Claire or similar... French names for girls

[shubiedoo]

I like the name Claire but am wondering if it's too popular. Any other ideas?

my uni flatmate was called caroline (she was french) - she would be about 30 now. that was beautiful too.

Mélisande
Clemence
Elodie
Aurore
Aurelie

Am half-French, here are all the girls' names in the French side of the family (does it matter how popular it is at the mo? in which case I could tell you their generations but otherwise it doesn't matter as English popularity isn't the same as French is it?). Can't work out accents on this laptop, sorry:

Madeleine
Marie-Gil
Isabelle
Helene
Colette
Sophie
Agnes
Laurence
Nina
Lola
Fann y (!)
Manon
Celine
Stephanie
Marianne
Therese
Camille
Josephine
Patricia
Caroline
Christine
Alizee
Ines

There are two of my cousin's children I can't remember so might be back to add those later...

LOL there's a Fanny on my DP's side too

Caroline isn't very now. The youngest one I know in France is 31.

Baby girls born to French friends of ours recently have been called

Adélaïde
Eugénie
Clara
Victoria
Noémie
Jeanne

Manon is awful

Charlotte
Geraldine
Adele
Fleur
Carmela
Madeleine

Claire is a great name

There were loads of us when I was at school but I don't know any children called Claire so I wouldn't say it was a popular name.

My Meme is called Marie-Louise
My Mum is a Suzanne and her sister was a Jeanne-Marie

Wow, lots of ideas, thanks everyone!
To complicate things, our surname is Irish so it can't be TOO French ifywim.
I like Madeleine too but there are so many round here.
But it seems Claire is not that common so I may go for it after all...
Claire with Yvonne for a middle name.

Some French names that are also Irish:
Bernadette (no!)
Colette
Marie-Therese
Catherine/Kathleen

I don't like Yvonne as a middle name with Claire - it makes the Claire run into it - Clar-ey-vonne. Something like Simone would work better...

Claire Simone

or what about Victoire - Claire Victoire would be glorious!

i like claire

my dd is Aimee which is french for to be loved

I thought of Claire Colette but the sounds are too choppy.

Just be aware that being called Claire Yvonne - or Claire Colette - is a bit like being called Jane Pauline in English ie very dated...

Interesting. We don't live in France so it's not like we have to keep up with the trends there!
There's "dated" vs. "classic"...
I think, too, with the Catholic thing in Ireland, the French-ish names are old because they were popular saints' names.

Yes, but we live in a globalised world and your DD might end up in France or in a French-savvy environment. If you want to give her a French name, let it at least be a classic one or one of her generation rather than an outmoded one

Hortense

Hmm, without revealing our surname it's difficult to explain why Amelie or Fleur or Sandrine are just not going to work!
But I adore French names and I love reading all the possibilities...

The headmistress of my daughter's school is called Marie-Hortense. Horrible name but absolutely lovely woman.

I would definately go with Clare...

And in Quebec (we're in Canada) Claire is in the top 20 baby names!

What are the classic ones Anna? I'm v interested in a French girls name IF I get pg and have a girl (trying soon).

Love France and French culture spent much of my childhood there and have worked in France, still go every year hence wanting a French name. I think it's important to know which ones are in vogue/classic e.g. I went right of Sylvie when I realised how old womany it was (French equiv of Ethel).

Personally like Beatrice and Marthe.

please advise

Oh crikey . Can't you just tell me the names you are considering and I'll tell you how they sound?

My old boss's dad is Quebecois and she is called Nathalie.

I always thought that was pretty and doesn't date.