Thank you so much for this list! I agree, what a great resource. My best friend was [name_m]French[/name_m], so we talked quite a bit about names (especially when she was naming her kids), but now that she’s passed away I rarely have any connection to [name_m]French[/name_m] naming culture anymore. I like Ysée a lot (and haha, one of her daughters was Ysaline!). Rosamée intrigues me a lot, too! There are so many pretty [name_f]Rose[/name_f] names out there, but I think Rosamée might become one of my favorites, along with [name_f]Rosamund[/name_f]!
I feel like these are much more unusual compared to American/English-speaking culture, but I’m always curious what’s out there besides the fairly popular [name_f]Isabelle[/name_f]/[name_f]Sylvie[/name_f]/[name_f]Genevieve[/name_f]/[name_f]Aurelie[/name_f]/[name_f]Amelie[/name_f]/[name_f]Odette[/name_f]/[name_m]Zo[/name_m]é/[name_f]Helene[/name_f], etc. (sorry, I’m avoiding accents because I have to use copy and paste, and that’s really annoying with my laptop, lol). [name_f]Do[/name_f] you know of any names that might seem familiar, but are still really unexpected in an English-speaking country?
I’d also love to hear more A, E, I, O, C, and L names (they seem to be my favorite letters!), if you have the time (and interest).
Also, out of curiosity, how do you say Léina? Or maybe it was spelled [name_f]Leina[/name_f], without the accent. I saw it on [name_f]France[/name_f]'s version of our SSA list a couple of months ago, and it’s stuck with me! I sort of assumed [name_m]LAY[/name_m]-nah, but was hoping I could find a native [name_m]French[/name_m] speaker to ask.
And is Léna and [name_f]Leina[/name_f] any different in pronunciation? I love the [name_m]LAY[/name_m]-nah sound, and the idea of honoring my [name_m]French[/name_m] best friend’s memory, so I thought [name_f]Leina[/name_f] might be a perfect solution, but I wanted to be sure of [name_f]Leina[/name_f]'s pronunciation before I jumped any guns. 