Names which work in French and English

[Lexylizard]

We have a list of names which might work in French and English (oh Is French), albeit not many boys names. Which do you like, or have you any to add?

Mathilde (Tilly)
Maeva (Maeve)
Emeline
Florence
Elodie (Edie)
Cecile

Hugo
Miles

Delphine / Delphie
Colette
Sophie
Sylvie
Coralie

Gregory (had a French friend called this, think his parents were Anglophiles)
Robert
Raphael
Laurence
Magnus

The “stars” of my French “learn to read” book were Daniel et Valerie. Kind of 1970s French versions it’s Biff, Chip and Kipper. They lived on a farm.

Mathilde (Tilly) - ok
Maeva (Maeve) - nice
Emeline - prefer Emmeline
Florence - don't think it works well with the surname, and pronounced differently in French
Mathilde (Tilly) - quite nice.
Maeva (Maeve) - unusual spelling, most people would spell it Maeve to start with.
Emeline - quite nice
Florence - I prefer the French pronunciation
Elodie (Edie) - nice
Cecile - nice

Hugo - lovely, but pronunciation differs in French
Miles - doesn't work in French!
Frederic (Freddie) - ok
Quentin - very nice
Enzo - nice

My favourites are Cecile and Quentin.

I really like Elodie, Cecile, Frederic and Quentin.

I don't think Miles or Maeva works well in French/ English.

Paul for a boy

Now that I've seen the surname, forget about Paul! He would sound like a Paul Simon tribute act

I've got an Emily and a Samuel and an Olivia all of which work well if you don't mind variations in prenounciation/spelling which I was happy with.

Others we had on our shortlist were Sebastian, Jasmine, Chloe, Sophie/Sophia. Tristan and Alain also work well I think.

In general I found boys names harder than girls because many of the ones I loved in French sounded very femanine in English . . .

I also agree with the pp that although Fleur sounds lovely and French when used in England I don't know any actual people called this in France which is problamatic if you're looking for a bilingual name. . . .

Most names, even if they exist either the santé spelling, will be pronounced quite differently, I’d prioritise it sounding nice and being easy to say in the accent of the country you live in (if you intend to stay). DS is half-Italian, we live in Italy and he has a very Italian name, but it’s one that is familiar to most British people and is easy to say and spell.

Clara
Sophie
Nina
Clémentine
Apolline
Constance
Anouk
I would use Manon if i lived in France but not in the U.K. as it’s nowhere near as pretty said in a British accent.

Gabriel
Louis
Frédéric /Frederick

Enzo is an Italian name, though very popular in France recently - combined with the surname the name would look very Italian rather than French/Italian/Non-specific international, if that bothers you. It’s a lovely name though.

*rather than French/British/non-specific international

The Enzo I know is Italian and his name is a nn for Lorenzo.

Elliot

How do you pronounce manon? My dd is friends with one and everyone calls her man-on ?

Manon is pronounced Man-oh like the French word Non.

I love the name Delphine
Louis
Guy
Daniel

Love Manon

Love that film Manon Des Sources

Emma
Emilie
Marine
Sarah
Coline

Anton
Ethan
Adrian

Same situation, our favourites are

Girl
Anya
Maya
Emmeline
Ayla
Elena
Elodie
Chloe
Anaïs

I love Louna, Eloise, Livia, Gabrielle but OH doesn't

Boys-
Noah
Ethan
Theo
Raphael
Olivier
Hayden (didn't have any French vibes for me but OH loves it!)

Catherine
Violet /Violette
Marie
Michelle
Bridget / Brigitte
Joan
Jean(nne)
Sara
Simone
Sonia
Nina
Agnes

Michel
Albert
Raymond (Yes I do watch a lot of cookery shows)
Charles
Louis
Vincent
Henry
Jack / Jaques
Eugene
Marcel
Gerard

@OhRosalind

Enzo is an Italian name, though very popular in France recently - combined with the surname the name would look very Italian rather than French/Italian/Non-specific international, if that bothers you. It’s a lovely name though.

My DP loves Enzo but I'm not keen. I said the same thing to him actually, that it's too Italian with the surname and I'd prefer an English/French name to reflect the different cultures. He doesn't want a typically English name, as it will be bought up in the U.K. - so it's going to have to a have a French connection. The boys names I very much like are Wilfred and Miles but they're going to have to be a big NO! He won't compromise on Louis or Barnabee and he's not keen on Frederic. Names are hard

@kersh33

Actually this is a very opportune thread!! I am English, DH is French and we live in France. We are having a little girl and the aim was to find a name that works in both French and English. However I seem to have fallen for the name Manon which I think is beautiful in French. However I'm not really sure how it would work in English and am a bit worried she'd be called Man-on. Which is not that lovely!!

What do you think? We have no plans to move back to the UK so she would be essentially a French child with UK family who would know how to pronounce her name. I really love the name but don't want to saddle her with something that really doesn't work in other languages.

I think she'll be called Man-on. We've decided to stay away from names where the different pronunciations don't sound nice in both languages. There's some French names that I find difficult to pronounce properly! I'm working on my French! We don't mind names that are pronounced differently in the different languages, as long as it doesn't ruin the name. Like Hugo for us - we don't mind both versions, and accept it would be said differently.

So he wants baby to have a french first name and an italian surname?

But you're English aren't you? Are you just the incubator?!

Tbh I think baby should have your surname in there somewhere if it's just a middle name.

My DCs have both surnames which means the mixed heritage is clear. Also even if my DH was English with an English surname, I'd still give my own surname to my children.

even if it's just a middle name

@NameChange30

I also have a French DH and we live in the UK. We have a DS and expecting a DD. We know lots of bilingual families. As a general rule I think the "classic" names work best as they're well known in both countries/languages and easy for both sides to pronounce.

Mathilde (Tilly) - ok
Maeva (Maeve) - don't think the French will get on particularly well with this
Emeline - isn't it Emmeline?
Florence - love (def my fave from your list)
Elodie (Edie) - like Elodie but not Edie, there are loads and I dislike the trend for old fashioned names in general and Edie in particular
Cecile - too French for my taste

Hugo - pronounced very differently due to the H, I would avoid
Miles - fine in English but doesn't work at all in French, they'd probably pronounce it "mille" as in 1000.

My suggestions:

Girls (although I do love Florence from your list)
Adele
Clementine
Emma
Louise
Mia
Sophie

(Oh and I'm not a fan of Manon, btw, I think it sounds rather ugly.)

Boys:
Adam
Leo
Max (I like Maxim as a longer name)
Noah
Tom (Thomas)

Personally I'd avoid any name with "th" (eg Nathan, Theo) because I don't like the different pronunciations, I'm fluent in French but as a native English speaker I find the hard French "th" too harsh and ugly when it's in a name I'm used to hearing with a soft English "th".

Isn't Maëva a French name? But pronounced Mae-Eva... I do like this name as it can be changed to Mae or Maeve. My DH is sitting on the fence with this one. He prefers Mathilde.