Name question for anyone French/French-speakers

[tdam]

Hi all,

I'm due in a few months with a little girl and I'm having trouble deciding on her name. We had settled on Amelie but as someone who is very finicky about names being spelt and said correctly, I'm worried that we're butchering the name to an extent, at least in the eyes, perhaps, of a French speaker.

Being Australian, we're taking off the accent over the first 'e' and pronouncing it am-eh-lee rather than ahm-eh-lee. I'm well aware of how to pronounce it in French having studied the language for 10 years and having been to France a few times and like both pronunciations but having spoken to many people about it, mostly Australian or British, their first assumption is that it is said as am-eh-lee. As such, it seems we'd have more trouble saying it in a way that is more faithful to its original than if we go with the anglicised version. In fact, I've heard of a few Amelies through friends and all of them pronounce it in the anglicised way.

What do you think? Is this acceptable in the eyes of a Frenchman/woman? As an English/literature teacher and someone who's travelled extensively I hate the idea of appropriating a name from another culture in what might be considered an ignorant manner. But then I think about names like Clémentine and Charlotte, which are French but are pronounced differently in English (very differently in the case of the former) and have been for hundreds of years and can't see any difference, except that Amélie is newer as a name outside of France.

Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated. Our other name choice is Matilda/Mathilda, which we adore but is much, much more popular in Australia.

Thanks!

In France they would say Ahm-ay-lee.

Yes sorry, for me the 'eh' and 'ay' sound are similar/the same. I should have written that.

Honestly I think you're overthinking.
Most names are "borrowed" from other cultures and pronounced differently in English.

I am definitely an overthinker, it's driving me nuts! The only reason it came up was that my brother, when we told him the name we'd chosen, said that he'd say it the French way and argued his case and now it's stuck in my head.

I'd say it's completely up to you. If you want it pronounced the French way, leave the accent on it. If you want it pronounced the English way, take it off.

If your DD visits French speaking countries, the people will pronounce it the French way anyway.
Another option would be to go for the more anglicised version Amelia.

Overall, I think you're overthinking this way too much. Regardless of where you live, people will always pronounce your name different ways. It's not going to matter to your little one. :)

Having a French name myself, nobody in an English speaking country ever pronounces it right. I'm 30 now and have never gotten my knickers in a twist over it. 😊

I think you're fine.

You're basically just saying it in an English/Australian accent. It would be potentially annoying if you were pronouncing it in a way that was downright wrong - AIM-uh-lee or something.

I'm really glad to hear people say I'm overthinking it and that it's ok to pronounce it in the way we are.

Any other French people on here with thoughts on this? Also, feel free to tell me which you prefer out of Amelie and Matilda.

Love love love Matilda
Prefer Amelia and Amalia to Amelie but it’s nice enough - I’ve known of 2 little Amelies and pronounced one each way

Cultural appropriation is an interesting topic - both French & English have a lot of overlapping history & evolution of language (it sounds like you’re far more educated than I am on this) & I just don’t think this is the same as say taking a native African name with no heritage (& even that would be a 2 sided controversial topic) - I just don’t think Amelie is in that category

@bubblebeesmum I think you're absolutely right - with two countries so connected over such a long period of time it is definitely different that taking, as you said, an African name and appropriating it.

@bubblebeesmum I also just adore Matilda and was ecstatic when my partner agreed to it but I've let concerns over popularity get the better of me!

I wouldn't worry about it. I know someone with a strong West Country accent who named her daughter Fleur and definitely doesn't prounounce it the French way!

It would be Matilde in French !

we're taking off the accent over the first 'e' and pronouncing it am-eh-lee rather than ahm-eh-lee.

I’m confused. The e acute has no bearing on the pronunciation of the first syllable. And it’s Am rather than Ahm in French anyway.

@TatianaLarina I know, I was just conveying that I wasn't using the acute as a separate point, not as anything with any bearing on the first syllable.

I'm interested (and happy) to hear you say that about the beginning! Although confused as I've had a couple of French people say it for me and it seems as if it's not quite 'am' like 'I am happy' but more of an 'ah' sound prior to the 'm', or at least somewhere in between.

I'm not French or a fluent French speaker (although I did it to A level aeons ago) but to me it's one of those names that only sounds nice if it's pronounced the French way. Just my opinion, of course.

@DramaAlpaca Fair enough, I do know what you mean. Out of curiosity, how would you pronounce it? Feeling more confused than ever after the comment from @TatianaLarina

The French ‘a’ sound is slightly softer perhaps than the hard ‘aaa’ in English but it’s not really ‘ah’.

How about Mathilde? Recognisable with a nod to French and different from all the Matildas.

IME of children with fairly international names growing up across two cultures, pronunciation varies (surprisingly so, even in names you thought only had one possible pronunciation!) anyway, so if you do stick to Amelie (I do love Matilda/Mathilde), I wouldn't worry too much.

@TatianaLarina That YouTube video makes me feel a lot better (and vindicated as I've been arguing with my brother that it is somewhere in between 'ahm' and 'am' for awhile now and even though I found another video that pronounces it similarly, I'd let him get into my head and convince me). So thank you! It seems that the way we want to say it is extremely close to, if not the same as, the French pronunciation.

@AndItStillSaidFourOfTwo I think Mathilde is beautiful but my partner prefers Matilda and, despite its popularity, I probably do a little bit too.

Thank you as well for your input about international names. I think you're right and that I've massively been overthinking the topic. Very typical of me!