Twin Girls, looking for french names

[kisekae]

Hello,

I'm having twins in May and I'm stuck on girls names. We already have a daughter named Amelie and I tend to gravitate towards french names. We had originally picked out Violet and Sofia but I've completely gone off Sofia as it's too popular (prefer unique names)

I've recently fallen in love with the name Miette but can't find any other names that would fit with it (Violet and Miette doesn't sound right together with the double 'et's).

Any suggestions?
Thanks in advance

Manon doesnt work in English.

Actually, pronunciation is a very valid point.

I'm foreign and really like my name (Latin/Mediterranean), but cringe every time an English speaker says it; it really sounds awful.

Mathilde and Beatrice are lovely names and fairly "international".

Out of interest, do you just like French names or are you or DH/P of French descent?
Names like Amelie, Sofia, Violet, Sylvie would not seem out of place if used by non-French people, but I would be a bit surprised to come across some of these names being used by non-French people (eg Manon).

I would put Miette in the latter category, except that it sounds like it is not actually a French name!

I do appreciate that these things change over time though, eg Amelie and Sylvie would have been rare outside of France until fairly recently and are now commonly used here.

Vivienne.

Alize (acute accent on last e) was used as the name of a sporty model of the well-known Renault Megane car. In French, Alize means 'trade wind'.

A prettier wind-based French name might be Zephyrine?

Also wondering if you speak French. I live in a French speaking country and love many of the names here but would hesitate to use one as my French isn't very strong at all yet and I'm afraid it would lead people to assume I'm fluent. Also my family back home might think I was putting on airs although I wouldn't take that to heart too much.

Switch Violet for Viola to go with Miette?

Maielle? (pron my-elle)

I've always loved Sabine. I have no idea why, it just sounds so luxurious to me!

I'm Canadian, but living in the UK. I agree with a lot of the comments that I don't want something that would sound too horrible in the UK accent, which limits me quite a bit with a lot of the lovely names.

I really don't want to be rude, but the discussion of 'Miette' (= crumb) reminds me of a previous Mumsnet thread when a non-English-speaking mother in law wanted the baby name 'cauliflower', because, to her, 'it sounded so pretty'.

IIRC, Minette means blow job in russian. Just in case that matters to you.

Yes, and it means cunnilingus in French. So there's that.

Elodie and Fleur

Ciel? Means heaven or sky in French. I also like Miel which means honey but obvs is quite similar to the MN venerated vacuum cleaner brand!

Manon is a Welsh name too incidentally.....

I have French family and these are the young girls in it:
Anaïs
Eloïse
Anastasie
Clémence
Manon
Sabine
Véronique

Boo Yes, it is very funny that two very different languages would share the same name. I personally love the name.

Babette and Lucille

Viola is the past simple of the verb to rape.

Manon de source was a pretty sad film!

I don't mean to be the annoying one but just be aware that Miette literally translates as "bread crumbs". I don't know anyone French called Miette, probably more of a nickname for a grandmother.
Violette sounds nice in English but again, just be aware that viol* translates as "rape".

Careful with Monique and Simone, comically old school like Pam and Sharon would be in the UK. Sylvie, Claudette and Corinne, very 70's too.
Camille, Elodie, Mathilde, Lucie, Anaïs, Estelle, Clémentine widely used in the 80's and 90's (I'm one of them).

Top 20 names in 2013:
1- Louise
2- Jade
3- Emma
4- Léa
5- Chloé
6- Lola
7- Lilou
8- Camille
9- Juliette
10- Manon
11- Maëlys
12- Louane
13- Inès
14- Lucie
15- Romane
16- Louna
17- Zoé
18- Léna
19- Sarah
20- Alice

I know a 5 year old Sabine. Her parents call her 'Beanie'. 'Tis most cute.

Almost eliminates the association with 'Rape of the Sabine Women'.

Please, then, don't call them Zizette and Minette!

Although, conversely, "Fanny" is quite popular in France.