Alizé/Alizée

[Brazie]

Hi all, DHs mum is French, she moved to the UK as a child but has maintained strong links. To tribute this we are giving our children French names. We have a little boy named Louis Timothée Arthur and are now expecting a second baby.

We were set on Camille being our girls name of choice but are currently on holiday in France and have met someone called Alizé/Alizée pronounced Ah-Lee-say. I think I've fallen in love!!

Full name would be Alizé Camille Inès.

Should we stick with Camille or go for Alizé?

I love them both but think I would go with Alize (and I don't know how to add the accent!)

There was a little girl called thi in dd's class. I do think it's prettier sounding than Camille however Eliza is increasingly popular (an additional 2 eliza's in that class) and Alize is also quite hard to pronounce until you hear it a couple of times, so may get 'butchered' especially depending on the regional accent where you live. So I think would depend on which factors are important to you.

(Sorry, can't find the accented e on my phone!)

Pretty name

(long press on the e and slide finger to the e you need without lifting up)

È

Ooooo, thank you!!

People will think it's a mis-spelling of Alice. There are lots of originally French names which are popular both sides of the Channel.

For those saying yes to Alizé/Alizée which spelling do you prefer? I like the look of Alizé more but wonder if Alizée is better for pronunciation/confusion with Alice?

Surely it's Alizée for a girl?

Alizé is an alcoholic drink.

My research shows a French tennis player (female) is Alizé and the one we have met is Alizé too quite confusing as I would have thought the same!

Camille is a boys name, isn’t it, OP?

Not at all?? Lots of females named Camille. I wouldn't even think of it as a boys name.

There is a female French singer called Alizee, I believe that is the correct spelling? Can't do the accent on this laptop

I like it - as long as you don’t mind some spelling / pronunciation issues. I prefer the sound of Alizé to Camille, although Camille might be an easier name to live with as it’s more familiar in the UK.

I prefer Camille

Love Camille - it's a unisex name in France but I think in the UK it's seen as a more feminine name. I think it's a good compromise to a nod to their gran's french heritage without some of the complications of alizée (including the correct spelling and finding the accent on a keyboard!).

I knew two Camille and both were lads. 🤷🏻‍♀️

Well, if you’re naming a girl, presumably you’d give her the feminine version of the name, assuming both exist (have never come across a male Alizé myself)…?

I prefer Camille, personally, but are you going to pronounce it the French or English way?

Thinking about, I guess it’s unisex. Pissarro and Saint-Saens, but also Paglia.

I just knew male Camilles personally so it skewed my perception.

I really like Alizé. It’s the name of Princess Kate’s brother’s wife I think - James Middleton’s wife

@PlasticOno

That's the confusion, it seems Alizé is ok for men and women and Alizée is women only!

Camille would be pronounced the French way with an expectation that it may be frequently mispronounced!

Apparently, Camille is a unisex name in France, where it’s in the top 100 for both boys and girls!

I think in the UK, it would be almost exclusively used for girls, if there was no French heritage, which is obviously not the case for you, op, but you said it was your girl name choice, anyway.

I think Alizé/Alizée sounds fine, but will be a spelling nightmare in the UK! You could have it as a second name?

Embarrassingly I had no idea that Camille was pronounced differently in French and always thought a relation’s wife was calling herself a nn. I would pronounce Alizée correctly I think but prefer the extra e spelling.

I have an accent in my name which is NEVER correctly written out in the UK, not even by close relatives, lifelong friends or major organisations! And this despite my always writing it correctly 😖So for that reason I would argue for the double "ée" because when it is inevitably written "Alizee" without accent in 95% of her records and correspondance, it is still clear to everyone how to say it out loud, no need to explain. Beautiful name by the way, and Camille is also lovely. Congrats on your new arrival!
💐

Alizée/Alizé (it is the name of a tropical wind) is pretty but I wouldn’t have a name with an accent in the UK.

Camille is nice too - I think I know equal numbers of male/female Camilles but maybe the boys are younger. I don’t know enough of them to say that’s a definite trend though!

Alize will get said as Aleez and Alizee as Aleezy or Aleezay

The é will almost always be written as e