Opinions from French people please!

[ZadokTheBeast]

We have a few names on our list which are French in origin and I am keen to know how they are perceived in France:
Marine. Our hesitation with this one is the potential association with Marine LePen, the only Marine most people in the UK will have heard of. Would it have this same association in France or is it more commonly used?
Ondine?
Sylvie?
Valerie?
Fleur?
All of thses are fine in UK but as we may end up living in France I wouldn't want to give the child a name that is hugely old-fashioned or laughable. Rarely-used is fine, but we'd prefer to avoid totally bonkers! Thank you!

This shows which names bode well for academic success.

Marine is high up, Mathilde would be a good name too.

To give you an idea I'm 38yo and 'Sylvie' and ' Valerie' was given to people three or four years older than me. Old fashioned names.
Marine/Ondine would be somethingI would have called my daughter 5 years ago.
(I don't know what impact Marine Le Pen has had on that name as I have not lived in France for over 10 years now.)
I would still consider Marion instead.

I love Fleur, you do not see it very often at all and I think it is timeless but that might be just my personal opinion.
(It has slightly hippy/ free spirit connotations.)

Nothing bonkers there that I can see.

Sylvie is more middle aged in my own experience (I used a version of this for dd's middle name, partly because of family connections) but it's not very old fashioned by any means.

Valerie is quite commonly used still, that one is safe. Marine is very much on trend in France at the moment, same as Fleur. I hear of lots of young babies and children named Fleur.
Ondine would be the more unusual choice I'd say.

Chloe.
Charlotte.
Elodie.
Delphine.
Odette.
Manon.
Nadine.
Julie.

Emma seems hugely popular at the moment.

Anne.
Carine.
Elisabeth.
Therese.
Helene.

French canadian here:
Valérie and Sylvie are names that easily go through generations esp. Valérie
Ondine never heard of it sounds like On dîne which means we dine.
Fleur is definitely not a name here parents would be considered a bit bonkers

so I'd say go with Valerie

Sylvie and Valerie are very middle aged and would sound really really odd in France for babies or little girls.

Ondine is nice but very unusual and quite connoted with water (ondée means little rain). It is also the other name of the little mermaid by Andersen, and I'm sure I saw that name for a fairy in another french book, maybe by Comtesse de Segur.

Marine is nice and quite traditional/classic. Very popular in the 80s, 90s. It is popular enough that people wouldn't relate it to the Le Pen.

Fleur is nice and quite popular now with that young minister Fleur Pellerin. Very feminine, that's my favourite one with Ondine.

Thanks Moopsy,
Yes, Ondine was a water nymph in legend, some stories say that she cursed her unfaithful husband to stop breathing if he ever fell asleep! That apart we like the name :-)
Interesting tha there are so many different opinizons on what is dated or not; it is all very helpful thank you!

I agree with Valerie easily going through the generations. Not hugely popular for babies now, and it was hugely popular a few decades ago (hence middle age comments), but I still hear it occasionally.

Oceane is very on trend, thinking of similar names, but too much so perhaps? Also Capucine, Amandine not old fashioned, similar sounding.

Also Quebec here - I have a French friend who has a DD12 who is a Marine - I love that name. But I do wonder, with Marine LePen's star in the ascendant whether the name may become a bit…

Lots of Sylvies here too, but they are quite middle-aged. I like it though. Not so keen on Valerie.

Agree with Qwbec - I don't think I've heard of a Fleur here!
Ondine is pretty. Don't know of any here.

how about Jacqueline? .. due a revival!! (however I may be a teeny bit biased

Sylviane?
Claudette?

Ooooh lemonyone I thaught I was all alone! :) yay!

No - you're not alone! Hurrah! Not many of us here though, are there?

Enjoying the weather BTW? I'm loving the fact there there is a massive grit/greysnow pile gently melting at the corner of our road while its suddenly 20C!

Or go with Proust: Gilberte, Albertine, Odette, Camille, Esther, Marguerite, Noémie, Léontine, Victoire, Oriane

Not French but living in France for last 10 years.

I would say Marine is too common for Marine LePen to affect it, I know lots of Marines.

The others are fine too, most of the children I meet seem to have 'unusual' names like Ondine or Fleur rather than Sylvie or Valerie, but that may be down to my more 'alternative' milieu than to common practice in France.

Aimée is also nice.

The heat is amazing (15C here), yesterday it was 20C anf it felt like summer, esp after having -20 degrees till the end of Febuary. I'm watching for my bulbs to come out like a hawk. (I already checked twice today). My NDN shoveled the snow off her land on the street she is so excited to see it melt!

a french friend talked me out of Sylvie. She just kept wrinkling up her nose. But then, she wanted to call her son Martin and I had to wrinkle mine. So, you are wise to check............. I love Valerie. No idea how it's perceived in France but I love that it's pretty but not at all predictable.

I know a five-year-old Marine whose mum regrets it now Marine Le Pen is becoming more and more prominent politically.

Sylvie and Valérie, just no. Like Brenda or Gladys.

Fleur, possible but unusual. Fleur Pellerin is the current minister for culture.

So of your choices, I'd have to vote Ondine. It has a slight 80s vibe but was never popular enough to be massively unfashionable now.

I love the name Amélie. And there are some good options on brightnearly's list (the first list, not the Proust one, although I do like Camille).

I'd pick a name that works in both England/English and France/French. For that it needs to be quite classic and simple. And personally I wouldn't pick Valerie as I don't like the sound of it in English.

Well that's funny, because to me Valerie and Amelie have a very similar sound, at least said by the average English speaker.

Maybe it's more that Valerie seems like an older person's name - in England anyway. Amélie is prettier and younger IMO.

Yes, that's true. It doesn't bother me though, I just go by whether I like the sound of a name or not. I prefer the "old-fashioned" Valerie to the in-fashion Amelia.

OTOH I do like Amélie, which sounds quite different from Amelia to my ears!

Yes I agree, love Amélie but don't like Amelia at all! Weirdly though I think Emilia is nice. Which makes me think of Emilie - could be an option??