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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Anglo-French name for DD

82 replies

Cinnamus · 25/10/2018 20:29

DD2 due in January. Husband's French and I'm English. We live in France and are unlikely to move to the UK. Surname is unusual (middle eastern origin). Struggling to find a name that we both like.
Our short list is:
Héloïse
Héléna
Alyssa
Alexandra
Élise

Not convinced by any of them! Looking for inspiration Smile

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
moredoll · 26/10/2018 01:08

Sylvie
Ines
Anna
Louise

Mumtobe193 · 26/10/2018 01:47

Elodie?

LaDaronne · 26/10/2018 08:43

Fae is not a name. Harriette is not a name. 85% of the suggestions above (Renée, Sylvie, Corinne etc) are ridiculously outmoded. Honestly if you want a French name look on French baby name websites / books, there are loads out there. Or do a search on here, it comes up quite often as a question.

Twisique · 26/10/2018 09:43

Outmoded names are back in mode in the UK.

TatianaLarina · 26/10/2018 09:45

While I was the first to flag the fact that certain suggestions are middle-aged, it’s not really that important.

If you love a name the fact that it’s currently associated with a particular generation is not particularly relevant.

When I was growing up all the Olivias I knew were upper middle class women of my mother’s generation. Look where it is now.

There’s no rule that says you have to choose a name that’s currently fashionable. And if you do it will date horribly.

LaDaronne · 26/10/2018 10:07

That's true, but given the OP's list there's no reason to believe she will love Ghislaine and Mireille. The point is more if you're not familiar with current trends in French girl's names there's not a lot of point in weighing in whatever your French penpal from 1992's mum was called.

LaDaronne · 26/10/2018 10:12

Some outmoded names are back in. Not all by all means. And OP doesn't live in the UK anyway, so the point is moot.

ApricotExpat · 26/10/2018 10:17

Delphine!

Pootlewasthebest · 26/10/2018 10:20

Perhaps the OP could comeback and give us some feedback?!

blueskiesandforests · 26/10/2018 10:35

We've got 3 kids with grandparents from 3 European countries, and speak 2 languages at home. We tried to find names which work in all the languages for the first 2, but it backfired because, in fact, no name is identical in two languages due to vowel sounds even if you avoud wildly different consonants. For dc3 we therefore chose a distinctly English name but with no letters which are pronounced utterly differently (most relevant being no th, no j in our case). This has counter-intuitively been the easiest for non English speakers to get their heads around.

No matter what name you chose, it will be pronounced differently by speakers of each language.

My kids pronounced their own names appropriately to the language they were speaking, before they were even old enough to be conscious that they were swapping languages.

If you choose a name which exists in its own right in both English and French, new aquaintances will make an issue of trying to pin you down to which pronunciation is "right" but the most natural thing is to swap with the language spoken.

Small children and some older people do try to tell me I pronounce my own children's names wrongly in the case of the 2 with international names, because I naturally use the English pronunciation and speak the other language with a strong accent due to learning as a mature adult. This problem doesn't happen with the child who has a distinctly English name!

So I would honestly give up on trying to find a name from both languages and just pick one which has one pronunciation and belongs to one language.

Cinnamus · 26/10/2018 20:49

Thanks everyone for the replies!
@Pootlewasthebest As for feedback, I'd say you're impatient and slightly over invested in a baby name forum Wink.

We'd prefer to avoid names which are currently the most popular in France. This rules out Camille, Louise, Ynès etc. Old-fashioned names aren't making a come back at all! It seems unfair on the child to give them a difficult name to pull off..
Thanks again for your input.
Bon week-end et reposez-vous bien !

OP posts:
Agustarella · 26/10/2018 21:00

Is Helena a middle-aged or elderly name in France? Just asking because it's my DD's name, and we're moving to France.

Binglejellies · 26/10/2018 21:12

Amelie

Marielle

LaDaronne · 26/10/2018 21:20

Helena is not particularly old-fashioned agustarella, you'll be fine.

Ilovedotcotton · 26/10/2018 21:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Agustarella · 26/10/2018 21:24

Thanks @LaDaronne!

kaytee87 · 26/10/2018 22:21

I love Elise. It's beautiful and elegant.

GrammerlyH · 27/10/2018 05:13

Josephine and Delphine are both beautiful

nocluenoidea · 27/10/2018 05:33

Elise is probably my favourite out of your list but not sure it would go with a middle eastern surname.

What about Ines?

Or
Lucie
Amelie
Aimee
Chloe
Lea
Zoe
Lena
Anais
Thea

Cinnamus · 27/10/2018 06:14

@Agustarella Helena is pretty much unheard of. The "H" isn't pronounced so it sounds like Éléna, which is close to Elena, a well-known name.

OP posts:
IggyAce · 27/10/2018 06:23

Obéline, Céleste and Alizéa

OrdinaryGirl · 27/10/2018 06:36

Coralie?

LaDaronne · 27/10/2018 07:23

I just suggested Obéline to DH and he said isn't that Obélix's wife?

lrwe · 27/10/2018 07:26

I know (adult) Elise and Alexandra in the UK.

The French-Swedish family I'm friends with have Estelle and Alicia - also beautiful names!

Sungura · 27/10/2018 09:05

Adrienne
Aimee
Bastienne
Berenice
Crestienne
Cosette
Desiree
Emmeline
Estelle
Eugenie
Eulalie
Fabienne
Felise
Fleurette
Francine
Gigi
Ginette
Helicia
Honore
Jacinthe
Janelle
Janique
Jolie
Joelle
Josette
Laeticia
Lizeth
Loraine
Lucienne
Louane
Magalie
Malaina
Marguerite
Melisande
Mavis
Monet
Monique
Monteen
Naissa
Nesrine
Noelle
Ortense
Odetta
Orianne
Raquel
Rosette
Roxane
Simone
Soleil
Sibylle
Sorrell
Sophronie
Silvie
Susette
Tatienne
Therese
Valerie
Virginie
Vivienne
Xalina
Yvette
Yolantha
Zoelie

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