French-English Baby Names

[Gallia2022]

Hello,

I'm starting this thread as my partner and I are expecting a child in 3 months and we are looking for French or "mixed" baby names (i.e. French names which can be easily pronounced and sound nice in English or names that are both French and English). My problem is that my partner is very picky! I have a list and would be interested to know what English-speaking people think of these names before I talk to him. I think some might be a bit too "out there" for his taste, but I would be however curious to know what people make of them. We don't know if the baby is a boy or a girl so we have to consider both:

Boys:
Remy
Pierre
Joseph
Auguste
Emile
Armand
Edgar
Mayeul

Girls:
Iris
Leonie
Beatrice
Octavie/Octavia
Adelaide
Blanche
Garance

Please let me know if you have other suggestions!

Boys
Remy - I have a lovely friend with that name
Girls
Fleur - I went to school with a stunning girl with that name

Thanks for your comments, I grew up with so many Amandines, Delphines, Elodies… these names sound overused to me now. Nothing wrong with them though, they are perfectly ok names! Pronunciation/accents are not really an issue to me.

@TatianaBis, I disagree with you about the bullying. Other kids will look for a weak point and an unusual name is ripe for the picking.

You can teach a child to be resilient, but other kids can be cruel

I was teased about my first name and surname. I also was given a fat-shaming nickname yet the photos of me show a skinny looking kid.

Some of the surnames were ripe for teasing, but a friend whose surname is Steel was teased 'Steal by nature' and it still upsets him

I was teased about my first name and surname. I also was given a fat-shaming nickname yet the photos of me show a skinny looking kid.

For whatever reason you seemed vulnerable. It wasn’t about your name any more than it was about being fat (you weren’t).

There are Lysander and Calypsos who get through school with not a mention of their names.

ANY name can be teasable. All the Ellies in the world could easily be called smelly, Matt scat, Leo peeo, Lucas pukas etc.

For male names Remy is nice as are Stéphane, Thierry and François convert well into English. However I knew a Stephane who would put Mr Stephane on his email footnote as some people thought it was Stephanie.

It was TatianaBis. Think something like Lizzie Dripping or Austin Allegro type jokes. Neither particularly bothered me but that was because I didn't rise to it. The fat-shaming nn was as AFAIK I wasn't. NN were often alliterative or a play on their names

Had I been more sensitive I would have been hurt.

Some kids had terrible nn that in hindsight were cruel. Not the actual ones but things like Fat Karen, Specky Becky, Susan Snot etc

Some kids had terrible nn that in hindsight were cruel. Not the actual ones but things like Fat Karen, Specky Becky, Susan Snot etc

This is the point- there is no name you can’t turn into something derogatory. And if they really can’t think of anything kids just pick on something about appearance, or even just makes things up like the fat jibe.

Lizzie dripping or Austin allegro aren’t even rude.

@TatianaBis, Lizzie Dripping isn't a compliment and Austin Allegro was a bit of a joke car.. Those weren't the actual insults but along the same sort of lines. My friends with more conventional names didn't get teased.

Or were they just more confident and less teasable, it’s really not about the names.

@Leeloo1233

Iris is pronounced quite differently in French and English, that's why we didn't choose it for our french/english dd if that matters to you?

No it doesn’t matter to me!

@WutheringCripes

I love love love Garance.

Me too but it doesn’t seem to be a very popular choice unfortunately!

Marc
Thierry
Pierre
Luc

Amelie
Sophie

@babyjellyfish

Are you looking for names which are currently in use in France, OP?

A lot of the ones on your list would be quite unusual here.

No not particularly, just names I like, I don’t mind if they sound unusual.

Nicolette
Colette
Maxine
Antoinette

Marc
Maxim
Gavroche
Antoine

@TatianaBis

I like Iris, Blanche and Beatrice, Edgar and Joseph.

My favourite French names are Manon, Capucine, Apolline, Romane, Maëlys, Thibault, Sébastien, Gabriel, Raphaël, Joachim.

I completely disagree that Manon doesn’t work in the U.K., it’s a Welsh name also. However it depends slightly where you live - in London or in Wales - no problem at all, elsewhere - n’importe quoi.

Maëlys doesn’t work here as everyone would just say Mayliss, but Anaïs does, and people do know how to pronounce it.

To be honest I have never considered Manon, although I used to think it was a beautiful name growing up. I cannot use Gabriel and Raphaël as they are already in the family. Thibault is nice but maybe too hard to spell?

@TatianaBis, it was, The nn were linked to my names. The others might have been teased about something else but not their run-of-the-mill names

I don't know why you are disagreeing with me, I was there, you weren't.

[quote KirstenBlest]@TatianaBis, it was, The nn were linked to my names. The others might have been teased about something else but not their run-of-the-mill names

I don't know why you are disagreeing with me, I was there, you weren't.[/quote]
You've misunderstood what I'm disagreeing with. Ordinary run of the mill names can be turned into something rude if anyone wants to, as above. That your friends weren't teased for their names doesn't prove anything about names. Perhaps you were more teasable - more shy, more clever, more eccentric, more vulnerable or whatever. You attribute it to your name because that was the focus, but it may not have been about that.

On another front - London & other multicultural cities are home to VAST ranges of unusual names from all over the world. Obscure names simply don't stand out any more.

Thibault is nice but maybe too hard to spell?

Possibly and it would be pronounced Thigh bolt. I like the English version Tybalt.

I really like Manon. Simple and elegant. I’ve always liked Fabienne, but I don’t know if it’s terribly old fashioned.
French names are beautiful. Xavier would be my choice for a boy.

Danae also lovely I think.

The nn was comparable to say I was Ursula and my friends were Karen, Sarah, Katie and Marie. Marie might get nn Marie Biscuit but I got Arsula.

Not the real names but mine was unusual at the time, so it stood out.
Others with unusual names got teased about theirs too.

A girl with an irish name got hers mispronounced and she would correct them, which encouraged them

It happened

Josephine
Justine
Anne

@Tsuni

Estelle

Étienne

Love Etienne 🥰

Giselle?
Gabrielle?
Fleur?
Too much HP.😄😄

Some very pretty names in this thread. Elodie is just beautiful, very feminine, works in both languages and is my favourite!