My name - Jocelyne - opinions please!

[jocelyne]

I don't want to sound self centered but am interested to know what others think of my name - Jocelyne. It's quite unusual where I live, I have only met about five others in my life but what makes my name even more unusual is the 'e' on the end (it's normally spelt Jocelyn). My parents got the name from my mothers French exchange friend and that's why I have an 'e' because in France Jocelyn is a boys name while Jocelyne is feminine. It really annoys me that people always spell it wrong (the worst I've had is Gosling) or say it wrong (I'm Joss-lin not Joyce-lin or Jossa-lin or Joca-line). But most of the time it's ok (especially for people who know me) except for the missing 'e'.

Anyway I'm not sure if I actually like my name or not, sometimes my family call me 'Jay' as in from the first letter of my name and I like the sound of that but to almost everyone else I'm Jocelyne. I was wondreing if you'd let me know what you think of it and whether I should go by Jay or not and how to let people know that's what I want? I'm sorry if I've put anyone off naming their child (boy or girl) Jocelyne because of what I've said about spelling etc. I've heard what my family and friends think of my mame but they know me so have a face and character to place with the name - you won't. So what is your opinion on my name? Thanks

[rollo]

I think Jocelyn is a fine name and I haven't heard of the French spelling till now. I suppose I am biased as I have a lovely daughter named Jacquelyn. I would embrace Jocelyne if it was my name and sometimes I use J as a nn for my daughter but I have no trouble saying Jacquelyn and neither should anyone have a problem saying Jocelyne (Joss lyn).

rollo

[caroeliese]

Jocelyn is one of my favorite names, and I'll take your spelling into account (it makes it more unique on paper, which is great). It's beautifully feminine and European-flavored without sounding old.

[ashthedreamer]

Jocelyne is pretty! I've seen both spellings, but if I were using the name (which I've considered!), I would probably use the simpler Jocelyn, even though I'm not crazy on unisex names (which I've heard it is). If you don't like Jay as a nn, then tell people you don't like it! If I had a Jocelyn, I might be tempted to use a "J" MN so I could call her JJ sometimes. But by all means, if you don't like it, don't use it. I personally prefer Joss--does that appeal to you?

[lucialucentum]

SO MANY thumbs up to Jocelyne! I've always considered Jocelyn to be a masculine name, and Jocelyne would be the feminine version (I know probably 4 Jocelynes, and a male Jocelyn and a female Jocelyn)
If you don't want to go by Jay, DEFINITELY tell people that. With my legal name, it easily gets shortened to nicknames I loathe, and I just end up ignoring it.

[r_j]

You've put Jocelyne on my radar! I guess I never thought about it before, but it has a very pretty sound to it.

[mmljar1]

I used to work with a Jocelyn (pr Joss-e-lin) and we normally called her Joss. My husband liked it so much that it is his all time favourite girl's name but as we have 2 boys with J names we won't be using it.

There is a male Jocelyn in one of the P G Wodehouse books - I'm sorry but I can't remember which one but I wouldn't consider it to be a unisex name any more (just like Meredith used to be male but is now almost exclusively female).

As for my mental picture of a Jocelyne - I guess I see her as young (definately under 30) and more of a girly-girl (since she hasn't shortened to Joss/Jackie/J etc). The Jocelyn I knew was really funky and fun so that association is very strong with the name for me.

If you like Jay then when you meet someone new just say 'Hi, I'm Jay' When you write your name, write Jay, eventually it will catch on.

[lilysong]

Hi! I like your name too. Jocelyn is very pretty and classic IMO. If you go by nn Joss, people will have less trouble remembering how to pronounce your full name. When people introduce you, you can throw in "just call me Joss". Even here in francophone country, the name is not super common... but everyone would be familiar with it and be able to pronounce it just fine.

[oliviasarah]

I like Jocelyne! My cousin's name is Jocelyn, who gets called Jojo pretty much all the time.

[mmljar1]

Forgot to add that if we had a Jocelyn we would call her Josie