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.
We have a 4 month old baby girl we named Cora Miette and I just love her name! She was an unexpected surprise to us after our other kids were nearly grown and she really is our little sweetheart (Which is what her name means!) I was not sure on the name until she was born – when I saw her it fit perfectly. It’s really fun having a term of endearment built into her name. When I’m kissing those fat little pink cheeks and she’s giggling so loud, I love calling her my Miette.
I read on some other site a while ago that Miette is used as a nickname for Marguerite in France… not sure how accurate that is, but I thought that might be nice since I’ve thought about naming a future daughter Marguerite. I think it’s pretty as a nickname.
I read the same thing, and this is a big reason why I like the name so much. My wife and I are actually considering this name very seriously. She has a relative that she loves dearly named “Marjorie,” and this is a diminutive form of that name as well. Originally, we really loved the name Mae, but it just doesn’t sound good with our last name.
I asked a French friend of mine if he’d find the name Miette as something not appropriate for a child. He said he thought it was a beautiful name, though he’d never met a Miette.
@Nate: Miette is a cutesy nickname in general but not specifically for Marguerite, Marjorie, etc…It is not a name the French take seriously, because it is used for too many things: “ramasse miette” means garbage collector, “miette du crabe” means bits of crab (for a recipe) and what a friend of mine described as miettes ultimately turned out to be lice in a students hair…It was listed by notrefamille.com as one of the names that is most difficult to wear and is discouraged which is probably why your friend has never met one.
The name itself is not offensive (people on french naming message boards seem to disagree) but there are many French people like my husband, friends and family who would question why you chose it but to each their own. Plus there’s a chance your child may never go there and be subjected to teasing.
Im not trying to be harsh but in this day and age of travel we have to think about what a child’s name means in other cultures, especially the one it originates from. I would be disheartened to find out my babies name had negative connotations somewhere else.
I much prefer the Italian, Mietta, it has far less baggage, though I can see the appeal.
So last night as I was drifting off to sleep, I thought of the coolest not-so-real -ette name: Pirouette! I think it makes a dainty but striking middle name – far too bold for a first, in my opinion – for a girl. A name like Sara Pirouette or Lucy Pirouette would be lovely for the daughter of a ballerina, I think…
(Natalie Portman? Yea, that’s a thought for your baby’s name, okay?)
I really like -ette names, and think this is kind of cool. I think we’re going to see more -ette names popping up as the -ia names begin to tire.
I am a huge baker and love this name! I would probably put it in the middle spot.. My husband calls me cupcake or Love (actually I cant remember the last time he has called me by my first name), and I think Miette in the middle would be like naming her after me, but in a less traditional way.. overall I really like it, but Im not sure it would be a first name choice for me.. now I have something to add to my middle names list!
Hm. Reminds me of Minuet or Minuette – a past poster on Nameberry – but without all the pomp and circumstance. Miette looks cool, yes, but I prefer the substance of Mirette or Marietta or the elegance of Mireille, myself…
Speaking of -ette names, I’ve recently realized what a gem Juliet really is!
This is a “No way!” for me since the Miette Hotsprings are a favourite family vacationing spot. Not being a fan of bestowing place names on my offspring, Miette is most definitely out of the question.
Like Charlotte North Carolina?? Is that how u spell it? 🙂
It’s definitely used more in the U.S. than in France: https://meilleursprenoms.com/stats/histogram.php3?recherche=Miette&submit=Recherche
I like French names as a rule, but this one just doesn’t do it for me. I would rather use Mariane or Mireille.