Hi, I’ve posted here before about our upcoming first child, a little girl! I am French, and my husband is a first-generation American of English/Algerian-French parentage. We live part-time in France and part-time in America. Our surname is “Eve”, just like the girl’s name Eve. Because we have an English surname, we have always said that we’d name any children we have with French name(s).
Anyways, I had thought I had found the name for our girl, but recently… my husband and I fell in love with the name Bérénice (pronounced maybe like “behr-eh-neese”, put it into Google Translate under French and have the audio say it to hear its exact pronunciation, much better than my approximation!). Since coming up with that idea, it has changed everything for me and it feels like it’s the name. It’s a family name for me, and it also has a beautiful meaning: French transliteration of an Ancient Greek name that means “bearer of victory”. (If you’re keen on names, you might notice that another name has that meaning - Veronica! Indeed, Veronica is the Latin version of Bérénice.)
My husband and I both love it. Having said that, my husband did raise a concern: “When we are in California, some people might think it’s ‘old lady-ish’.” We aren’t sure exactly where we will be permanently – we might settle in France or America or continue to live our nomadic, bi-national life living in both countries – but I do have to take into account that there is a chance that we will be in America for a good chunk of the time.
So I ask of you: if you met a little French-American girl named Bérénice, would you think that her name “works”? Or would you think it is an unattractive elderly name? We like the idea of nicknaming her Bebe. Thank you in advance. - Delphine
i think most people in the US would pronounce it like the name bernice regardless of how its spelled. but i just love the name bernice and the nn bernie, i think its an endearing old lady name rather than an unattractive old lady name.
I think you can say it in [name_f]English[/name_f]. I also think that it doesn’t matter what you name your child someone will say it wrong.
I think there are no really trick letters or spelling. And plus it’s a beautiful name. And no harder to pronounce than plenty others.
[name_f]My[/name_f] vote is heck yeah go for it. I would lovee to meet a little [name_f]Bérénice[/name_f]. Only hang up is the accents would probably be lost often.
[name_u]Ren[/name_u] would be a super sweet nick name too
I know a girl named [name_f]Berenice[/name_f] here in the US! She’s gotten confused for [name_f]Bernice[/name_f], but I don’t think that happens alllll the time.
[name_f]Bérénice[/name_f] ‘Bebe’ is so sweet! I’d love to meet a little [name_f]Bérénice[/name_f] If both you and your husband think its the one then I’d say go for it! I’m not in the US however I do think it could still work
Some people may struggle with the pronunciation, however I don’t think this should put you off using the name you feel is right for your daughter. It may help to have a nickname if you’d like to avoid her being called [name_f]Bernice[/name_f] in the US - what do you think of [name_f]Bee[/name_f]?
I think it could work, especially with a nickname like [name_f]Bebe[/name_f], in case people do struggle with the pronunciation (however it feels pretty intuitive to me!). In the US there’s quite a few [name_u]French[/name_u] names in the top 1000 (Camille, [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f], [name_f]Vivienne[/name_f], [name_f]Amelie[/name_f], [name_f]Gabrielle[/name_f], [name_f]Esme[/name_f], etc.) so I think [name_f]Bérénice[/name_f] could work.
If it helps, last year in the US there were 61 girls names [name_f]Berenice[/name_f], with ranking at #2695 The only issue you may have is adding the correct accent marks over the é in the US, as I’m not sure which ones work and which ones don’t (I live in [name_f]Canada[/name_f], near the US).
I think [name_f]Bérénice[/name_f] is a lovely name and even its similar [name_f]Bernice[/name_f] which it might get here is sweet. I took [name_u]French[/name_u] in school so I pronounce it the way you expect instinctively (I cring when [name_u]French[/name_u] last names are butchered in pronunciation by the people who have them simply because they altered over time by being in an [name_f]English[/name_f] country rather than the changing of the spelling )
I do think people will have to be corrected while you’re in the U.S., but there are so many kids these days with different spellings for traditional names just to be different and no indication for how it should really be pronounced, I don’t think she would be alone in having to correct. As someone who had to correct pronunciation of my own name growing up (there were two legitimate pronunciations) it was annoying as a child, but I eventually got used to it and just gently correct people or ignore the error and move on.
I feel really bad being the first dissenter, but honestly, my initial response to meeting a little [name_f]Bérénice[/name_f] would be sympathy. If I think about the sound, I can see the appeal, but in the US, I think many people would share my “old-lady name not yet ready for revival” impression. That said, maybe in [name_u]California[/name_u], things would be different. And, considering how names cycle, maybe your daughter’s generation would consider the name cool and cutting-edge! Best of luck and congrats!
Thank you all for your honest responses and your nickname suggestions as well! To answer the collective comments that gathered: We have considered that she might accidentally be called “Bernice” which I don’t mind gently correcting people on. I don’t LOVE Bernice but I also don’t hate it, and I wouldn’t hate hearing someone mistakenly calling her that before having it corrected. As for the accents, while it usually matters to me as someone who uses them in my language, I don’t mind at all if the name gets turned into Berenice without any accents by English speakers as I don’t think the accents make it as important. I feel like the English pronunciation of “Berenice” is not EXACTLY identical but at least pretty darn similar to “Bérénice”, no? I just imagine it’d be more like “bear-uh-neese” with concise harder sounds, rather than the more relaxed, phlegm-y way that French speakers use. (Or do only the English speakers I know pronounce it that way?)
I love nicknames like Bernie, Ren, Bee, etc. in addition to our pick of Bebe, so thanks so much for all of the suggestions I definitely think having an English nickname would be helpful.
And if you dissented/disagreed with the name, I also appreciate your honesty! I really love the name but if it were something that people overwhelmingly told me wasn’t a good name in an English-speaking country, I’d respect that as I respect my daughter first and want to make sure I don’t make life difficult for her. Thank you once again for your help. I’m glad that some of you really like it, too! My husband also says a sincere «thanks» Sorry for the long comment, as you can tell I tend to write a lot lol
I’m not in the US, but I agree with the other posters that you would probably have people read it as “Bernice” (so bur-nees, rather than behr-eh-nees). I suppose you would have to weigh up how much you love the name vs dealing with the pronunciation issues.
I do think it’s a beautiful name, though, and the meaning is lovely.
I am American and my aunt had a child with a Swedish man and they lived state side for a while but now are in [name_u]Sweden[/name_u]. Her name is [name_f]Greta[/name_f]. I know they struggled a lot to find a name that was as close as possible in both languages.
In [name_f]English[/name_f] it ended up being greh-tah
In Swedish it sounds more like gray-tah
Both are her name. And I thing the same could be said with [name_f]Berenice[/name_f] vs [name_f]Bérénice[/name_f].
To add also my name is [name_f]Madeline[/name_f] pronounced like [name_f]Madelyn[/name_f] and similar conundrum where many want to spell or say it different but then I just say It’s not mada-line it’s mada-lyn.
I think it would work, but people might call her Bernice instead of Bérénice. If it doesn’t bother you and that you both love the name, just go for it! It definitely is a beautiful, elegant, vintage name. I actually have a friend who has two children, her little boy is named after the son of Aristocleitus (french form of the name) and her daughter is named B.érénice.
I’m also French, my husband is American and after almost 2 years of living between France and America, we settled in France in the end of 2016 Finding a girl name was harder than I thought. My name crush has been Ysée for a decade, but we were too scared about the pronunciation/spelling issues, especially with Ysée being very close to the word “easy”. We thought about Olive, which made everybody laugh here in France. Automne, Bohême, Rosamée and Louve were too French for a bi-national baby in my opinion. I had a feeling she was a Colette or a Thelma but my husband vetoed both names. He wanted Freya or Marlowe. We went to the hospital with 2 names: Esmée and Liv. Our daughter will be 2 next month.
- Delphine
If both you and your husband think its the one then I’d say go for it! I’m not in the US however I do think it could still work 
)
I really love the name but if it were something that people overwhelmingly told me wasn’t a good name in an English-speaking country, I’d respect that as I respect my daughter first and want to make sure I don’t make life difficult for her. Thank you once again for your help. I’m glad that some of you really like it, too! My husband also says a sincere «thanks» 
Sorry for the long comment, as you can tell I tend to write a lot lol 
Finding a girl name was harder than I thought. My name crush has been Ysée for a decade, but we were too scared about the pronunciation/spelling issues, especially with Ysée being very close to the word “easy”. We thought about Olive, which made everybody laugh here in France. Automne, Bohême, Rosamée and Louve were too French for a bi-national baby in my opinion. I had a feeling she was a Colette or a Thelma but my husband vetoed both names. He wanted Freya or Marlowe. We went to the hospital with 2 names: Esmée and Liv. Our daughter will be 2 next month.