP)

If your name is not a common one in France it’s likely to get a bit of a mangling from unaccustomed French people, but for some people the problem goes much deeper – when their name is actually also a French word that means something totally different.

Ken – in the US, there are estimated to be over 200,000 men named Ken, not including Barbie’s love interest of course. But in France, the word Ken is vulgar high-school speak that will get you some weird looks if spoken aloud in a respectable establishment.

It is the verlan of niquer, which means ‘to fuck’ and it carries just about the same meaning. Adolescents are most likely to use this term, so it might be similar to the English phrase ‘to bang’ or ‘to smash’. You can also use it to describe being screwed over.

Richard – generally seen as a pretty respectable type in the Anglophone world, Richard in French is a flash, loud moneybags. Un gros richard is a French insult aimed at people who are wealthy but flash and obnoxious.

Calling someone a richard is like calling them a fat cat, a toff or a nob.

Kevin – this is another insult, but one directly related to the name and it has a very specific history.

Briefly, the name Kévin enjoyed a short-lived popularity in France in the 1990s and then faded into obscurity again. This meant that 15 years on there was a whole generation of teenage French Kévins and the phrase faire son Kévin began to be used generally about anyone who was behaving in a childish or generally obnoxious and teenage manner.

The Kévins are now grown up and, one hopes, more mature but the phrase arrête de faire ton Kévin! (stop doing your Kevin) lives on. There has even been a documentary film focused on rehabilitating the name and deconstructing stereotypes around it.

READ ALSO How France fell in and out of love with Kevin 

Peter – the French verb péter has a rather unfortunate meaning for men called Peter – it means to fart. The verb can also mean to burst or to explode and is used in quite a few phrases péter les plombes meaning to blow a fuse or go beserk or péter un câble which means broadly the same thing. You can also say péter le feu (farting fire) to mean being in rude health or firing on all four cylinders.

Colin – in the Anglophone world Colin might work in IT, in France he’s more likely to be grilled and served on a bed of leafy green vegetables.

Yes in French colin is a type of fish, known in English as hake. It’s very tasty too, almost as tasty as Colin Farrell.

Ben – this one is only likely to cause you confusion if you see it written down. Spend long enough in France and you will notice that many French people begin sentences with a bah ouais . . . (well yeah . . .) but if you ever see this verbal tic written down, in a subtitled film for instance, you will it’s actually spelled ben ouais. Which is confusing if you are sure there is no character in the movie called Ben.

Benjamin – sometimes a benjamin is a Benjamin but sometimes they are not. Confused? In French, the word benjamin is used to denote the youngest person in a group. It stems from the bible story about Jacob and his youngest son, named (you guessed it) Benjamin. To describe a female who is the youngest member of a group, the French say benjamine

READ MORE: The French baby names banned by law

Connor – this isn’t exactly the same, but when spoken out loud Connor sounds perilously close to connard – which means dickhead or asshole in French. So any Connors hanging around tricky driving spots such as the Arc de Triomphe roundabout are going to spend a lot of time thinking that someone is calling their name in rather angry tones.

Nick – God help you if this is your name. In France niquer meant ‘to fuck’ and nique is one of the verb’s more common conjugations. Because French people tend to pronounce the letter ‘i’ as ‘ee’, if your name is Nick, it sounds like your name is actually ‘fuck’. We would suggest changing your name to ‘Nico’ – which is how the French shorten the name Nicolas. Good luck.

Graffiti in Paris reads 'Nik les agences & la gentrification' which translates as 'Fuck lettings agencies and gentrification'.
Graffiti in Paris reads ‘Nik les agences & la gentrification’ which translates as ‘Fuck lettings agencies and gentrification’. (Credit: Emma Pearson/The Local)

And not strictly a person’s name, but spare a thought for the British and Irish restaurant chain Zizzi – which is unlikely every to be able to expand its Italian restaurant offering to France as in French zizi is a very informal slang term for penis.

Do you know of any more boys’ names in English that mean something very different in French? Let us know and we’ll add them in.

Member comments

  1. Unfortunately Nick, when pronounced with a french accent sounds like the singular / familiar imperative of ‘niquer’.

    When I was a student at UBO In Brest in the mid-90s French students used to find it strange and amusing that anglophone students would invariably call me Nick rather than Nicholas (or as the French would have it Nicolas) and even more odd that I did not object. Back then it was very common to see ‘NTM’ scrawled across walls by vandals etc.

  2. Amused to find that my name, Peter, has gained an acute accent in the annuaire, so at least it’s pronounced properly. All our friends write it as ‘Piter’, which solves the problem. Unfortunately, my wife, Sally, or Sal for short, becomes ‘dirty’. Dirty farters, the pair of us!

  3. Lawrence, a boys name in English, sounds like a girl’s name in French (Laurence).
    The boys’ equivalent is Laurent (silent ‘t’) in French.

  4. came home from school saying some people say my name’s a rude word. But the funniest thing was when one of his maternelle friends spotted him in town one day & shouted ‘Hey Connor” & the kids mum slapped him for shouting out this rude word

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CULTURE

Listings: French films with English subtitles during the Olympics

Lost in Frenchlation – the cinema club that screens French films with English subtitles – is screening a film a day in Paris throughout the Olympic Games.

Listings: French films with English subtitles during the Olympics

A sporting event gets under way in Paris next month. You might have heard about it. But, if you’re getting fed-up of repeated mentions of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games and wondering what you can do instead of watching wall-to-wall sporting events, worry not – the good people of Lost in Frenchlation have you covered.

They have put together a veritable Olympian schedule of French films with English subtitles to give your cultural muscles a bit of a workout – with an emphasis on films about sport and films about Paris.

The cinematic Olympiad includes two screenings of the ever-popular Audrey Tatou movie Amélie (or Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain, to use its full titl)e; Le Grand Bain, a film described as Full Monty in Speedos; Jean-Luc Godard’s classic À bout de Souffle; this year’s Oscar-winning Anatomie d’une Chute; and, from the never-less-than-fun Asterix series, the perfectly appropriate Asterix aux JO.

The full Olympics’ programme is here:

La Petite Vadrouille 

July 22nd and August 3rd @ Cinéma du Panthéon, 13 rue Victor Cousin, Paris

Tickets – Ranging from €5 to €9.50. You can purchase them HERE

This French comedy by Bruno Podalydès tells the story of a group of friends who attempt to solve their money problems by organising a fake romantic cruise for their wealthy friend, Franck, who wants to seduce a woman.

Le Genou de Claire

July 23rd @ L’Epée de Bois, 100 Rue Mouffetard, Paris

Tickets – Can be purchased on site. They will range from €5 to €9.90.

Directed by Eric Rohmer, the film follows the story of Jérôme, a diplomat and writer living in Sweden, as he prepares to get married. Before the wedding, he decides to take a trip alone to Annecy in France, where he runs into Aurora, a Romanian novelist he had met while working at the French embassy in Bucharest. 

Anatomie d’une Chute

July 24th @ L’Ecran St Denis, 14 Pass. de l’Aqueduc, Saint-Denis

Tickets – Ranging from €4 to €7.50. Can be purchased here

August 8th @ Luminor Hôtel de Ville 20, rue du temple, Paris

Tickets – Ranging from €7 to €11. Purchased here.

The film follows Sandra, a German writer, her French husband Samuel, and their eleven-year-old son Daniel who live a secluded life in the French Alps.

When Samuel dies unexpectedly, Sandra is suspected of having played a role in his death. She tries to prove her innocence, but throughout the trial, the intimate details of the couple’s life together are uncovered.

Les Crevettes Pailletées

July 25th @ Luminor Hôtel de Ville 20, rue du temple, Paris

Tickets – Can be purchased here. Ranging from €7 to €11.

An LGBT comedy, the film follows a homophobic coach who is forced to coach a gay water polo team. Together, they travel to Croatia for the ‘Gay Games,’ the largest LGBT sporting event in the world. 

L’Esprit Coubertin

July 27th @ Cinéma du Panthéon, 13 rue Victor Cousin, Paris

Tickets – Can be purchased here. Ranging from €5 to €9.50.

August 4th @ Luminor Hôtel de Ville 20 rue du temple, Paris

Tickets – You can purchase them here. Tickets range from €7 to €11.

A comedy by director Jérémie Sein, the film tells the story of the French Olympic delegation 10 days into the competition. Without any gold medals, the delegation places all of their hope on Paul, an exceptional, yet immature sports shooter. As the big day approaches, Paul finds himself forced to share a room with Jacob, a swimmer who is more focused on the extra-curricular temptations at the athletes’ village than his own race.

La Revanche des Crevettes Pailletées

July 28th @ Luminor Hôtel de Ville, 20 rue du temple, Paris

Tickets – You can purchase them here. Ranging from €7 to €11.

Another LGBT comedy directed by Cédric Le Gallo and Maxime Govare. It will be the sequel to the 2019 film Les crevettes pailletées (The Shiny Shrimps). 

This next instalment will follow the team as they try to make their way to a competition in Tokyo, only to be derailed by a missing their connecting flight, forcing the team to pass through a very homophobic region in Russia.

Amélie (Le Fabuleux Destin d’Amélie Poulain)

July 29th @ Cinéma du Panthéon, 13 rue Victor Cousin, Paris

Tickets – Can be purchased here. Ranging from €5 to €9.50.

August 7th @ L’Ecran Saint-Denis, 14 Pass. de l’Aqueduc, Saint-Denis

Tickets – Can be purchased here. Ranging from €4 to €7.50.

The whimsical romantic comedy follows a shy Parisian waitress who spends most of her time imagining about the people around her. One day, she decides to step in and attempt to discretely help others find happiness.

Pauline à la plage

July 30th, 8pm @ L’Epée de Bois, 100 Rue Mouffetard, Paris

Tickets – Can be purchased on site. Ranging from  €5 to €9.90.

The film follows the recent divorcée Marion, and her younger cousin Pauline as they go on vacation to their family home in Normandy. During the trip, they run into Marion’s ex-lover Pierre, who introduces them to Henri. As their love lives become entangled, the situation becomes more complicated.

Le Comte de Monte Cristo

July 31st @ L’Ecran Saint-Denis, 14 Pass. de l’Aqueduc, Saint-Denis, France

Tickets – Purchase them here. Ranging from €4 to €7.50. 

Based on the classic novel by Alexandre Dumas, the film follows the story of Edmond Dantès, a French 19-year-old first mate of the merchant ship Pharaon, who is falsely accused of treason and imprisoned at an island fortress off the coast of Marseille. After 14 years he manages to escape, taking on the identity of the ‘Count of Monte Cristo’ and attempting to take revenge on those who betrayed him.

Le Grand Bain

August 1st @ Luminor Hôtel de Ville, 20 rue du temple, Paris

Tickets – Purchase tickets here. Ranging from €7 to €11.

August 10th @ Cinéma du Panthéon, 13 rue Victor Cousin, Paris, France

Tickets – Purchase tickets here. Ranging from €5 to €9.50.

Directed by Gilles Lellouche, the film tells the stories of several swimmers who train at their local municipal swimming pool. One day, they decide to take on the challenge of synchronized swimming, which helps them find meaning in their lives.

Cléo de 5 à 7

August 2nd @ L’Entrepôt, 7 rue Francis de Pressensé, Paris

Tickets – Purchase them here. Ranging from €5 to €8.50.

Directed by the legendary Agnès Varda, the film follows Cléo for a snippet of her life – just 90 minutes – as she waits for the results of a biopsy in Paris. 

Marinette

August 5th @ Cinéma du Panthéon, 13 rue Victor Cousin, Paris

Tickets – Purchase them here. Ranging from €5 to €9.50. 

The film tells the story of a female football player, Marinette Pichon, as she overcomes difficulties in her private life to become a champion and example for girls everywhere.

Conte d’été

August 6th @ L’Epée de Bois, 100 Rue Mouffetard, Paris

Tickets – Can be purchased on site, ranging from €5 to €9.90.

Directed by Eric Rohmer, the film follows Gaspard during the summer holidays, as he tries to decide between three girls he is interested in: Léna, Margot and Solène. 

À bout de Souffle (Breathless)

August 9th @ L’Entrepôt, 7 rue Francis de Pressensé, Paris

Tickets – From €5 to €8.50. Purchased here.

The classic film directed by Jean-Luc Godard, it tells the story of a cocky young boy, Michel Poiccard, who steals a car in Marseille and tries to make his way to Paris. Along the road, he is stopped by a policeman and ends up killing him. Once he gets to Paris he meets an American student named Patricia, who he falls in love with, but Patricia eventually learns about Michel’s dealings.

Asterix aux JO

August 11th @ Luminor Hôtel de Ville, 20 rue du temple, Paris

Tickets – Ranging from €7 to €11. Purchase them here.

Follow France’s favourite heroes, Asterix and Obelix, as they travel to Greece to compete in the Olympic Games. They also face off against Machiavellian Brutus, the son of Caesar.

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