Comments on: 99th Tour de France Names: They’re off and running!

By: mmroo

mmroo — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 12:39:34 +0000

We’re cycling fans and I sent this off to my husband and we both found ourselves saying, Cadel(l) is a nice sounding name. I’ve even thought we could use the nickname Cal with it.

@megladonization- if you watch the tour, those legs are totally normal.

By: Worchazer

Worchazer — Thu, 05 Jul 2012 18:54:08 +0000

Hey, thanks for your comments, everyone, seeing as I’m the author of this blog entry. @Megladonization, you’re right, but cyclists have good muscles. @Brynie, people get their inspiration from many different places these days. Sportsmen are a rich seam of ideas. @Melusine, thanks for the pronunciation guide. I can’t see Koen ending up pronounced as anything other than ‘Cohen’ or perhaps ‘Cone’ depending on the accent. And I agree about Amael, a lovely name. @aunt_ning and @water buffalo, I was concentrating on those men riding Le Tour this year. Thor will likely get a mention in the Olympic names blog in planning for next month and there must be another sportsman called Lance around the place to allow me to mention Mr Armstrong as well. @skizzo, thanks for your confirmation that my research was correct. In the UK Lillian or Lilian is very much a female name, as shown by the popularity of the similar Lily. @tthetxbelle, Ardennes, what a wonderful name! I’d choose Epernay after the town at the center of the Champagne region, but that’s a whole new blog I haven’t even been requested to write yet!

By: thetxbelle

thetxbelle — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 23:46:24 +0000

#Brynie my husband is a cyclist and said if he was to choose a guilty pleasure place name it would be Ardennes for the Ardennes classics – a series of races that take place in the Ardennes region. Some people are really into cycling lol.

By: skizzo

skizzo — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 19:37:59 +0000

Indeed, I know 3 guys from france named Lillian. Its definitely a male name there, and i think its in their top50 for boys.

By: water buffalo

water buffalo — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 17:38:41 +0000

Also don’t forget Thor Hoshovd from Norway. He was the World Champion last year, won a few stages in the Tour, and wore the Yellow Jersey for a few days. He is not racing this year to concentrate on the Olympics. I was really thinking about Thor for my son because of him, but was a little shy after the Avengers movie.

By: aunt_ning

aunt_ning — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:33:34 +0000

How could you forget Lance for Lance Armstrong? The most famous American Tour De France Competitor?

By: Melusine

Melusine — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 11:19:43 +0000

“Dutch name Koen, which shares the popular –en ending with the likes of Jayden and Hayden” – True, but it is pronounced not like Coen as in the Coen brothers, but like a short “KOON” (with the vowel much shorter and more rounded in the back of the mouth than it would be in English).

Amaël is a beautiful and interesting name I hadn’t seen before!

By: Brynie

Brynie — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 10:49:57 +0000

Who really is committed to naming their child after people who ride bikes at a tour in France?

By: megladonization

megladonization — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 05:42:31 +0000

Is it just me, or does the biker’s leg in the picture look REALLY abnormal? Just throwing it out there.