The baby name Anouk blends classic status with a certain kind of edge.
Thanks to Witchgreens for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE NAME ANOUK MEAN?
The baby name Anouk is simply a Dutch and French diminutive of Anna.
Classic Anna means grace, a name with deep Biblical roots. It’s another form of the Old Testament Hannah.
While both have been favorites in the US over the years, it’s Anna that travels across more languages and cultures. Anna names abound.
SILVER SCREEN
It was the year 1960, and French actress Anouk Aimée was cast as Maddalena in La Dolce Vita, the legendary Federico Fellini movie.
She earned an Oscar nomination for 1966’s A Man and a Woman, and a Best Actress award at Cannes in 1980.
All these years later, her work and her movies remain influential.
FROM DUTCH TO FRENCH
Of course, we tend to think of Annette or Anaïs or Anne-Marie when we think of French Anne names.
So how did Anouk become a nickname for Anne in French? This part is a little curious. Anouk Aimée was born Françoise Dreyfus. Her first movie role was as Anouk in 1947’s La Maison sous la mer. She kept the name.
La Maison sous la mer was based on a 1941 novel by Paul Vialar. According to Meilleurs Prenoms, the name wasn’t bestowed in France until after the novel, after the movie, and really, after the career of the young actress took off.
Vialar might have been borrowing from the Dutch, where -ke is a common diminutive form: Mary becomes Marijke; Elke is a pet form of Adelaide; and Anneke is another affection form of Anne.
In fact, plenty of European languages add a K sound to create a diminutive. The baby name Anouk could’ve been fresh and interesting in France, but still vaguely familiar.
Earlier in the twentieth century and long before, you might have heard Annick. Via the Celtic language Breton, spoken in Brittany and close cousins with Cornish, Annick was a traditional form of Anne with a longer history of use. In fact, Annick peaked in popularity in France right around the same time Anouk debuted.
HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE ANOUK?
Blame it on the pronunciation.
It’s ah NOOK. The second syllable rhymes with Luke, though the precise vowel sound varies by language.
FAMOUS FIGURES
While there are plenty of Dutch women by the name, along with some French and Belgian Anouks, let’s look at uses in the English-speaking world.
- Among the many well-named characters in the novel and 2000 movie Chocolat was a child called Anouk.
- Ewan McGregor gave this name to his daughter in 2011.
- Belgian-born model Anouck Lepère spells her name with an extra C.
- British child actress Anouk Christiansen has appeared in television series like The Irregulars and Moon Knight.
That’s not a lot of ways for parents to hear the name, but it’s never really fallen out of use, either.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME ANOUK?
So how popular is the baby name Anouk?
- It ranked in the Top 100 in Belgium during the late 1990s/early 2000s.
- In France, it hovers around the Top 250 currently.
- While it ranked in the Top 20 in the Netherlands around the year 2008, it’s falling quickly in use now.
- And in Switzerland, it’s been a Top 100 name for much of the 21st century.
But how about in the United States?
As of 2024, just six girls received the baby name Anouk.
PAN-EUROPEAN CHARMER
There’s an offbeat charm to the baby name Anouk. It’s effortlessly pan-European, an unexpected name that travels relatively well.
It’s tailored like Sloane or Lyric. And while it’s probably new to many, others will recognize it as an Anne name with a history of use.
If you love your names offbeat, Anouk has promise.
What do you think of the baby name Anouk?
First published on September 11, 2012, this post was revised on February 3, 2015, and again on November 6, 2025.
Hello Anouk, My name is also Anouk. I was born in Manitoba, Canada in 1972. My mother’s roots are in Quebec, Canada, where I have lived most of my life. I have also been wishing to grasp the origins of our name. I had been told it could mean friend and friendship in Inuktitut dialetcs… Though my mom had other names for me before my birth, Anouk came with the wind (jan-05-1972).
Great name.
I am Inuk (singular form of Inuit) and I can confirm that Anouk is an Inuit name. We actually would spell it Anuk but with the same pronunciation. Anuk means dog harness in Inuktitut.
Anuk in Nunavik
and Anulik in Nunavut
It’s a very pretty name and I don’t know why it’s not that common where I’m from.
Thank you for confirming that Anouk / Anuk actually is an Inuit name and explaining its meaning! I’ve been googling to find out about that.
I’m from the Netherlands and my name is Anouk. In the late 1960s my mum has been reading a book (in dutch) about an Inuit family with a little baby girl called Anouk. Unfortunately she can’t recall the author or title. I’m guessing the story was written in French and if Anuk is an Inuit name, the spelling is probably adjusted for the correct pronunciation. In Dutch the name is sometimes spelled Anoek, with the same pronunciation
I would love to find out which story inspired my mum to name me Anouk. If anybody knows the title or author of the mentioned book, can you please share it?
Anouk can also be heard on the streets of Tel Aviv as a shortening of Anna which is in turn derived from the biblical character Hannah, renowned for her ‘grace.’
My own feeling is that names may originate from one country in a particular century and then the name in question can take on a life of its own.
Take my own name Chantal. It is French and celebrates the medieval Roman Catholic Saint Jeanne de Cantal who founded a monastery and educational establishment for widowed women and young women left destitute near Dijon in Burgundy.
My mother named me Chantal because I was born on August 12th – the French Roman Catholic Saint Day of St. Jeanne de Cantal.
The name has morphed over time, first acquiring an ‘h’ and more recently a new ending, namely ‘elle’ hence the new twentieth century American names Chantelle and Chantel as opposed to the traditional French name ‘Cantal’ and ‘Chantal’…
And so the story of names shall continue from generation to generation, across time and continents, forever evolving: just like us!
I have a third cousin in the Netherlands named Annushka, and her nickname is Anouk. It also reminds me of Chocolat!
I definitely like Anouk. It’s different but with just two syllables I think it’s very wearable.
I’ve always pronounced it ah-NOOK. It sounds much better that way.
Anouk makes me think of the movie Chocolat with Johnny Depp. 🙂