views from French people please!

[beezbuzz]

how is the name Estelle perceived? is it common/ popular or not? An old-lady name or a girly name, what connotations does it have for you? thanks!

Estelle peaked a couple of decades ago (I went to school with several Estelles - I'm 31) :
www.aufeminin.com/w/prenom/p5696/estelle.html
But it is a perfectly decent name, not too common, with a single spelling.

They say when Swedish Crown Princess Victoria named her now 1-year old daughter, Estelle, the entire family and everyone else whose opinion would be considered important, was supposedly not pleased.

The name was considered too common bordering on being put on the same level with a not-so-honourable-woman and what not...

Personally, I like this name a lot. I find the name very classy and cute at the same time.

Eek! I thought the Swedish Royals were only pissed off because it wasn't Swedish!

It's a lovely name but I always think of Friends: "Joey? it's Estelle, they LOVED ya"

Estelle is sort of 70/80s name, I am in my late 30s and I went to school with a few Estelle too.
I think French people see this as a classic name, but a fairly passé one, a sort French Rachel in preceptions maybe?

What Pasiphae said - I am 23 and when I was at Uni in France in 2008 a fellow classmate my age shortened Estelle to just Elle as she thought it was a bit old then!!

Thanks everyone! DD is named already, but since we now live in France I wanted to find out a bit more about what kind of name it is here. She is hardly ever called by her full name anyway - more often Stella. I still like it!