Name Help: A Sister for Anaïs

Michelle is expecting her second daughter imminently—a little sister for Anaïs Marie. 

Michelle writes: "We are trying to choose a forename and middle name for our second daughter who is due in three months.

Our eldest is called Anaïs Marie [monosyllabic surname starts with an 'R'], both pronounced the French way. I had loved Anaïs since I was in my mid-teens, but Maïa had overtaken it by the time I met my now-husband. It had a lot of personal meaning but unfortunately a close colleague used it before we could despite her promising she would never use it if I would only reveal to her what it was. Although annoying at the time, it was a blessing in disguise; our eldest was born some five years after hers, by which time Mya/Maya/Maïa/Mia/Mae had become popular, and I now know of at least six girls of similar age with those names in my local community.

 

Anaïs became the perfect choice. I wanted something uncommon (but not weird) and ideally a French name because my since-passed mum and I had always liked French girls' names (my forename is French even though I have zero French heritage). My husband wanted a variant that sounded 'normal' and was short and easy to learn to write: she is mostly known as Ana which perfectly suits her as she is small but strong.

 

Marie was also easy to choose because we wanted to honour my mum, but neither of us were keen on Mary for a baby, and so using the French version was a nice idea. Also, due to our somewhat morbid sense of humour, all of our babies have been known as Erwin (after Schrödinger) whilst still in utero and we discovered his wife was called Annemarie.

 

However, we are both struggling to choose names for her sister. Similar criteria to last time: uncommon (but not weird) with a preference towards French names, whilst husband would like a normal-sounding variant that is easy to learn (bonus points if it has only three letters!). We have a shortlist, but are also keen to hear of anything else of the same ilk. Here is the shortlist for the forename:

 

• Léonie (Léa) - my second favourite, husband likes the variant but is not entirely convinced by Léonie 
• Élodie (Ela) - both of our favourite, but I am strongly put off by the fact that Élodie seems to be having a popularity surge, and that Ela is similar to Ella/Elsa/Elsie/Isla/Ila/Ayla of whom I know several in our local community
• Éloise (Ela) - same two off-putting reasons as Élodie
• Noémie (Noé) - we both like the full name, and find the variant quite cute, but doubt we are brave enough to use it because it is really unusual and sounds so much like "no way"
• Gaïa- I like this name mostly because it is like Maïa, but there is no obvious variant and there are already two other Gaïa's at Ana's nursery alone.

 

For the middle name, we are stuck. We would like to honour my husband's mum, but neither of us like the name Carol for a baby. We have considered all the variants of that name that we could find. Cara is strong but pretty, but sounds horrid next to the surname (perhaps it is the short second syllable? Marie sounds fine to me for some reason). Charlotte is a French version of Carol, but I find it too common/boring. I quite like transposing the vowels and then using the further variant Coralie, but it is quite a mouthful with the shortlisted forenames. I also wonder if we have strayed too far from Carol with both Coralie and Charlotte such that his mum wouldn't feel honoured at all! His mum's middle name is Elizabeth, so there is the possibility of Elise that both of us quite like, but she would be the only in-law to not have her first name honoured (should we have a boy in the future we have both agreed on Samuel (Sam) Cole to honour both of our dads, Samuel and Colin).

 

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I'll be honest, getting a three-letter nickname was a challenge, and I have had to take a bit of leeway in several cases, but all fit well with the styles of both Anais and Ana, in my opinion.

 

Adeline, Adelaide – Both of these noble-meaninged and traditionally-used-in-France names have a long heritage of use among royalty and aristocracy. Sweet Ada works well as a nickname.

Adrienne – In the French top 100 from 1900 until 1930, this French Edwardian gem lends itself to Ada and Ren as nicknames.

Ariane – Ariane (or Arianne if you prefer) is the French form of the ancient Greek Ariadne meaning “most holy/good”. Ari works as a short nickname.

Beatrice – Bilingual Beatrice is just as French as it is English and has plenty of royal gravitas. It also leads to sweet Bea as a nickname.

Brigitte – The #1 name in France in 1959, Brigette brings to mind bombshell Bardot and a sweet French twist on an Irish classic. Bea or Brie could be used as nicknames.

Celeste, Celestine – Both Celeste and Celestine are both French variations of the Latin Caelestis meaning “of the sky, heavenly.” Celestine, in particular, was a stylish French Victorian choice. Tes(s) works as a sweet diminutive.

Coralie – This elegant French form of the Ancient Greek Koralia “coral” works well in English but is far from common. Familiar and feisty Cora makes a perfect nickname.

Dalila – Pronounced da-LEE-la, Dalila is the French form of biblical Delilah. Dia, Lia or Lila could be used as nicknames.

Éliane – The French form of the stately Roman name Aeliana. Ela could be used as a nickname.

Emilienne – A popular French Edwardian favourite, Emilienne could be shorted to Emi or Lia.

Evangeline – Ma belle Evangeline as the Disney song goes. Though it is rare in France, it’s French-inspired style is undeniable. Eva or Evi could be used as nicknames.

Eveline – The French sister to Evelyn which can also be shortened to Eva or Evi.

Genevieve – The patron saint of Paris’s name ranked in the French top 100 from well before 1900 all the way to 1970. Evi, Gia and Ivy work as nicknames.

Jessamine – This French-style name is an antique poetic name for the jasmine flower. Jes and Jem can be used as diminutives.

Felicie – The French form of Felicity which can be shortened to Fay or Fia.

Floriane – A sweet French floral name lending itself to the nicknames Flo and Fia.

Georgette, Georgine – These French forms of the George family have a chic and stately style. Gia works as a cute little nickname for either.

Giselle – Reminiscent of the ballet and easily leading to spunky shirt-form Gia.

Liliane –The French form of lady-like Lilian which can be shortened to sweet Lia.

Lucienne – This French feminine form of Roman Lucianus can either be shortened to Lou or Lucy.

Magali -  Magali ranked in the French top 100 from 1963 to 1990 and variant Magalie ranked from 1971 to 1987. Said to be either a Provencal variant of either Magdalene or Margaret, it can be shortened to Mae/Mai or Meg.

Mailys / Maylis – Once Mailys was the most common form, but Maylis is the currently favoured spelling in France at the moment. Both derive from the town of Maylis in southern France which is thought to be a combination of Marie and Lys (“lily”) or mair “mother” and lys. Mai/May works perfectly as a nickname.

Sabine – The French form of stately Roman Sabina which was once a Victorian favourite. Bea works as a diminutive.

Therese – Therese (or rather Thérèse) is the French form Theresa and can be shortened to either Tes(s) or Tea. 

 

I hope this will help spark renewed inspiration for girls' names. Good luck with settling on the perfect name for your new family addition.