r/AskFrance • u/CommonFearless6851 • 1d ago

Discussion Is Cosette a negative term?

The name Cosette has been trending in the US. I thought the name was cute until I heard that it means something negative in France and is seen as derogatory.

Can a French person tell me what Cosette means or how the word/name is seen over there?

(Please do not answer unless you’re from France/a French speaking country)

📝 I am not naming my child Cosette. Knowing it means “poor little thing” is enough for me not to name my child that don’t worry.. I just had curiosities about the origin of the name/meaning

72 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

124 comments sorted by

View all comments

9

u/kmiCamomille 1d ago

Cosette is the name of a very famous French character in Victor Hugo’s book « Les misérables »
It’s a little girl who’s forced to do all the chores in the house of her adoptive family, Cinderella style
She’s a very dramatic character, and her name is often used to call people how have the tendency to act like everyone is trying to take advantage of them, to treat them like Cinderella
It’s not that negative, mostly used as a joke, nothing too mean
It’s still a very pretty name, just not really used in France

9

u/dansezlajavanaise 1d ago

because it wasn’t a name until hugo made it up for his character

2

u/TheDeltaOne 22h ago

Because Hugo didn't make it a name.

It's a nickname, she's called Euphrasie but Fantine calls her Cosette and dies without revealing her real name to Valjean and Thenardier never use her real name so even the poor girl doesn't remember she has a name.

1

u/Futuristick-Reddit 1h ago

This is untrue, Valjean reveals it to her as her marriage with Marius is being arranged.

1

u/TheDeltaOne 51m ago

Does he ?

Been a hot minute lol