from string-or-nothing.com
The name Romilly is emerging as a stylish 21-st century pick, but her origins are less than clear. What’s for sure is that there are several villages in France which go be the name Romilly, and that got me thinking about other place names in France which have potential akin to Romilly. For the sake of my sanity, I stuck to the areas around Paris for inspiration, but may one day expand this to other areas.
1. Neuilly (Neuilly-sur-Seine, neu-ee)
Perhaps too ‘French’ to really be accepted by England speaking parents, it is the name of an area in the western suburbs of Paris, and is considered to be a rather bourgeois area of Paris, i.e. Kensington. Historical records sometimes showed this area to be named Nully, which makes this name remind me of Nelly. The current spelling was influenced by the French Academy standardisation of pronunciation.
2. Évry
Like Evie? Well, consider this her French place name sister. Évry can be found in the southern suburbs of Paris, and is twinned with the London borough of Bexley. In the 1960s it was earmarked by the French government to be part of it’s ‘new town’ initiative to prevent city crowding by the expansion of villes around major cities such as Paris and Lille. Confused? Think of Milton Keynes.
3. Sucy (Sucy-en-Brie)
Perhaps I could use this name to make a case for Susie, since the pronunciation is rather similar to if one were to say Susie with a French accent, like Lucy-with-an-s. Sucy-en-Brie can be found in the southeastern suburbs of Paris, and is twinned with Camberly in Surrey.
4. Chelles
I’v actually really taken a shine to the name Shelly recently, and this name reminds me of her. Like many things in French, the final s is not pronounced. Chelles can be located in the eastern suburbs of Paris, as an area in Marne-la-Vallée, which is famed for being the location of Disneyland Paris.
5. Bailly
Kind of like the French version of Bailey, which can be found in the Yvelines department in the outermost area of Paris.
6. Bonnelles
Bonnie and Nell are both considered stylish choices, and this seems to be the best of both worlds. Like Bailly, this too can be found in the Yvelines department.
7. Fleury (Fontenay-le-Fleury)
Lies also in Yvelines, and Fleury is a slight change to the already-in-use name Fleur, which means flower in French.
8. Mézy (Mézy-sur-Seine)
Like a jazzy version of Maisie, this is another area in Yvelines.
9. Thoiry
I’m not such what name to compare this to, maybe Thora which has received a lot of chatter about her of late. This town also lies in the Yvelines department.
10. Vélizy (Vélizy-Villacoublay)
Another jazzed-up-with-a-z kind of name, it can be found in the south-western suburbs of Paris. Vélizy also happens to be twinned with a town named Harlow in England.
