I feel like my list is leaning in the direction of these semi-unusual, international names that are unusual, but still pretty usable here in [name_u]America[/name_u]. So far I’m tossing around something along these lines:
[name_f]Isla[/name_f]
[name_f]Cosima[/name_f]
Aurélie
[name_u]Ali[/name_u]énor (an old [name_m]French[/name_m] form of [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f]–ah-lee-ay-nor)
[name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Sophie[/name_f]/[name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Claire[/name_f] (I love these [name_m]French[/name_m] [name_f]Anne[/name_f]- double-barrels!)
[name_f]Emilia[/name_f]
[name_f]Anouk[/name_f] (less sure about this one, but I still think it’s really cool, and I love the nn [name_f]Annie[/name_f])
[name_f]Zosia[/name_f] (ZOH-shah)
[name_f]Zoe[/name_f] (it’s Greek! It’s [name_m]French[/name_m]! And it’s used virtually everywhere!)
[name_f]Emily[/name_f]! Laerke! I don’t know how I forgot that. Lately I’ve been thinking about a Danish name to honor my parents, since my mom’s name is the Danish form of [name_f]Katherine[/name_f], and my dad’s favorite country he visited in Europe was Denmark. I thought it’d be a pretty cool tie to my parents. So far, Laerke’s been my favorite Danish option, but I’m not sure how usable it is in the US? lair-keh…
I like [name_f]Zelie[/name_f], [name_u]Dagny[/name_u], [name_f]Kaia[/name_f] (everyone says this is trendy, but I love the Scandinavian roots of it!), etc. I like [name_f]Lotta[/name_f] (maybe just because I’m loving just [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] so much right now!) and [name_f]Magda[/name_f], too, but I’m not sure I love them enough to use them?
[name_u]Haley[/name_u], I like [name_f]Zuzanna[/name_f], [name_f]Zelie[/name_f], [name_f]Delphine[/name_f], [name_f]Amelie[/name_f], and [name_f]Fleur[/name_f], but I’m not sure I’d use them. I like the idea of [name_f]Zelie[/name_f] as a middle, since it’s equal parts [name_m]French[/name_m] and Hebrew, just like my best friend was, but it just seems to lack something when written down. I love the sound of zay-lee, though!
@jonaandida - I do like [name_f]Lena[/name_f] a lot, and it’s very international, but it seems like it’s quite used in [name_u]America[/name_u], so it doesn’t quite have the foreign international charm as something like [name_f]Alienor[/name_f] or [name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Sophie[/name_f]? I have been adoring [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f] nn [name_f]Lena[/name_f] lately, though, but I’m not sure that seems very European/international, though. Not that it has to be, I’m just really loving those types of names lately…
I really like [name_f]Anne[/name_f] hyphenates. My favorite is [name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Cecile[/name_f] - I think [name_f]Cecile[/name_f]/Cecila/[name_f]Celia[/name_f]/[name_f]Cecily[/name_f] have such a nice sound.
Others that I like:
[name_f]Carlotta[/name_f] (this is how I’d probably get to [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] - one of my favorite NNs - now that [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] is so ubiquitous)
[name_f]Anais[/name_f]
[name_f]Celestine[/name_f]
[name_f]Anneli[/name_f] or [name_f]Anneliese[/name_f]
[name_f]Mirabelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Sylvie[/name_f]
[name_f]Paloma[/name_f]
[name_f]Isadora[/name_f]
[name_f]Noemie[/name_f]
[name_f]Elodie[/name_f]
[name_u]Simone[/name_u]
I think a lot of people won’t have much trouble with [name_f]Zosia[/name_f] these days, thanks to [name_f]Zosia[/name_f] Mamet.
I love [name_f]Paloma[/name_f] and [name_f]Pilar[/name_f], and lately I’ve been crushing on [name_m]German[/name_m] names like [name_f]Brigitte[/name_f], [name_f]Anne[/name_f] ([name_m]AH[/name_m]-nuh), [name_f]Heidi[/name_f], [name_f]Isolde[/name_f], [name_f]Hedwig[/name_f], and [name_f]Greta[/name_f].
@lisaer - I was hoping for some [name_m]German[/name_m] suggestions! I have a lot of [name_m]German[/name_m]/Swiss ancestry in me, and I was thinking about some [name_m]German[/name_m] smoosh names, like Hannelotte, Annevieve, Annegret, etc. I would like [name_f]Isolde[/name_f], solely for the nn [name_u]Issy[/name_u], and the tie to [name_u]Tristan[/name_u] and [name_f]Isolde[/name_f], if I didn’t already have [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f] (nn [name_f]Bella[/name_f]/[name_u]Issy[/name_u]) so high on my own list already.
So I think my international list looks something like this right about now:
[name_f]Cosima[/name_f]
[name_f]Isla[/name_f]
[name_f]Aurelie[/name_f]
[name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Sophie[/name_f]/[name_f]Anne[/name_f]-[name_f]Claire[/name_f]
[name_f]Zoe[/name_f]
[name_f]Eilidh[/name_f]
[name_f]Eliska[/name_f]
[name_f]Zara[/name_f]
[name_f]Helene[/name_f]
[name_f]Kaia[/name_f]
Laerke
Madelief (the Dutch word for “daisy”! I adore it)
I’m also really loving [name_f]Hazel[/name_f], [name_f]Poppy[/name_f], and [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] (no fuller names, just those. I usually wouldn’t go for just [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] at all, but ugh, I’m so tired of [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] and I love [name_f]Lottie[/name_f] utterly!), but I’m not sure they really fit here. They just feel very British/vintage to me.
I’ll probably go through BtN’s extensive database tomorrow to look for more inspiration with [name_m]French[/name_m]/Italian/Swiss/[name_m]German[/name_m]/Russian/Polish names, etc., because I feel like I keep seeing the same names that are popular everywhere ([name_f]Anna[/name_f], [name_f]Eva[/name_f], [name_f]Emma[/name_f], [name_f]Sophie[/name_f]/[name_f]Sophia[/name_f], [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_f]Lily[/name_f], etc.!), rather than international gems that are rare but still classy.
I really love both [name_f]Anouk[/name_f] and [name_f]Isla[/name_f]! [name_f]Eilidh[/name_f] is at the top of my list, so of course I love that one as well. Some Germanic suggestions I have for you would be [name_f]Frieda[/name_f] or [name_f]Freda[/name_f] and [name_f]Ursula[/name_f] although, now, it does carry the [name_m]Little[/name_m] Mermaid reference with it. Some others you might like:
[name_f]Saskia[/name_f]- I think this has the perfect balance of being unusual while remaining classy (Danish)
[name_f]Saoirse[/name_f]- pronounced “SEER-sha” and meaning liberty (Irish)
[name_f]Fleur[/name_f]- Delicate, demure, minimal, [name_m]French[/name_m].
[name_f]Elodie[/name_f]- I see this name quite a bit on Nameberry, but I have yet to meet a girl with this name. [name_m]French[/name_m]!
[name_f]Oceane[/name_f]- So chic and sophisticated. ([name_m]French[/name_m])
[name_f]Luciana[/name_f]- Italian name meaning light. If you like nicknames, this would be an easy way to get to [name_f]Lucy[/name_f]!
