English/French baby names (living in France)

[Neelym11]

Looking for some ideas, feedback and inspiration please!

My husband and I are really struggling to agree on a name which works in both English and French. I’m British, he’s French and we’ll be moving permanently to France in a couple of months.

Our son is Arthur which works perfectly in the UK and in France and I don’t mind the difference in pronunciation.

Any suggestions / feedback on the below names would be greatly appreciated.

• Charlotte (husbands favourite but super popular?)
• Sylvie (my favourite but apparently very old fashioned in France)
• Margot
• Sophie
• Florence

• Louis (husband’s favourite after his grandfather.. but again very poplar?)
• Valentin (my favourite, difficult for English to pronounce?)
• Théo
• Rémy
• Raphaël

• our surname begins with M if that makes a difference! X

Haha Janet was literally the name I used above to exemplify what French names ending in ette are a bit like in France.

YY, I have met more than one "Anais", pronounced ann-ay

I'm not 100% sure, but Cindy and Sandrine seem like quite Sharon-ish names. Boys' names were quite conservative back in the day, which is why the Kevin craze in the 90s caused so much outrage and/or merriment. Probably the most Darren-ish names of middle-aged men are the yoonique spellings like Mickaël and Yoann.

I wouldn't call these Darren/Sharon names, but I think girls' names ending in "ie" have quite an 80s vibe.

I think Amélie, Émilie, Aurélie and Elodie are probably the French equivalents of Sarah, Rachel, Claire and Nicola.

Just realised we are completely derailing the thread! Sorry OP!

I live in France and these are some of the names of my colleagues' children.
Renee, Pauline, Susie, Raphael, Thomas, Olivia, James, Hannah, Anais, Mila, Jeremy, Jonathan, Leo.

Maelys. So pretty I think.

And Etienne.

I like the classical names which are quite fashionable now: Daphné, Athéna, Helena, Thais, Sophia.

Luc
Amelie

But it's not pronounced "Ann-ay"! Completely proves my point

Yes, exactly - I was agreeing with you...

There is also "Rayan" which may have other origins but I strongly suspect it's a mangled spelling of Ryan!

Phew

It might be, although I think it might also be a real (Muslim?) name. I taught a Muslim Rayan, and in the UK we knew a white British Rayana, whose mum said it was an Iranian name.

Camille
Sophie
Eloise
Dominique
Celine
Harriet

Louis
Gabriel
Theodore
Pierre
Elliott
Etienne

Yes I know several French Sophies who are not old . I think it’s a classic name - like Alice and I don’t think you could go wrong with either.

The following are probably objections unique to me; but since you asked…

Charlotte I have a problem with in a franglais context because in French la lotte means monkfish so Char-lotte always makes me think of charred monkfish. The French also put lots of emphasis on the second syllable which sounds a bit “ plop plop.”

Remy to me sounds like an old French man who doesn’t shave, wears braces to hold up his baggy trousers and plays pétanque, or the rat in the Ratatouille movie.

Valentin I don’t think works in English. It would end up being Valentine, with obvious connotations.

Margot has been seen a lot in recent years in the UK. Firstly it makes me think of Penelope Keith in The Good Life. Secondly, it sounds like Margaux ( the wine) ( and sometimes that spelling is even used). I find this incredibly tacky ( sorry Margaux!) because to me it’s kind of like calling a child Chardonnay or Budweiser.

I like Celeste but that probably doesn’t work well with Arthur because of the Babar books.

LOVE.....
Sylvie and Remy

Vivienne!

:)

Btw I think Louis is my favourite if your boy list and it is lovely to name after DH’s grandfather.

Also meant to say I quite like Beatrice .

Rayan is a unisex Arabic name. I’ve known a couple, one boy and one girl, but both Lebanese which might explain its popularity in France.

Oh yes it is Arabic, I am sorry, very ignorant of me I actually think it's a nice name now that I realise it's not a misspelling of Ryan! And much nicer than Ryan too.

"Remy to me sounds like an old French man who doesn’t shave, wears braces to hold up his baggy trousers and plays pétanque, or the rat in the Ratatouille movie."

🤣

I love Vivienne. Please can I have your verdict French Mumsnetters? What is it the equivalent of in England? When would a Vivienne have been born here, what were her friends’ names and what was her boyfriend called? 😁

OP, what would you say your name non negotiables or strong dislikes are to narrow down?

Juliet
Margot
Susannah

Philip/pe
Patrick
Remy

Cedric
Gauthier

I know smb who called their daughter Hope living in France. Just don't...