Baby girl names that work in English, French and Greek...

[MissMarion]

Tough one... I'm French, my partner is Greek and we live in the UK and expect a baby girl for the end of the month. We've really been struggling to find names that work in all 3 languages... but I really want to as I don't want her name to be mispronounced by anyone. Any suggestions?

Maria

Alexandra

Nothing works in French if you're looking for the same pronunciation It's the emphasis onto the last syllable. So even Marina, for instance, becomes Marih-NA.

Every name gets this treatment, regardless of nationality. The British PM is BorEES JohnSOHN. You just gotta suck it up. My daughters have names which can be French or not, but their names are pronounced completely differently in France.

Claudia

Phoebe
Thea

Yes@ Jourdain is right. The pronunciation and emphasis will change between English and French and Greek too, even if the spelling is the same.

How about Anya/Anja as a less common version of Anna?

And I know Sophia/Sofia is over used but it is still the best girl's name ever. If I had a girl I couldn't resist it.

Alexandra or a variation (Alexi, Alexa, Alexia)
Eleni or Eliana
Lucie, Luciana, Lucille
Rachel
Thalia

And things that have a -th like Thea will end up with T in French.

@leavesthataregreen

How about Anya/Anja as a less common version of Anna?

And I know Sophia/Sofia is over used but it is still the best girl's name ever. If I had a girl I couldn't resist it.

The thing is, Sophia or Sofia aren’t French names. The French is Sophie.

Anna, Nina - seem truly timeless and international, imo work with any accent.

Katarina?

My favourite French girls names are Rosalie and Coralie, how do they work in Greek?

Christina should fit the bill

What about Persephone (I think the french has an acute accent on the second e) I liked the name (sephy) in noughts and crosses

Alexandra
Artemis
Apolline
Phoebe
Thalia

Stella

The thing is, Sophia or Sofia aren’t French names. The French is Sophie.

Sophia is very popular in France.

Pippa…..definitely Pippa. 😂

Daphne
Melissa
Phoebe

Celia?

Also, girls names really date in France!

In my generation, everyone is Elodie, Aurélie, Emilie, Julie... My name, which is quite "trad", was so uncommon when I was growing up. By the time I was 25, there were little 5 year olds left, right and centre with my name . Now the kind of "international" names like Jade, Emma, Alice, Léa, Louise are really popular, but all of these are pronounced completely differently than in English (except Louise).

Sophia, despite not being "French", wouldn't be considered weird in French, but it would be pronounced differently than in either English or (I assume) Greek.

Lina, Mia, Nina, Mila and Anna are popular in France currently and I imagine the pronunciation is similar across English, French and Greek.

My one advice... when choosing a name that is standard enough or quirky enough to work in multiple languages ... Remember the girl is going to have to live with this name for ever. What might seem so cute and quirky for a little girl could be kind of just weird for an adult woman. I wanted to call my first daughter Andraste after the Ancient Briton goddess of victory and thankfully DH overruled me. I don't know what pregnancy hormones did to my brain in that instance 😂

How about Leona?

Alexia , it’s originally a greek name but also is beautiful and works well in English , plus she can shorten it if she chooses to when she’s a bit older and wants to find her own little personality .

Daniella, danielle? Thea? Rosa?

Nina