You might call your daughter Cupcake, but odds are there is something far more formal on her birth certificate. But what if your first language isn’t English, and you just plain like the way Cupcake sounds for your daughter born in Borneo or Bahrain or Brussels?
Thanks to Emiley for suggesting an option that might prompt the same response from a French-speaking parent. Our Baby Name of the Day is Miette.
Plenty of foreign names catch on in other countries thanks to literature and films. Miette was introduced to the English-speaking world in a few different places:
- Nineteenth century French literary giant Emile Zola penned a series of twenty novels about the extended Rougon-Macquart family. Dozens of characters appear over the course of the series; Miette arrives in the very first one, La Fortune des Rougon. Silvère has fallen in love with fellow republican Miette on the eve of the coup d’etat that would establish the Second French Empire under Napoleon III. The couple’s cause was doomed, and the lovers fare no better;
- French poet Jean Aicard used the name for his 1880 poem Miette et Noré;
- Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty includes a fairy called Miettes, but the name is rarely used in other adaptations;
- I’ve found a few references to an 1888 operetta called Miette, but I can’t confirm if Miette was a character name;
- 1938’s French flick La femme du boulanger – The Baker’s Wife – included a minor character called Miette;
- A 1951 French film, Au pays du soleil, also used the name;
- Then there’s 1995’s City of Lost Children, a sci-fi adventure from Jeanne-Pierre Jeunet, best known in the US for Amélie. If Zola’s Miette was idealistic, this big screen version is an all-out heroine. A villain is kidnapping children to steal their dreams. The young Miette sets out on an adventure to rescue one of the kids.
While some -ette names, like Annette, still feel a little dated, others are at the forefront of fashion. Consider:
- Violet (#141 in 2009)
- Scarlett (#169)
- Juliet (#319)
- Bridget (#424)
That’s not counting Juliette, Scarlet, or considering her first syllable, borrowed from the chart-topping mini-name Mia. What’s not to love about Miette?
The trouble is that she’s not exactly a name. It’s a term of endearment. Miette is sometimes translated as “crumb,” but it is more like “sweet little bite.” Some contend that was once used as a given name, but I can’t confirm it, though the -ette ending has been in use for centuries. Miette appears in US Census records, though she’s never ranked in the US Top 1000. Nancy tells us 19 were born in the US in 2009.
Parents might also be inspired by Canada’s Miette River, found in Alberta’s Jasper National Park. But the river’s name probably comes from the Cree word myatuck – bighorn sheep, which make their home in the area.
For some bizarre reason it makes me think of feminine hygiene products.
I suggested this name and it’s because I simply cannot get it off my names list, even though it really isn’t a name so-to-speak. It’s interesting to see the responses! Still, even though most everyone finds it as insubstantial as fairy wings, I still love it to death!
-Emily
Mmmm… I live near San Francisco and am definitely going to check out that cupcake shop. Should I tell them I read about them on a baby name blog? 🙂
I don’t know about Miette name-wise. Mia feels very insubstantial to me as it is, and even though Miette is longer, it seems to have even LESS substance. I guess it’s pretty, but there are many other French diminutives that don’t mean “little crumb” — and I’d probably tend to steer parents toward those.
Oooh, field trip! Please report back on your favorite flavor. 🙂
So cool! I just added this to my list a couple weeks ago. 🙂
I love the sound of Miette. It reminds me of a name I stumbled upon on the title of a children’s book. It’s called Mirette on a High Wire. I think Mirette is such a pretty name but wonder would people have similar feelings about it being too much a term of endearment.
I think Mirette sounds more substansial and is very lovely.
And I’m a sucker for Mariette, which goes even farther …
I, too loved “Mirette on the High Wire” when I was younger. I’d choose Mirette any day; Miette, not so much.
As the mama of a 6.5 year old Barbie – crazy girl, I want to point out that Miette is the name of the cat in “Barbie & the 3 Musketeers”.
I call Josie “cuppycake” most mornings (‘wakey, wakey, cuppycakey’ is the call), but Miette is far to insubstantial to be any more than a nickname for me. Although, she’d insist it’s for the cat!
Brietta, Miette … the creative team behind the Barbie DVDs has some flair for choosing interesting names!
I’ve always loved the name Miette for a petite cat, since it means “small and sweet” or “sweet little bite” as Abby has here. I just think it would be so cute on a little kitty. I would also call her Mimi.
I think it could work on a human, too, but I’d be more inclined to use it on a pet, since it is more of a term of endearment. Still, if I met a little girl or even a woman named Miette, I would think she was beautifully named.
Agree with previous posters–I like Miette’s nickname potential and love it as a bakery name! If I saw this as a given name, I would assume the parents had not looked into the meaning. It reminds me of miel and cherie, pretty words that shouldn’t be names, former Prime Minister’s wife not withstanding.
Yep, this definitely qualifies as an insubstantial name for me. The pâtisserie by that name is indeed awesome, however. 😛 And it’s interesting to learn about its uses in literature and film.
I suppose it could be a cute nickname for Miriam or Emilia or similar names, and I can see its appeal sound-wise. But for me, a miette is something you wipe off the kitchen table, not something you name your child!
Miette is cute, but I’m with Claire. That bakery is making me want a cupcake. 🙂
I’m torn on the name but I’m sold on the bakery! 🙂