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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

132 names, very rare — fewer than 25 babies a year, in United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Aboubacar Peaked in 2023 · 3,350 births since 1974
Boy French 24 in 2025
Amaury Amaury is a boy's name of Germanic origin meaning "work-ruler," and two crusader kings of Jerusalem carried it.
Boy French 23 in 2025
Andrée Andrée is a girl's name meaning manly or brave, the French feminine of André — so it is a woman's name built from a Greek word for a man.
Girl French 23 in 2025
Chancellor Peaked in 2001 · 2,663 births since 1916
Boy French 23 in 2025
Maxime Maxime is a boy's name of Latin origin meaning "greatest," the French form of the Roman cognomen Maximus.
Boy French 21 in 2025
Clovis Peaked in 2008 · 15,407 births since 1900
Boy French 21 in 2025
Mathieu Mathieu is the French form of Matthew, meaning gift of God.
Boy French 20 in 2025
Thierry Thierry is a boy's name meaning ruler of the people, the French form of the Germanic Theodoric — and it is the same name as Terry, which reached English by a different route.
Boy French 19 in 2025
Jean-Luc Jean-Luc joins God is gracious to a name meaning from Lucania, an Italian region — so the second half is a place, not the light it is usually said to mean.
Boy French 19 in 2025
Léandre Léandre is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "lion man," the French form of Leander.
Boy French 18 in 2025
Gaelle Gaelle is Breton, not Irish, and the resemblance to Gael is misleading — it shortens Gwenaël, which joins the Breton words for blessed and generous, and has no connection to the Gaelic peoples.
Girl French 24 in 2025
Lucienne Lucienne is a French girl's name meaning light, and our data marks it stable rather than falling — an unusual reading for a name that peaked in 1920 and has not ranked highly anywhere since.
Girl French 24 in 2025
François François is a boy's name meaning a Frenchman, or a Frank — and it is the name that gives France its own.
Boy French 18 in 2025
Jeannette Jeannette means God is gracious, a French double diminutive of Jeanne — and the -ette ending is doing the same work twice, since Jeanne is already a feminine of Jean.
Girl French 24 in 2025
Aissata Peaked in 2024 · 3,944 births since 1962
Girl French 24 in 2025
Ilyan Ilyan is a boy's name of Hebrew origin, a French spelling of the Arabic and Russian forms of Elijah.
Boy French 17 in 2025
Viviane Viviane means alive, and in Arthurian romance she is the Lady of the Lake — the figure who gives Arthur his sword and then seals Merlin in a tree or a rock, depending on which version you read.
Girl French 23 in 2025
Maryellen Peaked in 1960 · 13,223 births since 1891
Girl French 22 in 2025
Mariame Peaked in 2024 · 3,551 births since 1948
Girl French 22 in 2025
Cécile Cécile is a girl's name meaning blind, the French form of Cecilia — and its saint became patron of music through a mistranslation of a single line in her passion.
Girl French 22 in 2025
Matisse Peaked in 2005 · 4,086 births since 1991
Boy French 21 in 2025
Mathilde Mathilde is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "mighty in battle," and its bearer commissioned the Bayeux Tapestry by tradition.
Girl French 21 in 2025
Adelie Peaked in 2019 · 4,401 births since 1900
Girl French 21 in 2025
Lunette Peaked in 2025 · 344 births since 1902
Girl French 21 in 2025
Anik Peaked in 1947 · 1,153 births since 1928
Unisex French 15 in 2025
Janine Janine means God is gracious, a French elaboration of Jeanne, and it charts in three markets on very small numbers — 2683rd in Canada, 5880th in the United States, 7199th in France and 7480th in England and Wales.
Girl French 21 in 2025
Clarisse Peaked in 2001 · 32,273 births since 1900
Girl French 21 in 2025
Laurent Laurent is a boy's name meaning from Laurentum, the French form of Lawrence.
Boy French 15 in 2025
Chantal Chantal is a girl's name from an Occitan word for a stone or boulder, taken from a French place name — the singing reading everyone gives it comes from the French chanter and is wrong.
Girl French 19 in 2025
Bastien Bastien means venerable, and it is the Greek translation of Augustus — sebastos rendered the emperor's title in the eastern half of the empire, and cities renamed Sebaste carry the same honor in Greek dress.
Boy French 14 in 2025
Héloïse Héloïse is a girl's name of Germanic origin meaning "healthy" and "wide," carried by the twelfth-century scholar whose letters to Abelard are among the most famous correspondence in Europe.
Girl French 18 in 2025
Ariane Ariane is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "most holy," borne by the woman whose thread got Theseus out of the labyrinth.
Girl French 18 in 2025
Philippe Philippe is a boy's name, the French form of Philip, from Greek elements meaning lover of horses.
Boy French 14 in 2025
Fanny Fanny means Frenchwoman, shortened from Frances — and it fell out of English-speaking use for reasons of slang while remaining an ordinary name in France, which is why France still ranks it 1059th.
Girl French 18 in 2025
Marcelle Marcelle is a girl's name meaning of Mars, the French feminine of Marcel.
Girl French 22 in 2025
Didier Didier is a boy's name from a Latin name meaning longed for — and the Latin word behind it originally meant to await what the stars bring, which is where the English desire comes from.
Boy French 13 in 2025
Alexie Peaked in 2003 · 5,430 births since 1936
Girl French 17 in 2025
Rosette Peaked in 1934 · 6,689 births since 1900
Girl French 17 in 2025
Benoît Benoît means blessed, and it is the French form of Benedict — the circumflex marks a lost s, so the older spelling was Benoist and the Latin behind it was benedictus, well-spoken-of.
Boy French 13 in 2025
Jean-Paul Jean-Paul joins God is gracious to a name meaning small — Paul was a Roman cognomen for a short man, so the compound sets a statement about God beside a physical nickname.
Boy French 12 in 2025
Soline Soline is a girl's name of Latin origin, a French form of Solange, and its saint was a shepherdess beheaded for refusing a nobleman.
Girl French 17 in 2025
Blanche Blanche means white, and its revival is entirely French — 252nd in France on 220 births against 6874th in the United States.
Girl French 16 in 2025
Georges Georges is a boy's name of Greek origin meaning "farmer," the French form of George, and the s is part of the name rather than a plural.
Boy French 12 in 2025
Jonael Peaked in 2015 · 957 births since 2004
Boy French 12 in 2025
Fabien Fabien means bean grower, from a Roman family name — the Fabii were among Rome's oldest houses, and several great clans took their names from crops rather than from virtues or conquests.
Boy French 12 in 2025
Lancelot Peaked in 2003 · 2,386 births since 1968
Boy French 12 in 2025
Mickael Mickael is a French respelling of Michael, meaning who is like God — a rhetorical question whose expected answer is nobody.
Boy French 11 in 2025
Aimé Aimé means beloved, and it is a past participle rather than an adjective — literally the one who has been loved, which is a completed act rather than a description of someone lovable.
Boy French 15 in 2025

Related Origins