Nobody pronounces my middle name correctly, never has, never will. I don’t mind, it’s not like I ever use it. And it was my mom’s father’s last name, which is a lovely way to honor him. I say go for it!
I think you are overthinking things. Mostly, I think you are overthinking the likelihood that people–including your family members–will care if you honor both father’s by giving them grandsons with their names as middle names or not.
I have friends from college who gave their second daughter the names of the great-grandmothers who were done using their names. (In other words, the child is named for her dead great-grandmothers). No one has asked why she’s named for those two great-grandmothers and not the other two–even though both great-grandmothers are on her father’s side. The real reason she’s named for those two and not for anyone on her mother’s side is that the names on the mother’s side are cringe-inducingly ugly “old lady names”-- think Mildred or worse.
Something else you could consider is giving the child a middle name “inspired” by the name–something similar but more spellable or pronounceable.
But mostly, in my opinion, check to make sure your initials don’t spell anything obnoxious–like a preacher’s kid I know who almost had the initials SIN, make sure the middle name goes well with the first name for better yelling of the child’s full name for attention-getting purposes, and do what makes you happy.
Weirdass family names as middle names is perfectly acceptable. However, I don’t think that having two names ending in -y right next to each other looks or sounds very good.
[sub] And Marley was the name of Will Smith’s daughter in I Am Legend.[/sub]
I was recently chagrined to read that a movie version of “Marley and Me” is coming out in December. It’s got Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson, so you KNOW it’s just going to drip with pustules of cinematic brilliance.
I teach Japanese high school kids in the northern countryside of Honshu. I played a game with my English club where I pinned the names of famous people to the kids’ collars where they couldn’t read their own, and had to ask questions about who they were.
No one, including my 50+ yr old supervisor, had heard of Bob Marley. I could have cried.
I have a weird middle name (Learn) and a dog’s name for a first name (Libby), PLUS an apparently impossible to pronounce last name, and I turned out just fine. My full name taken all together is very aristocratically Anglo and hard to forget, which is good in academia. I like it.
I mean, at least you’re not giving your kid a middle name that’s also a verb – and a nerdtastic verb at that.
Middle names are where you go crazy with the bizarre names that honor ancestors or remind you of your favorite comic book, or whatever. Nobody ever knows anyone else’s middle name, unless they assassinate a major political figure.
My oldest son’s middle name is Doran, after his long-deceased grandfather. I would not have even considered this for a first name, but for a middle name, why not?
My middle name is of Finnish origin, and I had the same problem any time I graduated: my first name would be pronounced correctly, while the rest of my name would be mangled beyond repair. This happened at my undergraduate graduation as well, even though the speaker had gotten a cue card with a pronunciation guide.
Honestly, I wouldn’t have gotten “god-fwah” out of Godfroy, and I think that Marley isn’t exactly a fitting name for a boy in my mind.* Either way, it’s rare that one’s middle name comes up, so I wouldn’t worry too much about what middle name you give him as long as you give him a relatively harmless first name. Just don’t change your mind and name him Armageddon or something.
I get this quite often from people. Apparently they want me to be proud that they named their dog Natasha/Tasha or something. Maybe they’re trying to say that I shouldn’t have the same name as their dog, or that Natasha is a dog name, not a people name. I don’t really get it, other than it’s a little odd to mention in reaction to learning my name.
[sub]*Of course, I’ve had to learn that the names I thought were totally awesome names from my ethnic background are completely unpronounceable for most American ears.[/sub]
I think French is fucked up. But that’s not what you were asking.
It would never have occurred to me to pronounce “Godfroy” as anything other than “God” + “froy” (rhyming with “boy” or “joy”). I’ve never seen that name before, but I would have assumed it was a variant of “Godfrey.” And my own feelings toward it as a middle name would be entirely neutral.
Having Prune as a first name didn’t help.
“My friend’s cousin’s brother has a dog named Marley!”
The correct response to this outburst is, “My cousin’s friend’s brother has a rat named [insert their name here]!”
Say it with the same pride and exuberance that they have expressed. Just lob that ball right back at them. Then wait and see how they respond. I expect they will be as confused as you are by what to say next.
I may have to hold you responsible for what happens when I do that.
Middle names are weird. People always seem to be embarrassed of them, for some reason. Even if they’re something quite normal, when you ask them, they always reveal it with a wince. ‘Elizabeth,’ cringe. I think they’re great place for ‘family’ names.
Middle names are largely socially irrelevant, and having an unusual one can actually be a conversational asset at times. You need to focus on the fact that you should not slight your father’s father if you have already used your fathers name for your first son. The grandfather will feel a special connection to your (potential) son if he is bearing his name. He will feel slighted if you do not give him the same recognition you gave your father.
Beyond this anyone loading up their potential kid with a somewhat oddball name like “Marley” should not be worrying about “Godfroy”. It would be great to have “Godfroy” to fall back on if I was saddled with “Marley”. To tell my friends and employers that I wanted them to call me goad-FWAH." would be a blast No one would EVER forget my name.
“Marley”… eh… not so much. It’s a dog’s name.
Bark at them and pee on their leg. That’ll larn 'em! 
Back to the OP:
Neither name excites me but Godfroy as a middle name won’t get used that often. As long as you don’t care that when it’s pronounced, it’ll be pronounced “god froy” to rhyme with “odd boy”, go with it. I expect Marley (the dog’s name) will get forgotten in time also, though I admit my first thought would be it’s a girl’s name also (Marlee Matlin, for example).
Oh - and I come from a standpoint of having a name that’s the French variant of a common one. 75% of people call me by the English version, 20% of people call me by the Spanish variant, and the rest call me “sir” because they’re speaking to me on the phone and I have a deep voice and they think they’ve gotten my husband. If I were naming a kid and wanted to use that name , I’d use one of the other variants! My spouse’s name is the same as a nursery-rhyme character and he got teased a lot as a kid. So we’re somewhat sensitive, though maybe not to the “that’s ahz-WEE-pay” degree from the SNL sketch!
Godroy/Godfroi is a variant of old French/Middle English “Godefroi”.
Why not just let him pronounce it as Godfrey?
(BTW, I think Marley is a cool name)
Like many have said, I see middle names as mostly irrelevant. Other then Mom yelling “Marley Godfroy” when he’s in trouble, it will rarely get used.
But…
Please take a look at what the initials spell out. Initials get used more often, and you’d hate to be Peggy Irene when she reallized her initials are P.I.G.
Again, I wouldn’t sweat the middle name. Mine is ethnic and no one ever pronounces it correctly (same for my last name). But it rarely comes up.
I have always heard that the best rule of thumb for a name is the “retrieve the child holler” test. When the kid gets to be around 8 or 9, when it’s dinner time and the kid is out playing, you’ll be standing outside calling for him.
Now if it is late, and your husband is doing the calling, AND it is around Christmas time…people might think your husband’s name is Ebeneezer 
Thank you! Thirty eight posts before anybody mentions Scrooge’s partner? It’s the only thing I thought of! What the hell was with all the “dog name” references?
Regarding Dickens, by the way: I’m 26, and in my entire life I think two people have asked me if I was named for the Christmas Carol ghost. I guess most people realize he’s not the kind of character you name a kid for. Lots of people say “Oh, like Bob Marley?” which isn’t exactly imaginative, but it’s true in my case. So there isn’t much to do about it, other than wish they would say something about his music rather than just recognizing the name.
ratatoskK got it in post #12. The dog references were to the book “Marley and Me,” which is about some guy’s Golden Retriever. It sold a lot of copies and was made into a children’s book, and the movie is forthcoming.