Vintage Names Like Clementine: Fresh, French, and Vibrant

Name Help is a series at Appellation Mountain. Every week, we discuss reader’s name questions, usually on Tuesdays and Fridays. We’re relying on thoughtful comments from the community to help expectant parents narrow down their name decisions. Thank you in advance for sharing your insight! To have your question considered, email appmtn (at) gmail. Looking for your own private #namehelp post? Order one here.

A HINT OF NEW ORLEANS HERITAGE

Jamie writes:

I’ve been reading your blog since 2020, and I’m hoping you can help us because we’ve reached complete decision paralysis.

We need to choose one boy name and one girl name for a future sibling to our daughter, Clementine Soleil.

Our last name is French, three syllables, and starts with a B. We’re Cajuns with roots in New Orleans, so we always felt like a French or vintage name fit best with our surname and family history. We also loved using an actual French word for Clementine’s middle name, and we’d love to continue that feeling for future children.

I absolutely love names that are recognizable but rarely used. I don’t mind if people have heard the name before, but I want them to think, “Wow, I haven’t met one of those.” My biggest goal is that my children don’t have another child with the same name in their class. I also gravitate toward names that feel sunny, whimsical, romantic, historical, and just a little magical.

The girls’ names on our list include:

• Our backup name for Clementine was Marigold. I adore it, especially with the nickname Goldie. The only thing that stopped me originally was that I couldn’t get past the possibility of people shortening it to Mary.
• Another backup was Magnolia, but I’ve ruled it out because I dislike the nickname Maggie, and Magnolia has become much more popular than I’d like.
• I also love Delphine, but something about it feels different from Clementine. Clementine feels whimsical, joyful, bright, and sunny, while Delphine feels elegant, refined, and serious. I also don’t love the nickname options, and perhaps most importantly, in New Orleans the name is strongly associated with Delphine LaLaurie, which gives me pause.
• I’ve considered Apolline as well, but I worry it’s just unfamiliar enough in English that it would constantly need explaining.
• My husband really likes Eugenia.
• One name I keep coming back to is Primrose with the nickname Posey. I absolutely love it, but my husband and most of my family think I’ve completely lost my mind for even considering it.

At the moment, my two front-runners are:

• Marigold Eloise called Goldie; Eloise is a family name, and although it’s different from Soleil, I like the flow of Goldie Eloise. I’ve also always regretted not pushing harder for Mabel—or even a double middle name like Clementine Mabel Soleil—since Mabel was my late grandmother’s name.
• Marigold Reverie, keeping with Clementine’s naming pattern.

That said, I’m very open to names I haven’t considered. I feel like I’ve searched every baby name list on the internet looking for something that captures the same magic as Clementine but isn’t becoming trendy.

Boy names have been even harder.

• We’ve considered Augustin, but realistically we’d call him August, which has become much more common than we’d like. I also don’t completely love it.
• Another contender has been Aurélien, which I think is beautiful, but I’ve noticed English speakers immediately hear “our alien,” and that has made me hesitate. I also struggle to find nicknames I love.
• We’ve also talked about Zéphirin, but I’m worried people will think it’s something we invented instead of recognizing it as a historic French name.
• One name we both genuinely like is Oleander, but I can’t decide whether the association with the poisonous plant should be enough to rule it out.

We’re hoping someone can recommend names that fit our style better than we’ve managed to find ourselves. We’d love names that feel: French, Cajun, or vintage, Romantic and historical, Whimsical, joyful, and sunny like Clementine, Rare without feeling invented, Easy enough to pronounce and spell once you’ve heard them, Unlikely to have multiple children with the same name in school

If you have ideas we haven’t considered, we’d be so grateful. We feel like we’ve hit the end of the internet!

Please read on for my response and leave your thoughtful suggestions in the comments.

SATISFYING A LONG WISH LIST

Abby replies:

Congratulations on your second!

Clementine Soleil is such a great combination. It’s bright and citrus colored. I hear the French influence, but it’s familiar in American English, too. I’d consider it vintage, but it is climbing in popularity – slowly.

That’s probably part of the challenge, isn’t it? Your style was comfortably ahead-of-the-curve when you named your firstborn. But the world has a way of catching up.

And so the question becomes: where do we set the dial? Since it’s a priority to choose names that are unlikely to repeat in your child’s circle of friends, avoiding anything rising too quickly might make sense. But French names are ever-appealing to anyone who’s ever dreamt of watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle at nightfall. And if we’re after a French/Cajun name that works well in American English? That is an even shorter list.

It’s also worth noting that Soleil really is the game-changer in your daughter’s name. Clementine Rose or Clementine Grace would be a lovely name. But it’s Soleil that makes her name so playful and charming.

So let’s walk through your options.

MARIGOLD MIDDLE

I’m not sure I can top Marigold. While it’s also rising in use, Marigold hovers around the same popularity mark as Clementine. Something else that hits me: Marigold’s golden hue shares the same joyful, sunshine-drenched energy of Clementine Soleil. It’s subtle, but absolutely there.

Could the middle name be the issue?

• I hear your regret about family names. Marigold Eloise is lovely, and because it honors a loved one, I doubt you’d regret it. But it doesn’t have quite the same impact as Clementine Soleil.
• Marigold Reverie does, of course – and I think that’s something you recognize.

This feels like almost a coin flip. Eloise is popular and French and vintage, too. Reverie is daring, (literally) dreamy, and surprising. I’m tempted to vote for Eloise, if only becomes it is sometimes associated with the Greek word helios – sun – giving the sisters the most subtle link between their middles.

But I’ll mention a few more French word names that I think would work as middles in the US: Cadeau, Ciel, Etoile, Fleur, Jonquille, Muse, Océane, and Vrai.

There’s also Crescent, an English-language word with ties to New Orleans.

GIRL NAMES LIKE CLEMENTINE

AIMEE

Amy’s heyday was the 1970s, and French spelling Aimee peaked at that time, too. In France, it would be Aimée, of course. And Aimée is rising in use in France today. If you still find it too familiar, it could be short for Amenaide, from Voltaire’s tragedy Tancrède. The latter has a history of use among Creole and Cajun families. If Aimee is familiar, Amenaide is wildly rare. That might be a perfect balance.

CORALIE

Cora names are having a moment in the early 21st century, but we’ve mostly overlooked coastal Coralie. I like the way the pinky-orange brightness of coral matches up to Clementine’s vibrant orange. And Clementine and Coralie are just plain fun to say together.

EULALIE

Eugenie is a great choice. I’ll also mention Eulalie. It’s super-obscure, but shortens to Lallie or Lolly or possibly even Lola. It’s undeniably French, too.

GWENDOLINE

Gwendolyn is the more common choice in American English, but Gwendoline is French and at least slightly familiar. English actress Gwendoline Christie has played significant roles in both Game of Thrones and Star Wars. (Brienne of Tarth and Captain Phasma, if you’re curious.) Gwen reads vintage and sparky, though perhaps not terribly French.

LILOU

Once an obscure French nickname for Liliane or a sort of Elisabeth-Louise smoosh, Lilou rocketed in popularity thanks to Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element. The 1997 sci fi classic gave us an otherworldly character called Leeloo, which led to the rise of Lilou in France, along with spellings like Lylou. It sounds a bit informal next to Clementine, but you might consider something like Liliane or Louise, or even Eloise called Lilou.

PRIMROSE called POSEY

I think Primrose called Posey is brilliant. Primrose is broadly familiar, thanks in part to the Hunger Games character – though her nickname was Prim. Posey would wear well in a classroom with girls answering to Poppy and Josie. If that’s still too out-there for your family, could Josephine called Posey work? Yes, Josephine is a solid Top 100 pick. But it sounds like a sister for Clementine. Posey/Posie/Posy has been used before with Josephine, just like Pepe is a familiar Spanish nickname for José.

ROMILLY

A darling among name fans, Romilly comes from an English surname borrowed from French towns, like Romilly-sur-Seine or Romilly in Loir-et-Cher. (The latter features briefly in a Humphrey Bogart movie from 1944.) But circa 2026 in the US, Romilly reads just slightly, possibly French. It’s more surprising than Rosemary, but shares the nickname Romy, as well as Milly/Millie. If you like Reverie as a middle, I feel like Romilly as a first deserves a closer look. Another bonus: it’s not even in the current US Top 1000, meaning it would offer that quality of surprise. Romy is rising in use, though, and Romilly is phoentically transparent, so I think this is an easy-to-wear rarity.

SABINE

One of those continental names that always comes to mind at moments like this, Sabine is familiar in much of Europe and surprising to an American ear. It’s a perfect sister name for Clementine if you’re turning the dial in favor of rarer choices.

BOY NAMES LIKE CLEMENTINE

ANDRE

Strictly speaking, the French form of Andrew is spelled André. Diacritical marks are a bit of a gamble in American English. Some states use them, but they aren’t officially recognized in others. In general, US passports won’t include them. I’m not sure this is quite what you have in mind. After all, Andre has been reasonably popular for years in the US. I mean … Dr. Dre, Andre Agassi, Andre 3000 … and we haven’t even left the 1990s yet. But it feels accessible and classically French, and it’s falling in use for boys now. In fact, by 2025 standards it ranks in the nicely-underused 300s. Charles and Robert and Martin sacrifice their French identity unless you lean into the pronunciation. Andre retains it, and that’s something worth considering.

DORIAN

This name probably makes most of us think Dorian Gray, either Oscar Wilde’s novel or the comic book character based on him. If you remember Showtime’s Penny Dreadful, actor Reeve Carney played a version of the character. But that might be just enough to keep Dorian on the right side of familiar. It’s easily spelled and pronounced, and it has a long history of use in France, while also hovering in the 500s in the US Top 1000.

FELIX

When it comes to boy names like Clementine, Felix immediately makes the list. It’s slightly offbeat but still traditional. It’s popular in France. And while the French spelling would be Félix, I don’t think dropping the accent is as obvious as with André. But vintage Felix has recently entered the US Top 200. It’s likely you’ll hear this name repeat – if not often, then at least sometimes.

HUGO

Even in our age of Arlo and Milo, Hugo has never quite caught on in the US. It ranks in the Top 400, but it’s only recently risen to that mark. It’s a lovable name with a lot of history behind it, and a great meaning: mind or heart. It ranks in the French Top 50, and in the late 1990s/early 2000s, Hugo routinely charted in their Top Ten. This means Hugo is immediately French to anyone in the know, but perfectly accessible to English speakers.

LEANDER

Oleander is immediately toxic, at least if you’re a gardener. Or possibly anyone who can do a quick Google search. But how about Leander? Léandre would be French, but Leander is originally a name from Greek legend. It means “lion of a man.” It’s tied to the story of doomed lovers Leander and Hero. If that gives you pause, it’s worth noting that Romeo ranks in the US Top 500. Leander does not appear in the US popularity charts, but Alexander and Evander do, so I suspect this one would wear well. It could even shorten to Leo.

LEONEL

Speaking of Leo, would you consider Leonel? Or even Leopold? Leonel ranks in the US Top 400, but it’s not really trending. It’s a great under-the-radar longer Leo name. Another reason I love a Leo name for Clementine’s brother? It’s the summery, lion symbolism of it all. Subtle, but appealing.

LUCIAN, LUCIEN

I almost suggested Julien, but of course, Julian is quite common in the US, and you’d spend your days repeating “Julien with an E. Let me spell it for you.” There’s some risk of that with Lucien, too, but even Lucian only appears in the US Top 500, while Lucien is back in the high 800s. I think both spellings offer a great blend of traditional and surprising, with a nicely vintage energy.

RAPHAEL

The bad news: Raphael is trending. Spelled Raphaël, it ranks in the current Top Ten in France. It’s only around the 400-mark in the US, but Rafael is closer to #200. Still, it’s a solid classic that reads bold and vintage and just French enough.

Overall, I’m not sure I can improve on Marigold Eloise, but if I had to try? I’d suggest Romilly Ciel or Coralie Muse. A caution on Muse: in French, it sounds more like moos, like what a cow says, to my American ear. But I’m thinking of the New Orleans streets named for the goddesses of all creative arts and memory, the Muses.

For boys, I think the challenge is slightly different. Boys’ names to be slightly less creative. That’s changing, but it means our baseline understanding of masculine names is different – more limited. So even a handsome name like Aurélien is tougher to wear.

I wonder if you’d like to turn the dial down a bit, choosing something like Hugo or Raphael. I think they’re perfect brother names for Clementine, but a little more accessible in American culture. I might use something like Hugo Aurélien or Raphael Zéphirin. I love the golden connection with Aurelien and Soleil, but Raphael shortened to Rafe is such a good choice, too.

Readers over to you! Can you suggest names like Clementine Soleil for their new daughter or son?