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Baby names

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Original poster

Easy to say in English?

41 replies

MamaLoLo1 · 25/08/2020 22:55

I'm debating a French name due to family links and wondering if these are easily said aloud by British/English speaking people... By that, I mean that the name is said smoothly and pronounced well rather than fumbled over!

Marguerite
Coralie
Apolline
Solène

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WildCherryBlossom · 27/08/2020 14:33

Coralie is so pretty. And easy for an English tongue to pronounce.

p0ptart · 27/08/2020 14:15

I love Solène but I'm pretty sure 95% of people will not understand the grave accent and get the pronunciation wrong. Especially if reading off a form, where you can't always input an accent.

I have a fairly simple but non-English surname and people get it wrong even after I correct them. It doesn't really bother me, but my children have taken my husband's surname to be spared the same fate.

AuntyPasta · 27/08/2020 12:53

Apolline is lovely.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 27/08/2020 12:51

It depends whether you want to prioritise the likelihood of someone sight-reading it accurately (the supply teacher test) or whether you want it to sound closest to French in an English accent. Apolline will get an ‘ine’ sound instead of ‘een’, as discussed already Solène will get soleen, and people may glance at Coralie and misread it as Coraline.

Original poster
MamaLoLo1 · 27/08/2020 12:48

Thank you all for your input! I love all four of the names and am no closer to picking a favourite!

OP posts:
AgentCooper · 27/08/2020 12:41

Solène is gorgeous but that grave accent will trip people up here Sad

MikeUniformMike · 27/08/2020 12:39

I think that they'll suffer the same as Elodie and Amelie - pretty in a french accent but meh in an english one.

Firebird83 · 27/08/2020 00:31

I love Apolline!

LetItGoHome · 26/08/2020 18:09

Coralie is gorgeous 😍

bridgetreilly · 26/08/2020 17:54

Yes, that's how I'd say it too, probably. But my point was it's easy to imagine people pronouncing it differently, in answer to the person who thought that there could only be one imaginable way to say it.

PolkadotsAndMoonbeams · 26/08/2020 17:47

I know how to say them all, but I don't think they'll all sound quite the same as they would in French. I agree with the others that Solène is the one most likely to trip people up.

If you watch Death in Paradise, think of the difference in the way the names are pronounced between the English and French-speaking cast.

zigaziga · 26/08/2020 17:30

Also, how much does it matter to you if people do pronounce slightly inaccurately? Because obviously they will but you can still use a beautiful name that you love.

ZoyaTheDestroyer · 26/08/2020 17:15

@bridgetreilly

I think Coralie is best. I can't see how anyone could mispronounce and it's a very pretty name.

Well, is it Cora or Coral at the start?

With English stresses it rhymes with 'morally'.
CaffiSaliMali · 26/08/2020 17:13

@bridgetreilly

I think Coralie is best. I can't see how anyone could mispronounce and it's a very pretty name.

Well, is it Cora or Coral at the start?

The Coralie I know pronounces it Coral-ie.
bridgetreilly · 26/08/2020 17:07

I think Coralie is best. I can't see how anyone could mispronounce and it's a very pretty name.

Well, is it Cora or Coral at the start?

zigaziga · 26/08/2020 16:56

Solene I would have guessed SOL-eeen.

RemyHadley · 26/08/2020 16:42

I wouldn’t be confident about Solene, the others I can say no issue.

Bravefarts · 26/08/2020 16:24

I have a forrin name. It drove me bananas, and I either had to be ok with people getting it wrong all the time, or change it to something anglicised.

I changed it.

CaffiSaliMali · 26/08/2020 14:47

I know a Marguerite and a Coralie in England and neither name seems to cause issues. Until this thread I had no idea that Coralie was a French name.

Coralie feels like it would fit in with the trend for Cora. Marguerite is lovely - the one I know is known as Marg for short, but Daisy is a nice potential nickname too.

The only name which gave me pause pronunciation wise was Solène.

I have a Welsh name in England and for most people it's not a case of correcting or explaining the pronunciation once. That said I can't see any issues with Marguerite and Coralie based on my experiences with the ones I know.

WhyIsItSoHardToPickAUsername · 26/08/2020 14:15

If people are unfamiliar with any of them then they’d surely need only to be told once.

No, that is definitely not the case. Owner of a 'forrin' surname here.

WhyIsItSoHardToPickAUsername · 26/08/2020 14:14

I think Coralie is best. I can't see how anyone could mispronounce and it's a very pretty name.

QuentinInQuarantino · 26/08/2020 13:14

Solene I'd pronounce as So - LEN

Coralie and marguerite are easy. I think polline might be Italian slang for penis so careful there.

VenusClapTrap · 26/08/2020 13:05

Love Marguerite. Such an elegant name.

MikeUniformMike · 26/08/2020 12:55

@QueenBlueberries

'If people are unfamiliar with any of them then they’d surely need only to be told once.'. My guess is that you have an English name!!

Some people, including family members and work colleagues, pronounce my French name wrong consistently, despite correcting them, and the spelling gets massacred regularly. I'm not complaining about as such, I love my name and live with the mispronunciations and misspellings, but don't expect that it will be easily rectified...

Exactly this.

People don't enjoy being corrected, and some people just can't remember or hear the difference.
It is not pleasant hearing your name mangled (or massacred) every time you meet someone new, people can be very rude about your name, and you get tired of correcting.

MikeUniformMike · 26/08/2020 12:46

I'd guess at people saying them as:
Marg-uh-REET
Coralie - COR-ully
Apolline - Apple-EEN
Solène - SO-Leen

Not sure if they work really but Marguerite seems the nicest