Message: "French, clunky and chic"

[Opinions] French, clunky and chic

by Ottilie

5/30/2015, 4:43 PM

Yesterday, I was having some late night prose-related thought and it suddenly dawned on me that I needed a French, old lady-chic name. I went through the list on BtN and even after a long night's sleep, Bertille (which I imagine is pronounced something like behr-TEE) really stuck with me.

What do you think of Bertille?

What do you think of the clunky chic names I picked out from the list of French names, while awake this time?

It's a long list, so don't feel you have to comment on every single name!

Agathe
Albertine
Albine
Alphonsine
Blandine
Clotilde
Elvire
Émilienne
Florentine
Gilberte (Gilbert for a chap, en français, is also very endearing)
Honorine
Josèphe
Laurentine
Léopoldine
Ludivine
Magalie
Maximilienne
Pétronille
Rosemonde
Victorine

Also, how do we all feel about Océane?

Much obliged!

Ottilie

http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/116467
http://www.babynames.com/namelist/9808453

#French

Replies

- Flute (meganmichele) +1

5/31/2015, 3:20 PM

Bertille is quite neat. I like it more the more I say it to myself. It's fun to say. :)

Off your list I'm particularly fond of Léopoldine (probably because Leopold is tied for my favorite boy's name right now). I also really like Agathe, Laurentine, Ludivine, Magalie, Maximilienne, and Rosemonde. I feel like I could really like Pétronille, Albertine, and Gilberte in the right combos. I think they'd make really excellent middle names, particularly (I LOVE clunky middle names, especially with simpler first names).

Océane is nice, if a little... obvious? Is that the word I'm looking for? In any case, I think a little Océane would fit in perfectly with all the other nature names that are big nowadays and no one would really blink, even with the French spelling.

- Ottilie

6/1/2015, 3:56 AM

Thank you! :)

- Billina +1

5/31/2015, 10:58 AM

I like Bertille a lot. It has attitude.

From your list, I like...

Rosemonde
Maximilienne
Leopoldine
Laurentine
Honorine
Emilienne
Albertine

- Ottilie

5/31/2015, 11:14 AM

I think that's what I like about Bertille - she doesn't sound like she's going to take any nonsense!

- Tuesday (trayc53) +3

5/31/2015, 7:20 AM

Oceane has been a guilty pleasure of mine since I was like 12. At that time I thought it would be genuinely super classy and sophisticated for a little American girl, but in retrospect it's kind of gimmicky. I still like it though :)

Agathe - meh I just prefer Agatha or Agata
Albertine - pretty cool but most things with -bert aren't my favorite
Albine - hmm just reminds me of describing a rat without any pigment :(
Alphonsine - very cool!
Blandine - haha sorry the Bland sticks out too much
Clotilde - never been a huge fan, in terms of -tilldes I'm a Mathilde/Matilde kind of girl
Elvire - I wouldn't know how to pronounce it but it looks badass
Émilienne - beautiful
Florentine - probably my favorite on this list! aside from the fact that I love eggs florentine, I think of a beautiful floral painting or landscape
Gilberte - cute
Honorine - ehh a little much for me
Josèphe - nice! I adore Josepha myself, it's one of my favorites
Laurentine - gorgeous
Léopoldine - ooh this is probably my second favorite on this list
Ludivine - this is cool!
Magalie - not a big fan of this one
Maximilienne - cool
Pétronille - ehh, not feeling it
Rosemonde - wow I almost forgot about this name! so beautiful
Victorine - not my favorite of the Victor- names but very nice

- Ottilie

5/31/2015, 9:00 AM

I agree that Océane is gimmicky, but I think I like it nonetheless, heh!

- Tassiegirl +1

5/31/2015, 7:59 AM

Victorine

My husband's mother's name was Victoria, however, she was usually called Victorine.

She would have been my mother-in-law, but I never knew her, she died young.

- Ottilie

5/31/2015, 9:00 AM

Victoria "Victorine" is rather sweet and endearing.

- Colby (guest) +1

5/31/2015, 7:10 AM

Capucine was a sexy French actress half a century ago that is a tres chic baby name in Paris right now.

- Ottilie

5/31/2015, 9:01 AM

Yes, I had some inkling that Capucine was en vogue at the minute.

- FFF +1

5/31/2015, 5:25 AM

So, I taught English in France in public schools and some of these names aren't as old-fashioned as you might think! I had students named Agathe, Florentine and Ludivine. The rest I would think are fairly obscure, but I'm not sure.

- Ottilie

5/31/2015, 7:06 AM

Oh, that's good to hear! I was hoping someone would be able to tell me how accurate I was.

- blaaaarg (blaaarg) +3

5/31/2015, 1:04 AM

I really like Bertille- oddly enough, am not into any if the others you mentioned. Lol

I feel like a search of "*ie usage:French" might yield some nice results. Frenchified already female names, rather than just feminization of male ones.

Oceane I don't get. Check out its stats- I was mad surprised how popular it is in France.

- Ottilie +2

5/31/2015, 2:11 AM

Yep, I found them through looking up French names! I just happened to choose a lot of feminisations as they seemed the clunkiest to me.

- blaaaarg (blaaarg) +1

5/31/2015, 2:42 AM

Oh, here's a clunker I found recently: Nadege. Just wAnted to give her a lil spotlight. Such a funny congested name.

- Ottilie

5/31/2015, 2:55 AM

I must have breezed past that one! It's fun, I like it!

- Tassiegirl +1

5/30/2015, 7:18 PM

Those are mostly all delightfully clunky. Except Magalie. That seem s quite modern.

One I've come across is Bibbianne.

Oceane (sorry, can't do accent on my keyboard) is good, quite popular where I live, among very small girls, nothing over age 5, I wouldn't think.

- Ottilie

5/31/2015, 2:09 AM

Ooh, Bibianne, interesting! Océanne getting some usage makes me happy.

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