Husband and I are Anglophones who are bilingual in French, and currently living in [name]India[/name], and we’re looking at having a kid or two while we’re here. So… now we’re trying to find three-way names - ones that work in English, French and Hindi, without needing too much of a tweak. Middle names are going to be picked out of a “stash” (we have three family middle names for males & females, and they’ll work with all the names on the list)… but it’s the first names that are proving troublesome, and I’d like thoughts/perceptions on the lists below, and/or any other suggestions!
Important notes:
- this throws out W/V names because W&V sound pretty much the same in Hindi ([name]William[/name]=Villiam, or [name]Victor[/name]=[name]Wictor[/name]).
- silent letters/sounds may be problematic because of this
Some ideas we’re throwing around:
Girls -
[name]Ash/namea
[name]Cassandra[/name]
[name]Devi[/name]
[name]Gabrielle[/name]
Jayanti
[name]Kiran[/name]
[name]Mara[/name]
[name]Sidony[/name]/[name]Sidonie[/name]
Boys -
[name]Gabriel[/name]
[name]Gideon[/name]
[name]Kiran[/name]
[name]Malcolm[/name]
[name]Owen[/name]
[name]Rohan[/name]
[name]Sebastian[/name]
[name]Taran[/name]
Any thoughts, suggestions…? 
I have to come up with bilingual names and personally I usually pick the French variation of a name 1) because I like it 2) I have trouble getting the French to like an English name, they either have problems with prn which makes them feel embarrassed or they dont like it and theyre vocal about it. English, Italian, Spanish and Arabic names have really taken off in [name]France[/name] but they’re still not very respected by a lot of people so if that bothers you then you might take that into consideration. English speakers and more open minded and like French names so I think that makes them more appealing.
I know nothing about Hindu names so I have no advice, from your list I would say [name]Sidonie[/name], [name]Gabrielle[/name]/[name]Gabriel[/name], [name]Sebastian[/name], [name]Devi[/name] and [name]Cassandra[/name] all definitely work in Eng/Fr, I would say the others dont work as well but that doesnt mean you should rule them out.
For the Fr/Eng problem you might want to look here: Aufeminin.com, they have a huge database with good stats on tons of names.
Thanks! [name]Asha[/name] would probably be easier on the French pronunciation than Ashtha (the ‘th’ can be killer).
I’ll go peruse Aufeminin.com now…
Thanks again.
I like [name]Mara[/name] and [name]Sebastian[/name] from your list!
Girl
I like [name]Asha[/name] and [name]Mara[/name]
My first thought is [name]Tara[/name], it’s a pretty universal name. I think mainly Americans mispronounce it. I see you have [name]Taran[/name] for a boy, how are you pronouncing it? Most outside of the US would say “tar-run” . If you’re going for “tair-ran” I suggest a different spelling
[name]Anya[/name]
[name]Maya[/name]
[name]Chandra[/name]
Boy
I love [name]Rohan[/name] and [name]Kiran[/name]
[name]Mina[/name] is an name that sprung to mind. It is a name that works in all three languages. In the US, it was #809 in 2011 and in [name]France[/name], it was #352 in 2010. It is sometimes written as [name]Meena[/name] (it means “fish”) in transcriptions and is written as मीना in Sanskrit. [name]Meena[/name] can also be taken from “Meenakshi”, another name for [name]Lakshmi[/name]. It means “Fisheyes” (The shape of the eyes considered to be attractive).
Other names in the same vein:
[name]Lina[/name]/[name]Leena[/name] ([name]Lina[/name] - ([name]France[/name] - in 2010, #17), (US - in 2011, #856), means “united” in Sanskrit
[name]Mira[/name]/[name]Meera[/name]
[name]Lila[/name]/[name]Leela[/name] ([name]Lila[/name] - ([name]France[/name] - in 2010, #104), (US - in 2011, #163) means “play/amusement.” [name]Lila[/name] ([name]LEE[/name]-la) is also the French word for lilac.
From you list [name]Sebastian[/name] will work very well.
[name]How[/name] about [name]Paul[/name] or [name]Hugo[/name] for a boy?
I think [name]Sonia[/name] would be ideal here. It’s common both in [name]India[/name] and in English-speaking countries; don’t know how popular it is in Francophone countries but I think the pronunciation would be fairly straightforward.
From your list, I like [name]Mara[/name] and [name]Taran[/name] best.
Did you find anything on aufeminin.com?
I really like [name]Sidonie[/name] and [name]Sebastian[/name] from your list. [name]Rohan[/name], [name]Mara[/name], [name]Mina[/name], [name]Asha[/name] and [name]Anya[/name] are all nice and simple too. Am very impressed that there are any names which can work in all 3 languages! Have just returned from 3 weeks in [name]India[/name], wishing I’d spent longer collecting names whilst I was there!
Thanks for all your ideas, and I’ll have to run through them with the hubby. 
A few are ‘out’ because they’re names of family, coworkers or friends (with spellings of [name]Tara[/name] and two different pronunciations (long a & short a), [name]Meena[/name], Soneyaa).
thetxtbelle, there are so many names, I got a little daunted - have to take some time during lunch every day to work my way through them all! I wasn’t expecting quite that many!
Thanks again!