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French Names

French names divide into two histories. Some are Latin worn smooth by a thousand years of French speech; others are Germanic names brought by the Franks and kept in French mouths — which is why a great many of the most French-sounding names on the list are not Latin at all.

Languages behind these names Latin Hebrew Germanic Greek uncertain French

Rankings for

842 names, most popular first in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Soan Soan is a boy's name, generally treated as a French variant of Sohan, of Sanskrit origin meaning "handsome."
Boy French #12,606 in US
Seraphin Peaked in 1906 · 3,506 births since 1900
Boy French #12,616 in US
Louna Louna is a girl's name of recent French coinage, generally read as a blend of Lou and Luna, meaning "moon."
Girl French #12,662 in US
Aymeric Peaked in 1996 · 22,754 births since 1947
Boy French #12,812 in US
Sylvain Sylvain means of the forest, from the Roman god of woodlands and of field boundaries.
Boy French #13,265 in US
Lilette Peaked in 1940 · 264 births since 1921
Girl French #13,584 in US
Marine Marine means of the sea, and it is a rare case of a French name that is also an ordinary English word — which is why it reads as a job title in one language and a girl's name in another.
Girl French #13,701 in US
Leron Peaked in 1991 · 1,760 births since 1918
Boy French #13,841 in US
Daniele Daniele means God is my judge, and it is masculine in Italy and feminine in France — the same spelling, opposite sexes, and our records are 99 percent female because the French use dominates.
Girl French #13,878 in US
Roxane Roxane is a girl's name of Persian origin meaning "bright" or "dawn," borne by the Bactrian noblewoman who married Alexander the Great.
Girl French #13,935 in US
Nelya Nelya is a girl's name with no single source, read variously as a Slavic short form, a form of Cornelia, or an Arabic name.
Girl French #14,130 in US
Josiane Josiane means God will add, a French feminine built on Joseph, and its 1948 peak of 6,775 French births has left almost nothing behind — it now ranks 6905th in France.
Girl French #14,472 in US
Charline Charline means free man, and the feminine ending does not change that — the Germanic karl named a peasant freeholder, so the name descends from a word for a commoner rather than a noble.
Girl French #14,668 in US
Cheri Peaked in 1960 · 36,240 births since 1925
Girl French #14,736 in US
Karine Karine peaked at 11,665 French births in 1972 — the largest single-year figure of any name in this group — and now ranks 7381st.
Girl French #14,865 in US
Loana Peaked in 2001 · 1,191 births since 1978
Girl French #15,055 in US
Danette Peaked in 1966 · 10,398 births since 1930
Girl French #16,952 in US
Françoise Françoise is a girl's name meaning a Frenchwoman, the feminine of François.
Girl French 402,296 births
Christophe Christophe is a boy's name meaning bearer of Christ, and the legend behind it explains the saint who carries travelers across a river on his shoulders.
Boy French 383,600 births
Stéphane Stéphane is a boy's name meaning crown or garland, the French form of Stephen.
Boy French 313,262 births
Christiane Christiane is a girl's name meaning a follower of Christ, the French and German form of Christina.
Girl French 261,903 births
Sandrine Sandrine is a girl's name meaning defender of men, a French diminutive of Sandra.
Girl French 243,469 births
Guillaume Guillaume is a boy's name meaning resolute protector, the French form of William — and the man who conquered England in 1066 bore this form of it, not the English one.
Boy French 232,219 births
Romain Romain is a French boy's name meaning a Roman, from the Latin word for a citizen of Rome.
Boy French 194,729 births
Franck Franck is the French spelling of Frank, and the tribe it names is the reason France is called France — the Franks gave their name to the country, and the word came to mean free.
Boy French 178,077 births
Gilles Gilles is a French boy's name from a Greek word for a young goat — by way of the aegis, the goatskin shield of Athena.
Boy French 176,246 births
Jean-Claude Jean-Claude is a French compound of two names, God is gracious and lame.
Boy French 174,748 births
Virginie Virginie does not mean maiden.
Girl French 173,498 births
Claudine Claudine is a French girl's name meaning lame, from a Roman family name.
Girl French 170,774 births
Raymonde Raymonde is the French feminine of Raymond, meaning protecting counsel.
Girl French 164,932 births
Laetitia Laetitia means joy, and it is the Latin original standing behind the far more common Letitia and Lettice.
Girl French 144,722 births
Arnaud Arnaud means eagle-power, built from two Germanic words, and it is the French form of the name English knows as Arnold.
Boy French 139,847 births
Ginette Ginette is a French diminutive of Geneviève, a name whose meaning is not settled.
Girl French 132,372 births
Ludovic Ludovic means famous in battle, and it is the same name as Louis and Ludwig — eighteen French kings and the composer all carry one Germanic compound in different national dress.
Boy French 131,146 births
Henriette Henriette means home ruler, and the home in question is an estate rather than a house — the Germanic element meant an enclosure or domain, so the name describes holding territory, not housekeeping.
Girl French 128,291 births
Marthe Marthe means the lady, and it is one of very few widely used names that came into European use from Aramaic rather than Hebrew, Greek or Latin.
Girl French 123,291 births
Fernand Fernand means bold journey, and it is Germanic rather than Spanish despite having arrived through Spain — the Visigoths carried it there, and it went on to become the royal name of both Castile and Aragon.
Boy French 120,178 births
Micheline Micheline is the French feminine of Michel, and the name underneath is a question — Michael means who is like God, expecting the answer nobody.
Girl French 113,160 births
Baptiste Baptiste is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "one who immerses," taken from the title of John the Baptist rather than from a name.
Boy French 108,549 births
Simonne Simonne means she has heard, and the Hebrew is a verb about listening rather than a description — Leah names her son in Genesis saying that God has heard she was unloved.
Girl French 106,149 births
Fabienne Fabienne is the French feminine of Fabien, meaning bean grower, and it peaked in France at 6,850 births in 1965 before leaving every ranking we track — it charts in none of the six markets now.
Girl French 105,993 births
Pascale Pascale means Passover, not Easter — the Hebrew pesach came into Greek and Latin unchanged, and Christian use attached it to a different festival that happened to fall at the same point in the calendar.
Girl French 104,744 births
Jean-François Jean-François joins God is gracious to a name meaning Frenchman — and the second half was itself a nickname, since Saint Francis was baptized Giovanni and called the little Frenchman by his father.
Boy French 101,775 births
Amandine Amandine means worthy of love, and the grammar is unusual — the Latin is a gerundive, a form expressing obligation, so the name means one who must be loved rather than one who happens to be.
Girl French 96,616 births
Severine Severine means stern, from a Roman family name — and the emperor who carried it died at York in 211, which is the furthest north any Roman emperor ever got and the reason the name reached Britain at all.
Girl French 95,444 births
Odile Odile means wealth, from a Germanic word for inherited property — and her saint was born blind, abandoned for it, and became patron of Alsace and of people with poor eyesight.
Girl French 94,576 births
Maryse Maryse is a French elaboration of Marie, so it inherits a meaning nobody can establish — Mary's derivation has never been settled, and the star of the sea reading is a medieval mistranslation.
Girl French 92,522 births
Jean-Marc Jean-Marc joins God is gracious to a name dedicated to the god of war — Marc descends from Mars, so the compound sets a Hebrew statement about grace directly against a Roman war god.
Boy French 91,528 births

Related Origins