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Need Pretty Name

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Stuck on a picking a pretty female name, preferably of French origin.  Need to be able to have a shorter version, if it’s too long, because we are lazy, so something like Constance won’t work, because the only way to shorten it is Connie, and that’s a bit more modern than we need.  Connie is too modern, and something like Eadgifu is too outdated. Originally, we had Margot, but she just doesn’t seem like a Margot.  We kind of like Isabel. That sounds pretty and somewhat kick butt.

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  6. Celestia was my great-great grandmother’s name and I use it for a renfaire name. I shorten it to Celly. How about Frédérique, Fréd or Riqua for short?

    Good luck!

  13. I always like elegant names that can be shortened into Uni-sex names like Antoinette who can go by Toni or Alexandrine who can go by Alex. Also there is Valerie which can go by Val

  14. Aurore (shorten to Rory for english speakers)
    Michelline (Mich or Micha)
    Madeleine (Maddy)
    Felicity (Lis)
    Genevieve or Genvieve (Genie, Jen)

  17. I recommend a site called behindthename.com. It’s a site where you can search names based on origin, use, meaning or popularity. There is a lot. When I write I like to name my characters something suited to their personality. As I only know this character to be strong, female, French and pretty I came up with Gabriella ( Ella or Gabby for short).

    • If she’s a Delphine she needs magic hair. (Sorry to anyone who isn’t also an Orphan Black fan.)

  23. I really like Madeline, because Maddy can be the tomboyish version (from Google: Madeleine and Madeline are forms of Magdalene, which is well known as a name because of Saint Mary Magdalene. Magdalene means “from Magdala”. Mary Magdalene’s name is thought to be derived from Magdala – a village on the sea of Galilee. In Aramaic, “magdala” means “tower” or “elevated, great, magnificent”.) Renee is also interesting – there’s an accent on the second e, but it means reborn.

  24. Isabel ? Isabelle you mean ? (It’s more common with “elle” in French, or.. I just haven’t meet a lot of Isabel xD)
    Elisabeth (Eli) ?
    Angeline (Angel, ahah, hum.. not sure if it’s of French origin but I put this one because of its shortened version :p)
    Liliane (Lili) ?

    (Well.. I would suggest my own first name – Sandrine – but it’s too long, not pretty and its shortened version is… Sand ? Sandy ?… Urg)

    ( ” Eadgifu ” O_O ?! A French name ?!)

  28. Marjolaine? Means “marjoram” according to Behind the Name, and it has a few nickname possibilities that would give room for folks to make assumptions about her name.

    Or Maëlys? Behind the Name says it’s the female form of Maël, which is derived from a Celtic word meaning “prince” or “chief”.

  29. Zara – should be short enough already – “lady / princess”
    Véronique – (Roni) – “bearer of victory”

  34. Desiree (has the little `mark over 1st and second e, I don’t know how to do that with computer) old French name means Desire.
    Can be shortened to Desi or Ree.
    Collette – Cole or Letty
    Nicolette- Nicky, Nicks, Cole, Letty

  36. How about Eléonore? It’s nice, elegant, can be shortened to El and queen Eleonore of France was one of the most kick ass person in her time 😉

    • Okay my first thought was Isabeau shortened to Izzy but I must admit you have converted me. Love this name and the historical association. Could also be shortened to Nora, Ellie, Eli or to really throw people Leo.

      • PS – Ilona just wanted to say I love all the wonderful avatar appearances you are able to create, They are simple marvelous and often hysterical. Is this your own creativity or did you have some online program help?

  37. What about Anaïs? It’s a pretty common name in France (that’s my impression because I know at least three) and it’s short form could be Ana. A problem might be the pronounciation. I can’t explain it very well in english because english isn’t my maternal language either.

  38. In french it’s Isabelle not Isabel :). (I’m french)
    Stéphanie
    Nathalie
    Capucine
    Aurélie
    Madeleine
    Géneviève
    … and so many others. 😀

  41. Isabeau – much nicer than Isabel

    Guerlain – you could call her Gerry for short, i

    Celeste – You could call her Cel or Lester

  42. I’m happy to help with the pronunciation:

    – Audalie (Aude)
    – Clotilde (Clo)
    – Apolline (from Apollo – Pola)
    – Olympe (from Mont Olympus – Olly)
    – Émeline (Emma)
    – Aliénor (Ali)
    – Ludivine (Ludi)
    – Isadore (Isa)
    – Cassandre (Cassie)

    No convenient shortening, but these are three of my favorite prénoms:

    – Garance (means red)
    – Sixtine (from the Sistine chapel)
    – Mazarine (regal blue color)

    Hope that helps.

  43. Jeannette? Jeanne-Marie? Then there’s the ever-popular Jeanette Isabella of song (Un Flambeau, Jeanette, Isabella) which was actually two girls, but you could use it as a single name if you wanted.

    I like Eleonore, too. Shortened to Elly or Elli, maybe?

    • I like your 3rd one 😉 however I offended some people in Italy. I went to Milan on a business trip and the person I met (a guy) was offended that my name was Simone – he said it was a man’s name. I explained in Canada it was female and Simon was the male version – still could not get over it. I told him to call me Ms. X so we could get on with the meeting. 🙂

    • My friend and some of her cousins are named Sabina – so to avoid confusion one’s nickname was Binny, the other was Sabi. 🙂

  52. I was going to say Lucinda, Sin for short, but Lucinda isn’t very Frenchy. Closest would be Lucie (Lucy).

    You could do Therese, and instead of Terry for short, go with Reese or Ray as a nickname.

  53. Not Isabelle. Too close to Isabella and that may trigger Twighlight flashbacks.

    But someone put forth Isabeau, which has promise if your girl is tough. Gives you Izzy and Beau as shortened options depending on how kick butt she truly is.

    • Isabeau = Ladyhawke (movie)

      Love the full name, not a fan of the nickname Izzy. (Which spellcheck just tried to change to Ozzy.)

    • I love Isabeau but it is the main character from Ladyhawke, and a recurring character from GA Aiken’s dragon series. Not that it can’t be used anyway 🙂

        • Isabeau is also used in Thea Harrison’s Elder Race series. She is the Light Fae Queen and is not someone to mess with. 😀

        • I love it too. If it had a girl child, Isabeau would be her name 🙂 Also Princess Bride and Ladyhawke are my two favorite chick flicks: seeing the PB references in the Kate series is always delight so an Isabeau in one of your other books would close the circle for me 🙂

      • Ysabeau and Isabeau are the names of twin witches separated at birth in Kate Forsyth’s The Witches of Eileanan. Has anyone read this saga? I loved it when I read it years ago, it’s very different.

    • Oh, I was looking at this thread and yet had somehow missed you used the spelling with the initial Y!

      (In the problematic but interesting matriline, there are Ysadoras and Ysabellas, and I’d often thought of grabbing one of those or a variant if I had a daughter – but I think Ysabeau is the best. Possibly all the moreso now that I’ve read up more on saidsame matriline…) Spanish in that case, but also prior to spelling standardization, so they show up written differently in different documents. But the Y initial is on the family silver. (There was also a mother – daughter chain of Martas and Martitas, until my grandmother, a Marta, called “enough” and named my mother Martha. But by that point they weren’t playing up the hispanic heritage so much? Or maybe that’s just my branch. I know Grandma was fed up with everyone misspelling her name.)

  57. Celeste
    Chantelle – which could be shortened to Chant or to Singer
    I also like Cheree
    also Lirienne

    But Isabel is a good name too.

    • “I also like Cheree”

      I’ve known 6 women with a name pronounced like that and none of them were spelled the same way. Cheri, Cherry, Sherry, Sherri, Sherrie, and Shari.

  58. Marianne (ann or anne, also mari)

    Adeline (Ada)

    Arielle (Ari)

    Already short names: Chloe, Alice, Claire, Lucie, Ella

    • I forgot the “not too modern” criteria. Including…

      – Adelaide
      – Astrid
      – Bernadette

  61. Gabrielle (nickname Gabi), Adeline (nickname Ade), Éloïse (nickname Elo), Laurianne (nickname Laurie or Lolo)

  64. Helène. I like Ysabeau which we’ve had down thread a few times. Jeanne (as in Jeanne d’Arc). Eloise of course, not that I’m biased…

  65. I would like Isabel more if it wasn’t getting picked up by everyone and their mother (since sparkly vampires became popular).

    Of the offerings so far, I really like Aurore, Sidonie, and Marguerite, as these all have a lot of strong consonant/vowel combinations that make for good nicknames. One of my favorite French nicknames if “Mingon” (or “Mingonette”), meaning “cute” or “girly cute.” It’s usually a family nickname that may not be attached or associated with an actual name. I would love to see a kick-butt girl who went by “cute.” Or refused to… 😉

  69. Nicole/Nichole/Nicolle
    I am Nicole Lee – and get penny nickle, but my dad called me colelee for short….I like Charlotte as well (Char for short) and Senora (Nora for short).

    • not a french name but my sister is Sharla (Shar for short) it is a pretty name and a bit unique

  71. There are lots of wonderful suggestions. I have always like Maryse but I am not sure how you would shorten it. Josee also is fairly popular or was for awhile.

  79. Hi!!

    As a native speaker yikes to Isabeau,
    unless it is for an Inn like Gertrude ?

    For older French name you could try Yselda or Guillemette, Gilly and Issy for short. My favourites are Adelaïde or Ariane but I can’t think of a cute nickname.

    • I completely understand your “yikes” ^^’ (I feel like it’s the male version of Isabelle and it’s not but well…) (And Gertrude.. This name is so laughed at)

    • To an English speaker, Isabeau sounds pretty and Guillemette is unpronounceable. 🙂 Yselda is just odd, because of the Y in front. Isn’t that weird?

      • Or Ysolde, which I don’t know how to pronounce. I’ve been reading it phonetically. (Character in a Katie McAlister book.)

        I think the hardest-to-pronounce-based-on-spelling name I can think of is Sioban.

        • I love Siobhan!!! I want to name a kid that. Yeah, it’s unusual in America, but it’s a gorgeous Scottish name 🙂

      • @ Pika: Yes!!! The [o] sound sounds wrong for a girl name. And Gertrude was slept on, innkeeper saved it

        @ Ilona: *Tries to pronounce Guillemette in English ????* I see what you mean.
        Yselda is Pronounced [ee-sel-da] and is very middle ages kick ass maiden.
        Then again phonetics are a fun thing.

        @ Tink: Ysolde is super pretty. We pronounce it as [ee-zol-d] and Lord yes to Sioban…cheuvahn I love it!

        • Hum.. In that case, it’s just a little weird to see a “beau” instead of the “belle” (since “Belle” is the feminine adjective for “Beau”, I feel like the name is turned into its masculine version xD Like in a special edition of Twilight where Bella was replaced by “Beau”. Or if… Batman was Batwoman… ? It’s hard to explain. If I’m not wrong, there is no agreement between adjectives and nouns in English, but in French, there is one. That’s why, it’s just weird for me I guess).
          And strangely enough, if it’s “Ysabeau”, it feels okay (because I can tell myself “it doesn’t feel like a masculine version of Isabelle”)

          And Guillemette is totally unpronounceable in English XD ! Maybe… “Gui” as the “Gi” in “Give”, “lle” as the beginning of “year” (but just the very beginning, -“ye”) and “mette” as in “met” (“I met him last year”) ?

      • Hi, as a french native and living in France, nobody call their daughter today “Isabeau”. It is kinda of an old name. “Isabelle” is used more and shortened to “Isa”. Then you have in the kick-ass department :
        – Nathalie (Nat’)
        – Pamela (Pam’)
        – Caroline ou Carole (Caro)
        – Vanessa (Vaness’)
        – Béatrice (Béa)
        – Séverine (Sev’)
        – Gwendoline (Gwendo / Gwen’)
        – Alexandra (Alex’)
        – Valérie (Val’, Valou)
        – Maud
        – Emilie (Milou, Mimi
        – Solange (Soso, So’)
        – Florine, Florence, (Flo’)
        – Annaëlle (Annie)

        Hope it’ll help

  81. Michelle which could be shortened to Misha or Shelly or even Ella and I have heard someone use the name “Mike” as a nickname, too.

  84. I also like Hélène, it could be Lena for short. Aliénor, like Aliénor d’Aquitaine and Allie for short. Valentine and Val, but it sounds childish. Viviane, Vivie. Violette, Viola. (I’m on a V spree). Flora, Flo. Joséphine, Jo.

  87. Just thought of Irène. Not exactly French, but it’s Greek for peace, so it may be fitting for a warrior.But I can’t think of a way to shorten it except Rene…

  88. Évangéline (Evangeline ) from the Henry Wadsworth Longfellow epic poem about young lovers parted by the deportation of the Acadians from Canada who were eventually reunited just before they died. Very popular story in Acadian (Louisiana and Canada) history…. Short version – of name would be Eve, Eva or Evie.

    I am surprised no one suggested it yet as it is old French but still popular and in use.

    Name is greek in origin and means ‘good news’

  92. When I think of French names,the first one coming to my mind is Isabeau, thanks to Ladyhawke.
    I always liked Aurelie, Genevieve, Vivienne too

  96. I’ve always been partial to Cecelia, can shorten to lia if you so desire. Also sort of means blind in old french.

  98. Have about Arianne?

    It can be shorted to Ari.

    Kristabel can shorten to Kris or Krissy.

    Another one is Dixie which is short but you can shorten it to Dix if you want.

  99. I don’t want to upset any Isabeau but for me, as a french, Isabeau sound very old, like 2 centuries old.
    Here some names from my familly and friends: Michelle, Géraldine, Isabelle, Marie-Laure, Magalie, Claire, Céline, Lucie, Floriane, Katia , Nathalie, Cécile, Aube, Ghyslaine, Louise, Amandine, Alexandra, Gwenaelle, Izélia, Nicole, Aude, Alexa, Chantal, Ambre, Noémie, Elsa, Maelle…

    Some time you can identified the generation of someone by her name.

  109. I was looking at french names not so long ago myself. My focus was more on the male side but I thought these were also nice while searching.

    -Zaviette ‘Zavi’ – I believe this is used more as a last name but I kinda like it
    -Arielle ‘ Elle’ or ‘Ari’
    -Lea

    • My Favorite would actually be Janelle, though I’m more partial to Ann Bishop’s usage of Jaenelle.

  110. how about Léa? Or as other’s have suggested adding Rose to it?

    (middle e has a accent aigu on it in case it renders weirdly)

    Supposedly means lion I think so it works for a kickass? 😀 And it’s not too long

  111. This is probably incredibly narcissistic but might I suggest my name, Brigitte? I’m named after my French grandmother. It is pronounced only sort of similarly to Bridget. It is more like Bri-jeet. Like Jeep but with a ‘t’ on the end. The “j” sound is also a little softer. My mom shortens my name to Gitte – pronounced “jeet”. Other than being very annoying to explain on occasion, I love the name and often gets compliments on having a pretty and kind of unusual name.

    • It’s pronounced teh-ress, and depending on where in france, has accent te grave and gue (Théresè) for that extra flair 🙂

  115. Aurélie
    Michelle (shortened to Mimi)
    Audrey
    Jeanine
    Cécile (shortened to Cici)

    All names of my French relatives 🙂

  116. My two half-French nieces are Matilde (Tilde) and Juliette (could be shortened to Jools/Juls, Julie, Lettie)

  122. Side note… There’s a second Hugh snippet on their Facebook page.

    (And a hilarious note to not provide links to pretty yarn. No such warning on this site, though. Mwah ha ha.)

  126. Clothilde? Odile? Solange? Marguerite? Beatrice? French have a lot of female versions of male names – Denise? Georgette? Henriette? Paulette? Josephine? Eugenie? Charlotte? I love the French pronunciation of Agnes -“AHn-yess” – but English speakers would probably just read “Ag-ness”.

  127. What about Charlotte? This is my baby cousins name and we call her Charlie. Her friends call her Char. It could be shortened to Lottie.

  128. Signe is of French origin. It can be shortened to Sig, Siggie, or Siggy.
    It also means “sweet victory” in French. My mother was the last of
    6 children. All of whom had names beginning with “H”. Her parents
    were from Sweden…..

    • Signe,

      My Great Aunt Signe was from Sweden, and the name “Signe” is also a Swedish name… Search “derivation Swedish name Signe” and you’ll find lots of descriptions. Given that your grandparents were Swedish, that may have something to do with the source of your name. There is, in fact a Norse dawn goddess named Signe.

  130. Gisele, Angélique (we shorten this one to Angele, soft “e” so it’s not Angel), Agnesse, Maryse, Elise, Lisette, Joceline, Arianne, Simone, Adele, Nadia (my parents claim French on this one, but it’s also Russian) Christianne, Carine… I have a lot of French relatives.

  133. Aubrey, Bree for short. Don’t even know if it’s French or not but it sounds French! Plus it’s my granddaughter’s name! Aka Breezy Baracuda.

  134. If you want to use Isabel and be French then it’s spelled Isabelle (My name by the way) shortened version:
    Isa (pronounced Eeeza), Zaz, Zazie, Zabs, Zabou, Belle
    please no Izzie that’s not a French nickname for Isabelle

    • Can’t believe we both posted Veronique at the same time! What a coincidence! My family calls me Vero for short, too, for Veronique.

  140. Jaime shortened to “Jai”
    Also Cecile “Cec” like Seese or Carla – “Lala”

  141. Elenore – Rory for short. It means “Shining Light”;
    Veronique – Vere — Bearer of Victory

    The second “e” in Elenore has a diacritical mark (accent) as does the first “e” in Veronique– my keyboard won’t cooperate.

  144. Dominique (? Shortened version/my friend goes by Beth, believe it or not!)
    Isabelle (Bella)
    Bernadette (Bernie)

  146. I knew a woman named “Lavonna” once. Sometimes people called her “Vonna” or “Vonnie”.

  147. We had a kick-ass French au pair named Valerie. (She is in the French military – she can set up a hospital in less than a day – spent time in Afghanistan). Val for short.

  148. Angelle! It’s my name and I love it 🙂 it’s Cajun French not actually French though :/ (On-jell) very soft J almost zh sound.

  151. In the movie Chocolat, Juliette Binoche’s character had a daughter named Anoushka, who she called Anouk for short.

    • That was going to be my suggestion too!
      A little more unique, my friend is actually Jeanvieve (Zjohn – vee – ehve pronunciation) and we call her “Vee” inexplicably.

  154. Please have mercy! From this side of the Atlantic I find depressing to find ‘authentic’ french names that predates my grandmother so any Gisèle, Cosette Cunégonde Josette or Antoinette should go to the ‘no thanks’ bin
    My grand mothers were Yvette and Marie-Thérèse. They would nearly be 100 by now.
    In french first names you have the ‘old but still in use’ like Marie, Jeanne, Anne, Julie, Michelle, Louise, Claire, Marion
    In the first names for both male and female you have Dominique (Domi or Mino), Camille
    In no particular category: Véronique (Véro), Estelle, Christelle, Léa, Léonore, Laure, Laura, Delphine, Anaïs, Hélène, Noelle, Morganne, Vivienne, Genevièvre (Juniper), Elise, Valérie (Val or Valou) … etc etc

    Depending of the generation, social background or if parents couldn’t agree :p you can have a composed first name like Marie-Laure, Anne-Marie, Marie-Laure most often with either Marie or anne since even originals have to be able to call their daughter to prevent her to cross the road and ‘Delphine-Véronique is such a mouthfull that you pity the pour girl with such an affliction.

    • Bernadette – bernie, Charlotte charlie, Emanuelle – emma, Anastasie – ana, Arielle – Ari, Aimee, amy

  156. The shortened name doesn’t necessarily have to be a piece of the full name. It could be a totally unrelated nickname.

  157. I am late to the party but I will throw this out there.

    My daughter is Isabellla and we call her Isa (rhymes with Lisa).

    Also, I love Evangeline — lots and lots of ways to shorten that. Eve, Eva, Evie, Angie, Angel, Lina

    What fun! A new character!

  159. A friend of my daughter’s baby is named Marguerite and they call her Daisy because of the Marguerite Daisy.

  165. Amélie? Can be shortened to Aimée, Amy or Elie. I’m rereading all your books as I wait for the next release. Hope you guys are getting some well-deserved rest and relaxation

  166. The feminine kick-butt in my family is named “Nirel.” For speaking, we sometimes shorten it to “Rel.” Originally that was a Hebrew name. The French have use the variant “Nirelle.”

  167. My grandmother’s name was Magdalena, they called her Mia. She was Swiss not French however.

  172. My family is Acadien. My great grandmothers on my mother’s side Rosemarie, Obeline. My grandmother s were Marie Jacqueline and Yvonne. One of my aunt is also Yvonne, others are Yvette, Viola, Virginia, Noella, Lucille, Margaret Mary, Marguerite…My sister’s daughter s are named Alethea and Nicole. There are lots of names you can use. If none of the suggestions feel right, check out a Louisiana phone book for Cajun names.
    By the way,Cherise is a great name???

  173. If you haven’t already picked one:
    Mireille. It sounds pretty, It’s French, and for short the nickname is Ray. I know someone named it.

  177. I’ve always loved the name Aliera. From the Jhereg books by Steven Brust, so I assume of Hungarian origin. Can be pronounced in a couple of ways. Allie for short.

  179. Lucie.

    I like Genevieve/Geneviève as others have suggested, but that’s a lot of vowels to type and easy to mess up if you have to type it a lot. If you have to shorten it to a nickname no one’s going to remember the full name.

  183. Selene is a great name although it actually originates from Greek mythology she’s the goddess of the moon. Also there’s Lisette, Anouk and Elise that are great names. ?

    • Or even Kiara which could be shortened to Ki or Kiarada which could be shortened to Ki or Ada

  187. Here is my suggestion…

    Angelique… Angel or Angela for simplicity

    There is also Francinne or Francis…

    🙂

  188. I’ve always loved Iseult, although it is usually spelled as Yseult in old French. However, I don’t feel it shortens well. Esmé, also is a favorite, but difficult to shorten. Unless you give your heroine a crazy-fun name such as Esmeralda and shorten *that* down to Esmé!

  190. My sister in law is named Celeste, bet goes by Cele [pronounced SEELY] 🙂
    I call her Cele Wheely, but that might not work for your story 😉

  193. Your question made me curious. I know next to nothing about French but I googled it and found two girl names that were interesting…..

    Anouk – means grace
    Capucine – means hood or cape

    Not sure if they would work but it was fun looking.

  200. These are the names of the female French teachers and staff at my school: Virginie, Alix, Karine, Alissia, Raisa, Parker, Ren, Brigitte, Clara, Estelle, and Zara.

    Good luck on you search!!

  204. Anaïs, Noémie, Alphonsine, and Élodie. I went to school with an Alphonsine we shortened it to Alfie or alpha when she was bossy.

  206. When I was pregnant I was looking for a name for my daughter. I was going through an old French book (Medieval times) when the french “e” was pronounced like a french “i” and spelled as such. I came across the name of Hélène which in those days was spelled Ilène and pronounced E-lane. I liked it and that’s why my daughter is named Ilène.

  207. Twelve Possible (All of French Origin):
    1) Aimée
    2) Angeline
    3) Chantal
    4) Colette
    5) Elise
    6) Félicité
    7) Jacquette
    8) Joséphine
    9) Marguerite or Margaux
    10) Mélisande
    11) Odette
    12) Séraphine

  209. If you haven’t found one yet…. my daughters name is Sonnet Noel and we call her Sunny for short.

  215. Bellatrix “Fighter woman”
    Carlota, Caroline – “free woman”
    Cecilia or Celia – Ceci
    Celina “Young warrior, rendered to Mars”
    Charlotte

  217. Nathalie – you can short it to Naty or Nat.
    Mishelle – Michu, Michie, Mich
    Lucrecia – Lu
    Ada – This is a short, beautiful name.
    Charlotte – Charlie
    Adelaide – Addie (Addie is also a short name, not just the short version of Adelaide).
    Those are my recomendations 🙂

  224. Hello ! I’m french and i’m from Provence. Here’s some Provence names, with short version :
    1) Magali : Maggie
    2) Adèle : Addie
    3) Amélie : Amy
    4) Estelle : Stelly
    5) Fanny
    6) Ninon
    7) Solange : Solly
    8) Last but not least, my daughter’s name, Liselotte : Lottie
    Hope this would be useful.
    Goodbye !

      • lol, I didn’t realise it meant a DIFFERENT body part in the US, I was very surprised in a mild-ish romance-ish book one day to have the guy pat her on her fanny it was a “WTF! that-didn’t-make-compute” moment for me XD

  227. Nicolette can be shortened to Nicole, Nikki, or even Colette or Lettie if you’re feeling particularly French-Cajun. It’s one of my personal favorites.

  233. My niece is Jocelyn, we call her Josie or Jo.

    I also personally love Giselle, Celeste, and Léone (which is a little old fashioned, but not nearly as bad as Eadgifu, and it means lion which is cool).

  237. Noire or Blanche
    Are twins in my daughters school, both names are french in origin and short enough that they don’t have to be shorted
    Or Catherine, Cat for short

    • Someone name her girl Noire? That really doesn’t seem nice to me.
      Blanche is a old-fashioned name, but at least it’s a real name. Calling her twin Noire really sounds like they wanted to have a piano.

      But we do have here in France twins named Starsky and Hutch, so I shouldn’t be surprised.
      (And a Cliti, for Cliti Wood*, of course).

      * Clint Eastwood

  238. Isabelle is the official french spelling for Isabel.
    Older sounding but nice :
    Hélène
    Madeleine
    Marguerite (shortened Margot)
    Françoise
    Monique
    Christiane
    Jacqueline (Jacky)
    Aude
    Odile
    Danièle
    Joséphine (Jo, Josette)
    Marie-France
    Rose-Marie
    Yvonne
    Gilberte
    Claudine, Claudie
    Primerose
    Eliane
    Martine
    Noëlle

    This is the first results going through my contact list. If you need more, just ask.
    Love your books,
    Aude

  242. Hi, I come after the storm and what a storm!
    Unfortunately, many suggestions would not be given to a French girl, so it all depends if you want a French, or a French sounding name.

    (Francis for example is only for a guy).

    So, coming in very late, in the perspective you would be naming a French Girl, (from about 25 years ago, not now):
    Geneviève (short is Gégé), Amélie (Lili), Sophie (Soso), Camille (although androgynous).

    Names of some of my colleagues (French, living in France): Corinne, Nathalie, Christine, Julie or Julia, Lea, Nadine, Emmanuelle (Manue), Mélanie, Manila (rare), Melissa, Emilie.

    Not good at all in that perspective: Evangeline, Simone (really not cool), Monique, Yvonne, Mireille…

    But it really depends on your heroine and where she comes from.

    Have fun,

    Laurence, French female reader

    • If you want a badass French girl name, Aliénor is one I would have loved to have or to use for my girls.
      Margot is really a good choice.
      For Isabelle, yes it would need the additional L and E.

      Aude or Maude is appropriately short and they are really nice imo

      And I take this opportunity to thank you for naming one of your badass heroine Sophie, my all time favorite name, that I have given to my first girl.
      (second one is Chloé).

      Great reading you always,

      Laurence

  245. Heloise (silent ‘H’) El-o-ezze
    Medieval French
    USA/UK version: Eloise
    short versions – El, Hel; Helly; Izzy, Lois

    I always loved Isabelle too and Gabrielle.

    • I have no idea what happened that an address was published but the comment was written as : I really like Ysabeaux … Ysa, Isa, Bea, Beaux, Bel, Bella ….

  248. Isabelle is pretty. Bellele <3

    Other pretty names:

    Angelina – Lina
    Coralie – Li
    Desiree – Desi
    Josephine – Fifi
    Vivienne – Vivi
    Violetta – Etta
    Mathilda – Tilda
    Mireille – Miro
    Rosemarie – Rosie

  253. Audra: “Noble strength”
    Lyla: “Island”
    Pippi: “Rosy cheeked”
    Simone: “He heard”

    Good luck!

  254. I was wondering about the kind of female who can take Hugh. Then I had that vivid image of Poison Ivy in my head, with her poisonous lips and hate for men – and love for plants and not much more and I laughed for good five minutes. 😀 I really cant wait to see what’ll happen. :))
    And I love name Melangele, Mimi.

  255. How about Lorraine. It’s a region in Northeastern France and my sisters name. The shortened forms are Lori, Raine(y), and Reina. We call my sister Rain and Rainy Ruth but depending on what you are developing the character to be the whole Reina/ queen thing could be nice.

  256. My grandmother who I was named after was Rosalie which is the French version of a Latin name everyone called her Rose.

  259. How about Eugenie with a soft drawn out g, rather than the hard g, rather like “jhay” in sound. Can be shortened to Genie, again with the soft drawn out g rather than to rhyme with Jeanie

  267. Marie – Mae or Mary
    Antoinette -Toni, Ann
    Adela – Del
    Aurore – Rory
    Charlotte – Charlie, Lottie
    Corinne – Cory, Corrie
    Éléonore – Ellie, El
    Emmanuelle – Manny, Elle
    Henriette – Henry, Henri, Ret
    Joséphine – Jo, Phina

  273. Claudine – shortened to Claud/Claudi/Dini (I have no idea why my friend shortened her name that way!)
    Elizabet – Ellie/Liz
    Marielle – Mari
    Melody – Mel
    Therese/Terese (I’m pretty certain one of the e’s is supposed to have something on top of it.) – Resa/Rissa

  280. Lucinda — Louie or Lucy for short?
    Isabel – Izzy would always remind me of the very large human girl, in the dragon series by G.A. Aiken.
    No matter the new character, I’d be thinking of her playing, “Run and Jump,” jumping from one dragon to another.

  282. Melisande (Mellie)
    Aveline (Ava)
    Rosamonde (Rosa or Rose)
    Giselle (Gigi or Ella)
    Ysabel (Bel)

  283. If you want to get your Occitan on, Magali is good. I’ve always been partial to Sidonie and Severine as well, or Madeleine or Eleanor.

  284. My favorite movie – Ladyhawke, with Michelle Pfeiffer – her name was Isabeau.

    Our daughter is named Isabelle, Izz for short. Could have been Belle as well. Over the years it has also been a constant source of entertainment – BabyBelle, DoorBelle, MotherBelle, NickelBelle – the list is endless.

    BTW – thrilled that I’m seeing Roland snippets! So much for not doing anything for a while – his story must be nagging at you to get out, huh? Bad for you – Good for us!! ❤

  285. Don’t know if anyone else has suggested this.
    Marie, nicknamed either Reb or Bit. Because any form of Mary means rebel or bitter. I know this because my sister’s combined first and middle names come out to constant rebellion, and my combination is bitter truth.

  289. I like Aurielle – nickname Auri or Elle
    It’s actually of latin origin and means – golden.
    But it sounds French 😉

  290. I love Veronique. It happens to be my name so lucky me 🙂
    For one week in college I allowed some newly discovered friends to call me Nique ( pronounced neek). By the weekend it had morphed into Zeke ( pronounced zeek). Needless to say there were no more nicknames thereafter.
    I have a particularly long and cumbersome name including French, Norwegian with Portuguese influence, and one I am convinced my mother’s best friend just made up. Yet I have avoided nicknames (from non family member… hard to argue with people who changed your diaper) by simply not answering to any other names. Harsh but totally works.

    Good luck with your name search.

  291. Please don’t use Cherie… i don’t know any Frenchwomen named something so obvious as ‘beloved’.
    Marie is good, syntaxically current in numerous languages.

  297. How about Augustine?
    and Auggie for the short name?
    Augustine implies august nature and
    Auggie implies earthly.,

  300. Genevieve . The medieval saint and patroness of Paris, said to have defended it from Attila the Hun through courage, rational thinking and prayer.

  301. I asked my mother who’s fluent in French for some suggestions:

    Jeanette – possibly shortened to Jane/Jean
    Denise
    Anne-Marie (classic French name)
    Nicolette – possibly shortened to Colette
    Murielle
    Mavis (s is not pronouced)

  303. In high school French class, the “french” name I was assigned was Delphine. Could be shortened to Del, so it meets that requirement at least.

  308. I know two Frenchwomen, one named Genevieve or Gen for short and one named Christine or Chrissy for short.

  311. Éléonore, with Ellie for short ?
    Marie ? (Might be too generic though…)
    Claire pr Lise could work I guess…?

  314. Adalyn >Ada, Lyn, Dilly – Noble
    Adelina >Ada, Adele, Del, Della, Lina – Noble
    Alisanne >Alis, Alisa, Lisa, Anne – Noble, exalted
    *Alixandra >Alix, Xana, Xandra, Andy – Defender of mankind
    *Ambrosina >Amy, Sina – Immortal
    Camilla >Cam, Milla, Cilla – Freeborn, noble
    Carina >Cara, Rina – Dear, Beloved
    Charletta >Char, Letta, Lettie – Free
    Coletta >Letta, Letty, Lettie, Cole – Victorious, Necklace
    Esmeraude >Esme, Mera – Emerald
    Estelle >Essy, Stella – Star
    Fantina >Fanny, Tina – Childlike
    *Genevieve >Gina, Vieve – Woman, White wave
    Jeannette >Jean, Anna, Annette, Netty – God is gracious

    I put an asterisk next to my favorites, but I liked a lot of these.
    I also had a thought that it would be amusing if she had a cutsy name and didn’t like it because people didn’t take her seriously. ?

  316. My great grand mother’s name was Diadema….
    And I believe her nickname was ‘Dema’…

    Have no clue if it’s french…

    Hope this helps…

  321. Evangeline. You can shorten it to Eve or Eva or Evie (depending on age). There is also Lisette (can be shortened to Liese … pronunced Leez).

  324. You’ve probably already picked a name but I’ll go out on a limb and suggest my name, Amélie. Though I realize that is heavily associated with the movie and I get asked that quite a lot actually “Like the movie?”(I’m nothing like the movie but anyways) So I’ll throw some out from my own French family/friends and you can see what works:
    – Sandrine (this is my sister’s name and while not outdated not many seem to have it)
    – Delphine
    – Solange
    – Alexia
    – Geneviève
    – Constance
    – Madeleine
    – Margaux (French usually spells it with -aux at the end, -ot is more the anglophone way)
    – Raphaëlle (this IS a girl’s name! A lot of people don’t realize the name is unisex in French, my BFF is named this)

    And just other French names I like:
    – Elise
    – Marguerite
    – Aurore
    – Juliette
    – Camille
    – Anaïs
    – Charlotte

    Have fun!

  325. As mentionned before many propositions in these pages are outdated first names. For example when I search this site of current first names: http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/prenoms/
    the first 10 are very short and nothing like the Genevièvre so recommanded here:
    Louise,
    Emma (its the short version for Emmanuelle but directly given as such),
    Jade,
    Chloé,
    Manon,
    Alice,
    Lina,
    Léa,
    Lola,
    Camille
    If I go to this site we have: http://www.prenoms.com/edito-prenoms/tendances-prenoms-o111291.html
    Louise,
    Emma,
    Chloé,
    Lola,
    Inès (more spanish than french but…)
    Manon,
    Jade,
    Alice,
    Lina,
    Léa
    Admittedly it’s the tendance for this year. If we look at the most given first names since 1946 we have
    https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liste_des_pr%C3%A9noms_les_plus_donn%C3%A9s_en_France#Depuis_1946
    Marie,
    Nathalie (Nat),
    Isabelle,
    Sylvie,
    Catherine,
    Laurie,
    Christine,
    Françoise,
    Valérie,
    Sandrine
    But this list as a bias with the post WW2 baby boom. Word of advice, Isabeau may be a beautiful french first name but it’s particulary rare in France since 1900 as only 200 girls got that name. It’ an old first name with Isabelle its preferred version.

  327. In French it should be spelled Isabelle ☺ and it’s usually shortened as Isa, never Belle (coz , you know, Belle = Beauty and that’s a heck of a nickname to carry… for a human. Lots of pet by that name though. Lots).

    If it’s contemporary, how old is she?
    And : are you ready to deal with unusual characters (é, è, ç)?
    Gemma? Sylvie? Micheline? Suzette?
    Annie? Nathalie? Ghislaine?
    Valérie? Ariane? Julie? (Most popular name in my class, we had more than one per year)
    Élodie? Léanne? (My nieces ?)
    Françoise? Josée? Chantal?

  328. Francesia
    Jaquemina
    Perenelle (Nicolas Flamel wife’s name fyi, lol)
    Sanceline
    Aldessa

    Man you must have so many names by now 🙂

  330. How about Giselle/Gisele?

    As for “medieval” sounding, here is the history of the name, even though its a Germanic root:

    Derived from the Germanic word gisil meaning “hostage” or “pledge”. This name may have originally been a descriptive nickname for a child given as a pledge to a foreign court. It was borne by a daughter of the French king Charles III who married the Norman leader Rollo in the 10th century. The name was popular in France during the Middle Ages (the more common French form is Gisèle).

  332. Jehanne (old French feminine form of Iohannes — John/Joan)
    Melisende (old French form of Millicent) or Melisent (c 1201)
    Aalis or Alix (Old French form of — you guessed it — Alice)
    Beatrix
    Ysabel or Ysbel (seems to be the Medeival spelling, from what I can tell)

  337. What about Ambroise? Ambroise, shortened to Amber. Meaning: immortal.
    Ćelińe- Sky, heaven.
    Raina- Queen
    Anaïse- Grace. ( maybe shortened to Ana.)
    Dulcelina- Unknown. (Celina? Ina? Lina?)
    Oriane- Golden. (Raine?)
    Iréne- Peace

    So there. Phew.

    • Me: Personally, I really like Ambroise shortened as Amber. As in Amber the rock. A golden rock.
      An old rock. Millions of years old.
      Wise. (Ohhmmm.)
      You: Makes face. So?
      Me: So????? Gah! The name implies that whoever has that name could be resilient, beautiful, and badass just like the stone.(We found a mosquito in it! Even after millions of years.)

      There are a lot of beautiful names here. I do hope you love them. Thanks for asking.

  339. Marguerite. That name was used for the Scarlet Pimpernel’s wife and she could kick butt when it came down to it.

  341. Ohh I’m French so I have a ton of ideas =D :
    – Léonie (in short Leo)
    – Anne-Sophie (in short Anne So)
    – Muriel (in short Riel)
    – Olivia (in short Oli)
    – Léana (in short Léa)
    – Justine (in short Jus)
    – Elise (in short Lise or Lisa)

  342. Estelle is French for Star. My grandmother wanted to name me that, so I think it might have been popular around 60-70 yrs ago.

  344. I’m late to the party, but how about Lucie. It’s feminine, but Lu is definitely “kick ass”. Or as she is called by her brothers, Louie.

  346. Mariel (as mentioned earlier in a subcomment, though its more spanish…)
    Mireille/ Mira
    Alcina/ Alcine
    Celia
    Elise
    Cecille

  348. One of my kids had a schoolmate named Berenger. (behr-en-zjay) Always thought it a gorgeous name

  355. Claire, Coralie (Coco), Salomé, Anne, Romane (Romie), Myriame (Mymy/Mimi), Mélodie (Mélo), Emmanuelle (Manue), Noémie (Nono), Manola (Mano), Manon, Clémentine (Clem), Alison (Ali) , Léa, Lou, Lauriane, Daphné (Daph), Émilie (Milou, Mimi), Morane, Cécile, Nina, Caroline (Caro), Danielle (Dany), Colette – though that’s a bit old-fashion, pretty much everything ending in -ette is a grandma name, Joséphine (Jo), Magalie (Mag), Anaïs, Victoire (Vic), Ophélie.

    • Valérie (Val), Mélanie (Mel), Françoise, Élise, Tabatha, Tina, Erwanna, Agathe, Heloïse, Hortense, Julia (Ju), Auriana, Noélie, Orane, Célia, Vivianne, Vanille, Cassandra (Cass), Jade, Élia.

  356. Wow that’s help. No mention of my favorite name ever though.
    “Spot” in french I think it’s “Tache”

  359. Fleur. May have already been said as I haven’t gone through all the comments, I would have called my second child this but he turned up a boy :-D.

  361. My husband’s Swedish cousin’s French wife is named Veronique and they call her Vero for short.

  362. How about Monelle? (soft o like Monday) – nickname is Mo. This is actually my name (I spell if differently so it’s always mispronounced – this spelling is phonetically correct). We think it’s French – we are not positive. I looked for its origin years ago and found it used as a French last name. I was named after my Great Aunt who was 100% Irish, but her parents first settled in Canada before coming to the US so there may have been some French influence there – it’s a mystery.

    And because of the nickname Mo everyone thinks I’m Maureen which has led to some hilarity because I didn’t know for years that Mo was short for Maureen – I didn’t know a Maureen. I used to get a crazy amount of wrong numbers (people asking for Maureen) until finally someone recognized my voice and we figured it out – good times 🙂

  373. Love your books by the way…. i’ve prepared my ebook reader with all your books to reread a third time for my trip!

    Ok Sylvie and Sissi for short (prononced Cece)

  379. Nathalie, Charlotte, camille, Anne-Cecile, Jeanne, Marie- Claire sooooo many to chose….;o)
    A lot of double names get called bei their Initals …my boyfriend’s name is Jean-Baptiste and he is called JB.

  380. Naomi
    Mimi

    Jeanette
    Jean/ Nettie

    Isabeau
    Izzie

    Clotilde
    Tilda

    Emanuelle
    Elle

    Siobhan
    Vonnie (phonetically)

    • Siobhán is the Irish name for Joan.

      Fiona is Irish/Scottish.

      Caitríona is the Irish for Catherine – my daughter + mother-in-law – ‘Ina’ (I-na) for short.

  381. Cherie or Cher for short. Cherie is both a name and an endearment. Everyone saying your name is also calling you darling. Cheryl or Cheri

  384. Sidonie – Sid for short
    Anouk – An for short
    Josephine – Josie or Phinie for short
    Delphine – Del or Delphi for short

  387. Hoo there are many. ^^
    On the down to earth side you got names like Marthe ( Mattie), Caroline (Caro), … hard consonnants.

    The the flowery ones: Léandra (Léa), Eléonore (Nono, Ellie), Arianne (Anne), Florence (Flo), Hortencia (ok, very old).

  389. Chantal
    Noémi
    except they don’t really need shortening. I liked the idea of using initials
    Catherine Antoinette Marie => Cam

    I’ve met Sidonie/Sid and Arianne in other urban fantasy with supernats. like the names, but….

  397. Amalie. Ami could be the shortname. I also happen to be working from Amalie’s French Bakery in Charlotte right now, so I’m pretty sure that had something to do with my choice 🙂

  408. Heloise (as in Heloise and Abelard) could be shortened to Hel, El, Lou, Lo your choice depending on what the character is and of course who her friends are 🙂

  409. My concern with Isabeau/Ysabeau is that Deborah Harkness’ All Souls Worlds trilogy has a fairly fabulous character in it called Ysabeau de Clermont.

    • Yes. Also Isabeau is the name of the main character, a succubus, in the Canadian supernatural series “Lost Girl.” The name is beautiful, though.

  412. I’m throwing out there Chantal (Tali, bonus- it means “tough like stone.), Collette (Lettie), Bijou, Angelique, Madeleine, and Nicolette (Nico). Hope it helps.

  414. As I had to work through several name-books (4 daughters 😉 ) and I wanted something more unique, here some names that came on the “list” and some of it I’ve even picked (all french):
    Yolanda (Andy), Jaqueline (Linny), Adrien(n)e, Nadine, Veronique, Julienne, Amelia, Vivienne, Yvonne and last but not least Yvette.

  415. Arielle meaning the lion of god. Nicknames could be Ari, Elle, Ellie or even Ri. It’s a strong warrior name fitting of a tough heroine 🙂

    • Actually, in France, it was Aliénor or Eléonore.
      Eleanor is the English version of that name (just learned that because I googled it to check).

  419. Daliya…. I know it’s not French but it’s a pretty uncommon name, though I say so myself.. :p ..Nicknames could be Dal, Dals or Dali…. Alternate spellings like Dhalia, Dalia and Dhaliah are also there….

  425. Marguerite? She can still be Meg or any of the other (many!) nicknames for Margaret, as well as Rita or Reet.

  428. Oh! This is my chance to propose my grandmother’s name: Oriane. She loved when I called her Ria or Riane with my Spanish accent, but I remember that some people called her Oria or Orie.
    Also Éliane, shortened to Lia.

  429. Isabeau….Izzy, Bo
    Evangeline….Vange, Lina
    Wlihelmina….Willa, Mina, Willie
    Vivienne……..Enna, Vi
    Jocelyn……….Joss, Jess, Lyn, Cel, Cellie, Jo
    Carolina (caroleena) Caro, Lina

  434. Lidwina … it is a Dutch/German origin but they have the French version : Lydwine …. or Wina for short

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