MELANIE/MARIANNE- opinions please

[language]

We are French living in the UK and we are looking for a French name that could be easily pronounced/spelled here.
other names on the list include
Marguerite
Camille
Clemence
Helene
Emily
but the first 3 names might be difficult to spell/to pronounce in an English-speaking country, and the 2 last are very popular.
Any opinions, associations and thoughts are greatly appreciated!

I like Marianne.

I love Marianne (big Leonard Cohen fan ). I wouldn't worry about the names on the list being hard to pronounce. English people may not pronounce them with a perfect French accent but I don't think those names will cause problems. They're all pretty well known names. I really like all of the names on your list.

OK - outing myself a bit here. My name is EXTREMELY similar to Marianne, and my surname happens also to sound a bit French, although DH insists it's not. I work for a Pan European company and I am forever getting people phoning me up assuming I am French. So yes Marianne is French sounding ....and very beautiful of course!!!!

I love Marianne. DS would have been Marianne had he been a girl.

I always think of Melanie as a greek name, but thats because my sis is Melanie and my dad was greek.

I like Marianne, but then I've just read Sense and Sensibility.

Marianne is gorgeous, not too popular but not unknown, and I think most English people would automatically pronounce and spell it exactly as in French (though you'd always get the odd bod trying to write "Marian"). I'd personally say the same of Marguerite, but I noticed someone saying on this board the other day that they had always had to spell it out for people.

Both Emily and Melanie translate perfectly in pronunciation/spelling, but I would say they have been slightly overused. I know of lots of Mels and Emilys in their 20s and 30s and it's never a good idea to be at the end of a naming wave - makes you look old! I think Helene would be forever having to say "with an extra E on the end" even though it is pronounced differently, because Helen is so familiar here.

Camille and Clemence are perhaps the least well known (though that may be changing with Clemence Poesy). People might be more familiar with Camilla and try to use that instead.

Although come to think of it "Melony" is sometimes used instead of "Melanie" so it's not totally straightforward. I would always check which spelling to use. Probably why they all call themselves Mel!

Really like Clemence from your list, but I would spell it without the é, just to avoid administrative troubles. Constance would work well too.
Camille is v nice as well.

Fwiw, I know Greek parents who changed their daughter's name Melanie after they discovered its meaning - I have no idea what it actually means but it might be worth checking!

It means "black" or "dark", I guess in the sense of colouring or hair. I wonder why they didn't like it? Is she blonde?

DH just told me why: it has a negative meaning among their Lebanese/Greek orthodox community apparently (dark in the sense of "evil" not hair color) - very specific then and may very well not be relevant to your situation!

Marianne is lovely.

Melanie wears luminous yellow leg warmers a ra-ra skirt and wants to marry Simon Le Bon when she grows up.

My dd is maryam quite similar to marianne. I am French too, i find that English speakers struggle a bit with pronunciation.

They always believe her name is Mayan. Be prepared to correct them.

Saying that it is a lovely name and I wouldn't change my dd's one either :)

Like both

What about Marnie?

Squoosh .....love it! Mylegwarmers were blue and I still didnt get to marry simon le bon! Well my name isnt Melanie either....

Marianne is lovely. Also really like Marianna too