French name curse?

[rubyrainbowran]

Just to start a debate what are your thoughts on French names?

I’ve been having a think of French names that have been used in the UK overtime, and now they are looked down upon and appear dated.

Examples are:

Angelique
Monique
Danielle
Natalie
Chantelle
Marie
Julie

Is there a French name curse?
Is Elodie the new Chantelle?
(Though absolutely adore Elodie, can’t imagine it being!)

Also there are some names that break the rule eg. Sophie/Florence. But is that because they are considered English?

Discuss...

Michelle
Jacqueline

Elodie will date badly as it has become popular very quickly.
Amelie is another one that I think is on its way out.

Annette
Juliette
Yvonne
Suzanne

Esmee and it's various spellings
Cecile
Sylvie
Isabelle

You’ve listed some very 70s/80s names. I don’t know what you mean by French name curse?

Many of the girls names currently popular in France are the same as here - Sophie, Anna, Eva, Amélie, Mia, Alice, Rose, Mila, Margot, Iris, Olivia, Lily.

I’ve never met a French person called Chantelle. Chantal, yes.

I think it's the source of the name that dates them.
Margot gets mentioned a lot on here and it's popularity might be due to the success of Margot Robbie. The name itself isn't particularly nice, but you associate it with someone glamourous, attractive and successful.

Similarly, the name Darcey come from nowhere and when I first heard about the ballerina I thought what a strange name.

Julie was made more popular by Julie Christie, Debbie - Debbie Reynolds etc

A name fairly popular in my age group is Nicola, but Nicole replaced it.

Names from pop songs lead to a trend (Kayleigh. etc)

Names like Kylie, Rihanna, Britney are a bit of a giveaway to someone's age.

Suggestions:

Manon
Capucine
Apolline
Romane
Maëlys
Raphaëlle/a

Elise?

Totally forgot about Michelle and Nicole!

Though I still love Juliette.

@TatianaLarina the top baby names in France are quite international, other than perhaps Margot or Amelie.

Just noticed though that French names were probably seen as “elegant and chic” but then turned...hence the potential French name curse?

@MikeUniformMike you do make a very good point. Perhaps all names date, regardless of French or not

I often comment on names from another country. Footballers, pop stars, film stars, celebrities are usually adults, so the name will be (almost) a mum/dad name in that country/language.

A lot of the names that have dated started being popular because of a celebrity (Tracey, Darren, etc). Names from tv stars (e.g. Courtney, Shannon) pinpoint a certain age group. The name Theo seemed unusual when a young Walcott ran on to the pitch for England in 2006, and now they are everywhere.

I often comment on Welsh names. The names I see people suggesting tend to be middle aged.
Rhiannon was made popular by Fleetwood Mac when it was a bit of a middle aged name in Wales - there aren't many Rhiannons in the 30-75 age group. (Love the name, hate the mangled version)

I think Elodie something is a news reporter, and that might be why it is popular.

Another consideration with French names - Amelie, Elodie etc sound lovely in French but a bit meh in an English accent. Some sound blimmin awful. Jiss Elle for Gisele etc

well I think Jacqueline is due a come back
Though there were 4 of us in my class .....

The fashion is for vowel heavy names with v and l and sometimes m being the only consonants. The names seem to be samey.

It seems so boring Eva, Ava, Evie, Edie, Ellie, Ella, Lily, Tilly, Milly etc
Boys' names seem to be long, babyish or cutie names, and show trends.

Jacqueline is nice. I can't think of any young ones though.

Just noticed though that French names were probably seen as “elegant and chic” but then turned...hence the potential French name curse?

Turned where? It’s just that the French names in fashion have moved on - now it’s Amélie, Elodie, Margot, Ottilie, Anaïs

@tatianalarina you may be right. Every name dates

Trends move on. When you see or hear a name for the first time, it seems unusual and fresh, but it becomes popular.

I was reading a magazine (something like Countyname Life) about 2.5 years ago and it had a page with awards. There was a photo of Freya Surname1 and Freya Surname2, and suddenly the name seemed a bit meh.

Jacqueline is nice but when Jackies were everywhere it became boring. Names if they are nice remain so, but just don't seem current.

I have a French name, (not one of those mentioned above). It really doesn't sound that nice when pronounced in an English accent, (the R in it should be rolled, but nobody does, with the result that it sounds harsh). I wouldn't change it now as I'm in my 40's and it's too late really, but my god, am I sick of spelling it out, correcting people's pronunciation etc. I gave my DD a French name, but one that is pronounced the same in English, (and is far more common than mine - I've never met another one!).