I’m never sure exactly how to pronounce “Lourdes”. I’ve always pronounced the French town something like “lured” while I always think of the name as “LOR-diss”. I have no idea if I’m correct about either one as I, believe it or not, have never heard them pronounced; no, not even Madonna’s daughter. Either way, not pretty.
Don’t think I’ve seen / heard of “Manon”. It makes me think of The Muppets Manamana though I imagine it has that nasally French thing, a la “mignon”. Also not lyrical, imo.
On my dads side I had aunts…Velma, Elva, Winifred and Martha and an uncle Cecil. My dad was named John.
On my Moms side my Grandfather and uncle were Mortimer.
I worked with twin Bosnian brothers… Elvis and Melvis and knew siblings Adel and Adella.
Doing some low-level research in the family I found a cousin named…wait for it…Bluebell Memorial Butcher. She had six siblings but as far as I could tell she was the only one with a bizarre name. I wonder what her parents–Ghormenghast and Cappodocia–were thinking?
When I met them, Nimrod was already nearly 10yrs old (IIRC) and was going by Nim.
Now Nim is a perfectly good name…but I wonder about when the roll was called in the classroom in later years. 
And now you’ll get that song stuck in my head. 
Another French name I don’t like is “Hugues.” I think it has an ugly pronunciation - something like “oog,” but the French U sound doesn’t exist in English.
Perhaps it’s ironic, then, that it was the name of the first woman to ever play for an NHL team.
I used to get my hair cut by a stylist named Mark Grbac. He told me that his aunt and uncle were immigrants from Croatia, and wanted their two sons two have “American” names. So one of his cousins, who was a starting quarterback for the Forty-Niners, Chiefs, and Ravens, was Elvis. They also named their other son for an American rock star - Engelbert Humperdinck.
On the other hand, he’ll probably be very excited if he ever sees Henry V.
A little nitpick / fun fact; Mr. Englebert Humperdinck is English and appropriated his stage name from a German opera singer. His real name is Arnold Dorsey. Their is no evidence that Arnold the pig was named after him.
I would think that “Old English” names are names like Hrothgar, Hrodbeorht, Aethelbert, Aedwig, etc.
Five random thoughts after reading the thread to date:
6: I had a couple of co-workers once named “Yuri” and “Lara.” Both of them born in 1968. I had no idea that Doctor Zhivago was THAT popular.
You sure Yuri wasn’t named after the astronaut?
I started to post the same thing but thought it unlikely that someone would name their child after a pinko, commie russkie back then. It is an ugly name in any era.
My parents initially intended to name me after my paternal grandmother, Hilda, who basically declared “You are not inflicting that name on an innocent baby”.
Thanks Nana!
Most Italian names are beautiful. Then there’s Guglielmo (William in English). It sounds ugly (gool-yell-mo) and it looks ugly. It’s no better in Spanish, either (Guillermo).
I also loathe Guido and Guy, no matter how you pronounce the latter.
Gu- names: just don’t.
As the Regina in this thread: oh boy, can I!
Well, the proper pronunciation of Guglielmo isn’t too bad but “Googly Elmo” as most people say it; not so much. Guillermo sounds rather nice to my ears and Guido can go back to Jersey
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As the Regina in this thread: oh boy, can I!
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I meant to tell you when you originally posted that I think you have a lovely name. But now I’m wondering if you pronounce it like the capitol of Saskatchewan or like ra JEEN a ? There’s nothing wrong with the first way really, I’ve just never heard it pronounced that way except for the city.
My child’s classmate pronounces it reg-EEna.
Watching the news this morning, I couldn’t help but reflect that the name Vester sounds like a bitter, resentful, chip on the shoulder name.
I pronouce “Regina” like Brian Eno did in one of his best rock songs, pre-“Discreet Music” days, “Burning Airlines Give You So Much More.” On the album Taking Tiger Mountain (by Strategy). So it rhymes with “vagina.”
When I got back home
I found a message on the door
Sweet Regina’s gone to China
Cross-legged on the floor
Of a burning jet that’s smoothly flying
Burning airlines give you so much more.
I pronounce it the Italian way – reJEEna. Fortunately, the vast majority of people who have read my name out loud in front of an audience have also pronounced it that way, but I had a 7th grade math teacher who stubbornly insisted on using what he called the “proper British pronunciation,” to my classmates’ delight and my great humiliation.
I hated that guy.
Names I Hate:
Trendy names: Mackenzie, Ashley, Emma, Colton, Connor.
Bizarre spellings of same, or bizarre spellings of names that aren’t trendy: Aerin, Keighlay, Mickaelah.
Made-up names: Caden, Jarquan.
Names with superfluous punctuation (see also: “Made-up Names” above): J’Amari, 'Demetrius.
Old-Man or Old-Lady names: Floyd, Herkimer, Gladys, Ethyl.
Obscure Biblical Names: Hezekiah, Gomer, Maher-Shalal-Hash-Baz
Names I Love:
Traditional names based on concepts: Autumn, Grace, Victor.
Old-Man or Old-Lady names that stand the test of time: Grace, Jean, Carla.
Not-obscure Biblical names: Aaron, Elias, Abigail, Leah.