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Maëly and French names
I am still in touch via Facebook with my school French exchange partner and she has just posted that she's had her first baby, a girl named Maëly. It's ranked 422 but the male equivalent Maël is ranked at number 10 and the similar version Maëlys is at 64. I've just looked at the popularity chart for France and they really like names beginning with L. There are 20 in the top 100. Anyway, any thoughts on Maëly or French names in general? I feel like it's not really my style. I think if I had to pick a girl's name from the French top 100 I'd chose Zoé, Romane, Lucie, Anaïs or Océane though I have no idea how these names are perceived in France.

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I'd stick with Alice and Lucie. And if they're in the top 100, they must be liked!Did you stop, as I did, and stare at this sequence:
53. Lana
54. Lya
55. Lyna
56. Lyana
57. Théa
58. LéanaPity about Théa! But at least it's got éa to be matchy-matchy with #58.
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Yes, crazy! The Lya, Lyna, Lyana sequence reminded me of the quiz show Only Connect (not sure if you get that in South Africa) where they sometimes have a round which involves a sequence of words with an extra letter added.
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I prefer Maëlys. Maëly looks kinda clipped.I’ve always liked French names. They all seem to have an effortlessly elegant quality about them. If I had to pick favorites from the top 100, I would choose:
Alice
Chloé
Inès
Juliette
Camille
Jeanne
Léonie
Iris
Adèle
Charlotte
Victoire
Anaïs
Maëlys
Apolline
Élise
Héloïse
Marie
Thaïs
Zélie (Azélie and Marie-Azélie are also nice)
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I think French names are mostly really pretty. From their top 100's I likeMia
Romy
Victoire
Aya
Valentine
Zélie
Salomé (this feels like a bold choice, I wonder if it's perceived differently in France)
Maëlle
Soline
OcéaneTiméo
Axel
Augustin
Adrien
Marin
Elio
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I have a niece called Elodie. Her grandmama on her fathers side is French.I love French names like Melisande, Matthew, Sophie Jeanne, Pierre and Jean. I think I prefer the pronunciation most of the time to the English one.
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I like how Maëly looks, but it's a loooooot of ee's I like French names, but I rarely prefer the pronunciation / spelling. My biggest exception is Adrien which I prefer tenfold over Adrian. It's a very subtle change, admittedly, but I find it more attractive. I also prefer Zoé over Zoe (and also the German Zoë), but I ultimately prefer Zoey. I think it's because, in part, I knew a Zoey with that spelling from a young age so Zoe looks incomplete. But I also got annoyed at how some kids (very young kids) would say "zow" instead of "zo-ee" when reading Zoe and it stuck with me as a general annoyance xD
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I’m guessing it’s pronounced May-lee? I like it, it’s quite sweet. I love french names! My favourites are probably Océane and Élodie. I also have a french name myself which is kind of now seen as an ‘old lady’ french name seeing as it was number 2 in France somewhere in the 40s. I don’t mind though because I live in the UK.
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