girl's name
Manon
ma-NOHN
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 175,949
France
#113
2025 births
Manon is a girl's name of Hebrew origin, a French diminutive of Marie whose meaning has never been settled. It ranks 113th in France and is falling from a peak our records place in 1995.
- Manon is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in France in 1995, when 8,235 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 1,296 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1907.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Manon over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 5 |
| 1910s | 35 |
| 1920s | 80 |
| 1930s | 60 |
| 1940s | 55 |
| 1950s | 70 |
| 1960s | 65 |
| 1970s | 365 |
| 1980s | 6,200 |
| 1990s | 63,265 |
| 2000s | 62,935 |
| 2010s | 35,540 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 5,360 |
What Manon means
Manon inherits Marie's meaning, which is genuinely unresolved. Bitter, beloved and rebellious have all been proposed for the Hebrew Miriam, and star of the sea — the most repeated answer — is a mistranslation rather than a derivation.
Where Manon comes from
Manon is a French diminutive of Marie, formed the way Ninon comes from Anne and Jeanneton from Jeanne. Marie descends through the Greek Maria from the Hebrew Miriam, whose meaning is unknown; the familiar stella maris, star of the sea, comes from Jerome mistaking a Hebrew root, and it stuck for over a thousand years. Manon's literary weight is unusual for a diminutive: Prévost's Manon Lescaut in 1731 gave French literature one of its most argued-over heroines and produced operas by both Massenet and Puccini, and Marcel Pagnol's Manon des Sources, filmed in 1952 and again in 1986, made the name a fixture of the Provençal imagination. The name is essentially French — outside it Marie's other diminutives dominate.
Manon in use
Manon ranks 113th in France with about 455 births in 2025 and is falling in our data from a peak in 1995, when it was one of the defining French girls' names of the decade. Our records carry it from 1907. Outside France it is rare — 2,247th in England and Wales, 9,953rd in the United States — which is typical for a diminutive that never traveled with its parent name.
How popular is Manon?
In 2025, Manon was given to 455 babies in France, ranking #113 that year. It is a rare choice.
Where Manon is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Manon
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Manon also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Manon over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Manon in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Manon
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Manon — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Manon
What does the name Manon mean?
It inherits Marie's meaning, which is unresolved — bitter, beloved and rebellious have all been proposed.
Is Manon short for Marie?
Yes, it is a French diminutive of Marie, formed like Ninon from Anne.
Does Marie mean star of the sea?
No. That comes from a mistranslation by Jerome and is not the name's derivation.
How popular is Manon?
113th in France, and falling from a peak in 1995.
Is Manon a girl's or a boy's name?
Manon is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Manon?
Manon has 2 syllables.
Is Manon a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Manon currently ranks #113 in France. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.