French names for girls have long fascinated American parents.
Want proof? Every generation claims at least a few favorites. Some, like Genevieve and Josephine, feel like they’re imported directly from Paris. Others, like Julie and Elaine, seem less distinctively French – but their roots are undeniable.
One more piece of evidence? This post has long been among the five most popular lists at Appellation Mountain!
Read on for a discussion of past French names for girls in favor in the US, and some très chic, très français ideas for a nom de fille today.
And if you’re looking for even more French names, be sure to visit Méilleurs Prenoms, my go-to site for French baby names.
A few notes: I’ve omitted diacritical marks throughout most of this list. It’s a difficult call. They’re misspelled without them. And yet, if you use these names in the US, it’s likely many official forms will omit them. My suggestion? If you’re comfortable with the idea that sometimes Anaïs will be just plain Anais, don’t worry about it. But if it bothers you? It might be better to choose a different name.
Secondly, for rare names, I’ve tried to provide some guidance about how to pronounce them. This isn’t necessarily the way you’d hear them in France; I’m aiming for a reasonable approximation of what non-French speakers in the US would probably say.
French Names for Girls: 1880 to 1939
Between 1880 and 1939, these names all appeared in the US Girls’ Top 100 for at least a few years:
- Blanche
- Charlotte
- Elaine
- Genevieve
- Jacqueline
- Josephine
- Louise
- Lucille
- Marguerite
- Pauline
French Names for Girls: Baby Boom
Most of those names remained in use, and many climbed the charts during the Baby Boom. They were joined by:
- Diane
- Joanne
- Michelle
- Renee
- Suzanne
- Valerie
French Names for Girls: 1960s to 1990s
Today’s parents are likely to answer to French names like:
- Danielle
- Denise
- Nicole
- Stephanie
French Names for Girls: 21st Century Favorites
Current classrooms are filled with girls named:
- Charlotte
- Claire
- Gabrielle, the given name of Coco Chanel
- Genevieve
- Josephine
- Madeline, or even the more specifically French Madeleine – though the most popular spelling at the moment is the streamlined – and more American – Madelyn
French Names for Girls: Neglected Possibilities A to L
These names all feel nicely French and mostly undiscovered. For even more fanciful options, see the Find Your Fanciful French name graphic above.
Anaïs – Thanks to writer Anais Nin this name feels slightly familiar in the US. A form of Anna, it’s pronounced ah nah EES.
Capucine – You wouldn’t name your daughter Nasturtium, but translate it to French, and Capucine has potential. It’s the name of a famous French model and actress from the 1960s. In the US, it might be confused for cappuccino, but it’s pronounced kap uh SEEN.
Celeste – Celeste might be the most accessible name on this list.
Chantal – A place name and saint’s surname, Chantal also resembles chant, the French word for song. It saw some use in the US in the 1980s and 90s, but quickly faded.
Élodie – A long time favorite on the site, Elodie is the French form of Alodia. It’s never recently entered the US Top 1000, and with sound-alike Melody in use, it could wear well.
Eulalie – The French version of the Greek Eulalia feels spirited and unexpected. It could shorten to Lally.
Françoise – I’ve heard that Francoise is quite dated in France today. And yet, Francis names all feel like they’re on the upswing in the US. It sounds something like frahn SWAHZ, but it’s a challenging name for non-French speakers.
Lilou – Lily names are white hot in the US, so how about Lilou? It might be cousin to Lily, but it owes its popularity to 1997 sci fi movie The Fifth Element.
French Names for Girls: Neglected Possibilities M to Z
Mireille – The heroine of Pierre Capretz’ French in Action series, Mireille taught countless American students to parlez français. The spelling is tricky, but the sound – mee RAY – works.
Maëlys – This is one of several feminine forms of Mael, a Breton saint from the fifth century. It’s pronounced something like MAH eh liss. Maēlle is another option.
Noémie – Naomi and the Italian Noemi rank in the current US Top 1000, but the French spelling does not.
Océane – River is big in the US, but in French-speaking countries, it was the word for ocean that made waves.
Salomé – A Biblical girls’ name, Salome is heard in many languages. But it’s been in the French girls’ Top 100 recently, so it feels like a fit for this list.
Severine – Severus belongs to Harry Potter. But maybe Severine fits with names like Genevieve?
Sidonie – At peak Sidney, Sidonie might have confused. But maybe it works today? It’s not related to Sidney. Instead, it comes from an old Latin name from the city of Sidon, in Phoenicia.
Solange – Another saint’s name, Solange looks like a smoosh of sol – sun – and ange – angel. But it actually comes from a Latin word meaning religious.
Zélie – St. Zelie Martin was the mother of St. Therese of Lisieux. She and her husband, Louis, were canonized in 2015. That’s raised the name’s profile considerably. Combined with that zippy Z, it’s one of the most wearable rarities on this list.
French Names for Girls: Now Find Yours!
I’ve taken some of the rarest of the rare names and put them together. Find your fanciful French name above!
What are your favorite French names for girls?
This post was published originally on July 17, 2008. It was revised substantially and re-posted on July 12, 2018.
We named our daughter Delphine because we loved the French vibe and ethereal sound of the name. We get lots of compliments about what a pretty and uncommon name it is.
She has big beautiful blue eyes and this lovely rare name to go with, I just love it. 🙂
We’re thinking Delphine for our wee girl due in January too. Last name Donovan. Think its so beautiful!
I’ve always loved Nadine for a girl although some would say it falls into the Janine/Pauline category and therefore sounds dated 🙁 I love its meaning though and think it’s underused enough to feel fresh. I also love the French spelling of Nathalie but I’m afraid it would always be mispronunced
My middle name is Lucille (passed down from my grandma) and I think it is beautiful and sounds good as a middle name with almost any first name. I will consider passing it down to a future daughter. Louise is another French name used in my family as well (even though we aren’t a lick of French!)
We named our firstborn daughter Emmanuelle. Hebrew origins but French spelling/pronunciation. I still love it after 5 yrs and she’s Emma to her friends and teachers, which I also like.
Emma was too common a name for us even though hubs and I both liked it, so we’re happy that her official documentation says “Emmanuelle” — thens he can chose when she’s older to go with the longer name if she wants!
I’m trying to find a good name for our second daughter, due Dec 31. Our first daughter (now 14 months) is named Cilou. (It’s actually Claire, but we’ve called her Cilou since her first week – C from Claire, Lou from her middle name, Louisette.) The name at the top of my husband’s list is Delphine (he is from Paris,) but I’m not 100% sold, yet. I do like it, but I’m still taking through good names. Any ideas that would sound good next to Cilou? We will likely call her Cilou until she decides she wants a more adult name and reverts to Claire.
To avoid this problem, I would just pick a French name with some representation in colonial North America. The British expelled the French from Acadia (Eastern Canada) and they migrated down to the southern United States to become known as ‘Cajuns’. The name Evangeline is prominent from that era–just one example–and well known in Canada, but probably not so culturally significant in France.
I also dislike people who mine other cultures for “exotic” names without much knowledge for what would pass for a name in the original culture in the first place. So this could be a way of side-stepping those issues–by drawing on North American history itself.
My husband suggested Espérance recently. I’m an Anglophone and can’t see myself getting my mouth around such a French name consistently. We’re in a partly Anglo, partly Franco area, and I think it would throw people off; they would expect her to speak French. French names that have been Anglicized for a long time (like Josephine or Sebastian) would be fine, but I don’t think I would do a purely French name justice.
It’s a lovely name, but I think I know what you mean. My husband’s family is from Poland, so we considered using Polish given names at one point, but then I heard them said in Polish – and realized they weren’t really the same names. And I would never really get it right – which is tolerable with the names of cousins, etc., but not so much with your own child’s name.
Seventeen years ago (this June!), I named my darling daughter Arielle Jacqueline.
Unfortunately, both my husband and I were working very hard on our respective careers: 55-60 hour weeks! We also were not around any little children- I was having the first grand child in my family and his two nieces and nephews lived across the country. So, we were unaware of “The Little Mermaid” movie by Disney.
So many people ask us if we named our daughter after this. It astonished us that anyone would think we named her after a cartoon ! Plus, most people pronounce it “AIR-e-el”, where as it is pronounced “R-E-L”. They also mispronounce Jacqueline as “Jack-O-Lynn” as it is ” Zhak-Leen” (as in ‘queen’!).
As opposed to naming her after a cartoon, we chose both names because we find them feminine and elegant- and, French as I am Basque! Important to our decision, Arielle (or sometimes, Ariel) is one of the four archangels along with Gabriel. They are the highest level angels. So basically we chose it for it’s femininity, uniqueness and biblical meaning. Arielle is also a character in Shakespeare’s last comedy, “The Tempest”.
It’s just so annoying that people assume we chose the name for such a ridiculous reason, rather than for all the careful thought and consideration we put into it!
We would have used the nickname Theo but it ended up being a little girl. So now we have a lovely Mirabelle to complement Eloise. Thanks for the feedback 🙂
I think that the idea that you can’t use a French name with no connection to France is kind of silly. We Americans have a really large connection to France, she’s called Lady Liberty 😉 So, there ya go.
My little Franco-American daughter is named Eloise. And for number 2 we’re thinking Mirabelle (for a girl) or Theodore (for a boy). Do you think those go well together? My daughter has such a huge personality, we need something that stands its own and sounds consistent.
Elodie and Mirabelle are gorgeous together! I like both names separately, but I also think they are evenly matched – they sound like sisters. For a boy, I adore Theodore – he’s been on my short list, too. Would you use a nn – Theo/Teddy – or would he be Theodore?
How about Alaire?
Alaire is definitely not a French name. Abby, being French, I can give you more names if you’re interested.
I’m just throwing this out there. I’m only 13 but i love french names and so i love just looking at the different ones there are. But I have this name that I’m in love with. I don’t think it’s french and I don’t think it’s ever been used before. It’s Envy. I just need opinions about this name because I plan on naming my first baby girl this when I get older of course. i just want to know if this name is too flashy or because Envy’s an actual word but i do think it’s really pretty for a girl name. Maybe too creative? Please reply and leave your opinions posted. Thanks![:
Envy does have an attractive sound, and word names are very current. But I think Envy crosses the line because of the meaning. Names like Sailor, Fern, Emerald, and Cadence all started out unusual, but their meanings were positive. It is tough to put a positive spin on Envy.
Then again, standards change. I thought Sailor was absurd when I first heard it, and now I rather like it. The same is true of Emerald, which now sounds less Wizard of Oz, more Ruby’s cousin. In a decade or more when you have your first child, Envy might not sound unwearable.
But something tells me that two things will happen. First, envy is one of the seven deadly sins – so I think she’s likely to always seem like an outrageous choice. Second, there are names that share Envy’s sounds: Aven, Evanie. But those sounds are shared with lots of names that are VERY popular right now, like Ava and Avery. Chances are that, as those names fade, Envy will also sound less like an original but attractive choice and the word qualities will be even more of an issue.
I actually picked Stephanie partly because it was French (but would also sound good and look good without the accent on the first e. The French pronunciation is STAY-phanie, roughly), partly for Stevie Nicks who I adore and admire and partly because it would be JUST common enough for her to find keychains and other personalized stuff with her name on it, but NOT common enough for there to be more than one Stephanie in her school 😉 And nicknames vary by age. As a toddler, she called herself Anie (because that’s what she could manage to pronounce of her name – think Stephanie minus the Steph for the sound). As a girl on the brink of Jr High, she goes by Steph. I was hoping to call her Stevie as a nickname but she…just doesn’t look like a Stevie (maybe as an adult!!)
I had a daughter last year and we named her Ma
Any thoughts on the French word “Nouveau” (meaning new) for a girl’s name?
To be honest, I don’t love it. But I think that’s because it has picked up the tiniest bit of a pejorative tone, thanks to the phrase “nouveau riche.”
I think Nouvel has some serious possibility, and is very much overlooked. It is Shiloh Jolie-Pitt’s middle name, in homage to the celebrated architect Jean Nouvel. Nouvelle is the feminine form of nouveau, as in “nouvelle cuisine.” Nouvel is an alternate masculine form, used if the noun starts with a vowel. Nouvelle is too fussy for my tastes, but I like Nouvel for a girl – we’re used to seeing -el endings as feminine, like Mariel and Laurel. And with the “ou” sound so current – Ruby, Louisa, Lula, etc. – I think she’d fit in, too.
Nouvel also reminds me of one of my favorite foreign-language-word-name choices, also French: Ciel, sky.
I don’t think Nouveau is impossible to wear, and in the middle spot, I’d say “why not?”
One of my favorite French names is actually “Laetitia” or “L
What bliss this discussion is! I’ve always adored french names – eg Agathe, Ludivine, Mathilde, Aude. My cousin is married to a frenchwoman and they have two fabulous girls (Zoe and Anais). I quizzed them about their friends’ names recently and two stood out: Clemence and, truly, Prune! Prune said with an authentic Gallic ‘r’ is really something.
Ooooo, love some of these, particularly in the last section. I’m really intrigued by the idea of using Piaf as a first name, but maybe that’s just because I’m a huge Edith Piaf fan.
Just a note that in french, “Salome” would be pronounced “Sah-lome,” because there is no accent on the e. But great list!
Actually, there is an accent – French girls are called Salom
I’m gonna name my unborn daughter something that means “to sing/singing” in chinese. We live in the USA so for convenience we want to add a name that is easy for english speakers. The english name ideally would carry the chinese meaning, otherwise we’d consider if the chinese phonetics will mimic nicely in a decent english spelled name.
I took french before and I love the sound of “chansant/chanter”. Thanks to a poster above for pointing out Chantelle in the US is very widely used, so it is out for us. I just found on the web the names of Chante/Chantee. However, one english baby website says Chante due to its sounding exactly like the past tense of Chanter the verb, people in France don’t use it. Nevertheless, it is not my goal to have a name that French people use, but I like Chante because it sounds nice, reads/spells easy, and translates perfectly from our chinese name. Do you have any ideas for us?
Please help! ***thanks***
CC from Seattle
Well … I’m not sure that either Chante or Chantee would work, if your goal is to make the name easy for English speakers to pronounce. I think the names would most likely be pronounced CHANT, or maybe chan TEE, not shahn TAY.
I tend to think of Chante with Latoya and Tamika, definitely 1970s/80s names.
Chantelle and Chantal aren’t exactly “widely used” in the US. Chantelle ranked in the US Top 1000 between the 1970s and 1990s, but most years, it hovered around the 900s – meaning just a handful of girls received the name. Chantal was slightly more popular – but only slightly.
That’s to your advantage, though – Chantal and Chantelle are easy for Americans to pronounce, and we’re vaguely familiar with the names. So you get unusual and distinctive, without being a tongue-twister.
Truly, since your goal is to have an easy spelling that relates to the word song, I think you’re best off with Chantal.
A few other options that come to mind are Aria and Lyric. I’d avoid Cadence, Piper, and Harmony – too popular for your tastes, I think, though they’re great names. You might consider something daring, like Minuet or Rhapsody – another reader named her daughter Emmeline Rhapsody – she’s featured in the Name Stories section. There’s also Lyra, which relates to the word “lyre” – but again, appears to be on the rise.
I do keep going back to Chantal. It’s a neat name, and it fits your criteria perfectly. Plus, it was never very popular and there’s no sign of a revival – so your daughter probably would have a truly distinctive name.
If you decide to go with Chante, just be prepared to correct others’ pronunciations. (There’s nothing wrong with that. But some parents do get really upset.)
Best wishes!
Cendrillon is a great name too.
That’s the french translation for “Cinderella”… personally, I wouldn’t do it.
I don’t know, I think it’s kind of tacky to choose a french name if you have no french heritage or connection to France (i.e., if neither of the parents are French). It’s almost as if people are trying really hard to be cosmopolitan or sophisticated. I’m French and my husband is English, and we’ll use a French name, but I find it really funny when Americans use very French names, and have no connections to France.
I know what you mean – I tend to have the same initial reaction to any name that feels imported without a good story. Except that there’s more than one way to have a connection to a place, and names take on additional meanings as they’re used. So borrowing Maelys if you’ve never set foot in France might be a stretch. But Madeleine is a beloved book character, and so mainstream it doesn’t seem forced at all. And sometimes a choice honors a saint, a friend, a trip.
I wouldn’t be surprised to meet a non-French Genevieve, but a non-Russian Svetlana? An Ingrid or Astrid who wasn’t blonde with blue eyes? A Niamh whose parents didn’t have any connection to Ireland? I’m not sure if there’s a good rule of thumb, but some names just feel more portable, less tethered to their origins.
I’ve run into two Ingrids in the past year (a name I really like a lot and was on my longish list with my daughter), and neither was nordic-looking really – one was brunette, the other was a red-head. (But I hear you, I love Svetlana, but would feel like the name would wear as conspicuous on a child of mine.)
That’s a fair point – my siblings and I actually are 1/4 Swedish – but none of us are blonde. And I would have thoroughly enjoyed being an Ingrid.
I’ve always loved the name Leroux, though I’ve never seen it used – just a street name in the town where I live! I would love to name a daughter Francis Leroux.
It’s very cool in the middle spot, Kristine! I know a Loire, but she tells me that everyone calls her Lori. Shame – Loire is quite the cool name, too.
One of my favorite French names is Esme, as in For Esme with Love and Squalor, the JD Salinger short story. It is beautiful and feminine and works well for a middle name. It, too, has a history of being more popular in Scotland than the rest of the UK.
And incidentally, I also adore the name Josephine. I love the antique-y/grandmama names on little ones. And an added bonus for me would be the nickname Posey.
I love Posey as a nn from Josephine! Esme is great, too. I’ve met two little Esmes, and the name wears quite well.
LOL Chantal has to be my equivalent of Sophia or something else in the top 10 in the US. I cannot tell you how many I’ve come across. I like French names a lot, though I do tend avoid them as there are a lot of French names used in my country. Chantal/Chantelle/Chanel are all REALLY popular. This is just one of the reasons why I prefer Celtic names. Out of this list, there were a few that I liked , though most weren’t my taste as they are a bit dated for me.The ones I do liked are either too generic for me. The one I would seriously consider using was Elodie. Genevieve is sweet, but I know one & I dislike -Jen names. Maybe Vivi or Gigi as a nickname
To be honest, Chantal is quite the old lady’s name, and the kind that you would see in an old woman, not a baby. But it still has a nice sound and I suppose it could have a revival…. just not now.
Are there any nicknames associated with the name Yolaine? Thank you.
I’m not sure about nicknames in French-speaking languages, but I’m guessing Lainey/Laney and Lola are the most obvious choices in the US. She’s usually considered a French version of Iolanthe or Yolanda, names related to the violet. Yolanda diminutives include Yoli and Yola, but I can’t see either of those wearing well on an American girl circa 2010.
Thank you.
I like Anais ( Armenian name) Fay
Fraya brielle iam only 14 but i like chooseing names for my cousins
Can I just throw out my name as a thought?
I’ve had debate by real French people over whether or not Janelle is actually French or a Frenchified version of Jane. But either way it has gotten nothing but compliments. And I love all the variant nicknames you can pull out:
Ellie, Nelly, Jane, Jana…
Ooh.. I adore French names — they are to die for! I have a mainly French heritage, so quite a few of these names feature in my combos; with Maelys, Maelle, Genevieve (only the French prn, as Lola expressed!); Elodie & Lilou currently showing. I also like Anais, but its my mn, so unusable.
You forgot Anaelle! (ah-NAH-elle), which is one of my all time favorite French girls!
All these names are a lot fresher than Michelle, Danielle, Nicole, and so on.
Some other names that I saw on the Top 100 for France (2006) that I liked were Clemence, Amandine, and Anaelle.
Hi Sherb – glad you found your way here!
Wow – I really love Elodie. If you don’t mind, I’ll do a specific post to get reactions – I’m afraid this thread is too old to get you much in the way of feedback.
And thanks for the intel on the names of the moment in France. I’ll admit, I love Lilou. Except I like it better as a nickname. 🙂
This is a great site! I’m desperately trying to find a French name for baby girl, with only a few weeks left, so this post was really of interest to me! We live in France now but plan to move back to North America in a couple of years. I’d love a French name for baby girl. Elodie is the best one we’ve come up with that we think works well in both languages but is also distinctly French (and goes well with our very simple, very anglophone last name). Still, it’s been and gone here in France (though seemingly on the rise in Quebec) and still obscure in English-speaking North America. I love the nickname Ellie, and just can’t decide. I thought I’d try posting here for opinions. How French is too French, and how much does it matter whether a name has the “air du temps” in either language? Would little Elodie spend her life saying “no, it’s not Melodie”. Would No
Some of these make great alternatives for overused names. I think Elodie is an appealing choice for those in love with Emily, and Mireille could easily replace Marie in the middle name slot. I also love Josephine, Marguerite (yes, a bit old-fashioned), and Noemi (though I do prefer Naomi). Salome strikes me as beautiful and exotic, though I’m afraid a little Salome might be called Salami by her peers!
Great minds, Abby, great minds…
I think Elodie has real possibilities to take off here, and is already fairly popular in England. Noemie, Celeste, and Mireille are gorgeous, as is Sidonie, which is such a beautiful alternative to the ever present Sydney. I’d also like to see Diane and Jacqueline make a comeback.
The only name I don’t see resurrecting is Salome. The image of John the Baptist’s head on a plate looms a little to heavy for me.
Wow! I absolutely adore French names. I don’t know but the French always seem to come up with the best names. I’m so thrilled with Maelys, Mireille, Anais and Eulalie. They are so stunningly beautiful!!
Right you are, Lola! My favorite ER character ever was Elizabeth Corday, and in real life she is Alex Kingston and *does* have a Salome Violetta!
Interesting to hear that Maelys and Maelle are popping up as middle name choices.
Some interesting ideas on that list that I hadn’t considered . . . Mireille is absolutely beautiful and Maelys and Maelle have that Maren/Carys appeal about them. I think Elodie is stunning and Sidonie kicks Sydney’s behind.
I was going to bring you that Leeloo tidbit. Lola acted before I did. Oh well. One of my favorites, Celeste, was on that list. Thanks for including it.
It’s alright, I’m happy she’s as popualr as she is but really don’t want her to reach her previous heights! My Josephine was named for her Great Auntie Josephine , who was named so because her father was a Joseph (well, J
BTW, I *adore* Josephine and have a great-grandfather Joseph I’d be happy to honor with the name. But we’ll never have enough children to get that far down our list. I think. 😉
*swoon*! As the mother of a Josephine, I applaud this day’s post! I love French names, booth for their generally light sound and the fact that they go with my very Scottish surname (Ancestrally had huge ties to the French church). I adore Capucine and before coffee, I think monkey (which works for me, my kids are monkeys, climbing everything!) and Eulalie. Genevieve is a family name for me but she died badly (whooping cough, aged 2) and I hate the English pronunciation, so it’ll never be used by me. Why do I think there’s a celebrity baby Salome Violetta? Alex Kingston, perhaps (I’m too lazy right now to dig myself)? Blanche is starting to show up in my toying with names and I keep adding and subtracting Marguerite. I love the idea of Daisy as a nickname but can’t decide if I like Marguerite enough. It’s pretty but… I don’t know.
And did you know that Lilou is a blantant rip off from a movie? “The Fifth Element” Milla Jovovich was Leeloo (for short, her full name was “Leeloo Minai Lekarariba-Laminai-Tchai Ekbat De Sebat” according to the subtitles on my DVD copy). I thin it’s a cute sound but as you said, ‘flimsy’ for standalone use.
And just a note, I’m starting to see Maelle and Maelys show up in combos online, as a middle name.