French-English Baby Names

I also like the suggestions of Nicole and Sophie.

And Thibault, although I agree it's hard for English speakers to spell/pronounce. I guess you could spell it Tibo but I don't think I'd want to do that, personally.

Some suggestions

BOYS

Alex (Alexandre)
Ben (Benoit)
Chris (Christophe)
Clément
Léo / Leo
Lucas
Max (Maxime)
Noah
Paul
Samuel
Simon

I rejected names with "th" (eg Nathan, Theo) because I find the French pronunciation sounds harsh compared to the soft English "th".
Also names like Daniel and Nicolas because the French pronunciations sound like the girl's names in English (Danielle, Nicola).

GIRLS

Adèle
Emma
Inès
Louise
Margot
Mia
Rose

I love Anaïs but didn't use it because I thought most English speakers wouldn't be able to pronounce it (surprised a PP said they would).

From your list, my favourites are Edgar and Remy for boys. For girls, I like Iris, Beatrice and Adelaide. I also like Garance, though it makes me think of 'Les Enfants du Paradis' (which is not a bad thing!)
One name that works very well in both languages (though some might say it's boring) is Nicolas. Also Patrick, as a previous poster has suggested. Benedict would work too, and also Charles, and Edmund/Edmond and Philippe. And Victor - perhaps your DH might change his mind? For girls, Audrey is pretty bilingual, so is Flora. Caroline would work (the final syllable is variable), so would Justine, Helen(e), Catherine /Katrina/Catriona (though the pronounciation would differ a bit) and Christine /Christina (derserves a revival perhaps?) . I also like Clea (sorry, can't do accents), Corinne/Corinna and Diane/Diana.

Boys:
Remy - like
Pierre - I think of this as a middle aged man's name. I do know of a younger one but in general I think it's a bit outdated in France. It's also very obviously French, which you may or may not want.
Joseph - really like this, classic in both languages
Auguste - dislike, sorry. Don't like the sound. And I think English people will find it a bit weird (not that it should matter if you love it, but still).
Emile - ok. Very close to Emily as PPs have said.
Armand - OK
Edgar - quite like this, unusual but easy to pronounce and spell. Could be Ed for short.
Mayeul - dislike, sorry, and I think English speakers will mangle the pronunciation

Girls:
Iris - ok but I don't like the French pronunciation
Leonie - quite like
Beatrice - like
Octavie/Octavia - I’m afraid this just makes me think of the car (Skoda Octavia)
Adelaide - OK but more of a city than a name
Blanche - No, just no
Garance - Don't like, sorry, I find it a bit harsh and masculine

We are a French-English bilingual family too.
I bought a French baby names book and both DH and I read through it separately and each wrote our own list before comparing them. We vetoed most of each other's choices (mainly because they didn't sound good in English or French) and then ended up with a very short shortlist

We went for relatively unusual names but in general I think the names that work best in both languages are pretty classic.

Ophelie French - English Ophelia

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

To @KirstenBlest ^

I knew 2 Sarahs at primary one was called Hairy Sarah the other was called Starer. Katie could be called Weightie, Marie Mary = vagina etc. Karen now has its own pejorative meaning.

And if kids couldn’t think of a name they’d just pick on a mannerism or a personal attribute or an incident etc.

Take Elizabeth - a “normal” name - I knew one who was called Lisper as she had a lisp. As we went to senior school that inevitably changed to Lesbo.

You can’t kidproof names.

Claude I think is a great name.

Solene
Monique
Apolline

Ismael
Baptiste
Marion

Gilles for a boy
Aurelie for a girl

Some very pretty names in this thread. Elodie is just beautiful, very feminine, works in both languages and is my favourite!

Giselle?
Gabrielle?
Fleur?
Too much HP.😄😄

Josephine
Justine
Anne

The nn was comparable to say I was Ursula and my friends were Karen, Sarah, Katie and Marie. Marie might get nn Marie Biscuit but I got Arsula.

Not the real names but mine was unusual at the time, so it stood out.
Others with unusual names got teased about theirs too.

A girl with an irish name got hers mispronounced and she would correct them, which encouraged them

It happened

Danae also lovely I think.

I really like Manon. Simple and elegant. I’ve always liked Fabienne, but I don’t know if it’s terribly old fashioned.
French names are beautiful. Xavier would be my choice for a boy.

Thibault is nice but maybe too hard to spell?

Possibly and it would be pronounced Thigh bolt. I like the English version Tybalt.

[quote KirstenBlest]@TatianaBis, it was, The nn were linked to my names. The others might have been teased about something else but not their run-of-the-mill names

I don't know why you are disagreeing with me, I was there, you weren't.[/quote]
You've misunderstood what I'm disagreeing with. Ordinary run of the mill names can be turned into something rude if anyone wants to, as above. That your friends weren't teased for their names doesn't prove anything about names. Perhaps you were more teasable - more shy, more clever, more eccentric, more vulnerable or whatever. You attribute it to your name because that was the focus, but it may not have been about that.

On another front - London & other multicultural cities are home to VAST ranges of unusual names from all over the world. Obscure names simply don't stand out any more.

@TatianaBis, it was, The nn were linked to my names. The others might have been teased about something else but not their run-of-the-mill names

I don't know why you are disagreeing with me, I was there, you weren't.

Nicolette
Colette
Maxine
Antoinette

Marc
Maxim
Gavroche
Antoine