My Favorite French Names

Hello everyone. I hope you had a fabulous Valentine ’s Day week and enjoyed some of the Valentine’s themed post we had on the blog this week. This week, I’m lucky enough to be on reading week and am definitely enjoying some time at home. For those who don’t know, I am a quarter French Canadian, and as a result I’ve always had a soft spot for French names. This week I decided to look at my 5 favorite French names per gender. I’ve only included rankings in countries where French is an official language. Hope you enjoy! :)

Girls

Claire

Pronunciation: Kler

Ranking: 23 (Canada) and 183 (France)

Meaning: clear, bright, famous

My Thoughts: Claire is my nana’s name and that is obviously a fabulous association. I love Claire because of how just plain usable it is. Claire fits into so many styles of naming. It’s a classic for purists, but is still incredibly popular for trendy namers. It’s short and spunky, but still very feminine. It’s got a strong relation to a different language, but it still easy for English only speakers. It’s a perfect name for someone like me whose style is all over the map.

Emeline

Pronunciation: Em-ah-leen or Em-ah-line

Ranking: 192 (France)

Meaning: work

My Thoughts: Right off the bat with this name I feel that I have to address spelling. This spelling is the original spelling of the name; Emmeline and Emmaline are both Anglicized versions. Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against Anglicized versions, but I’ve frequently had people try to tell me that the Emeline spelling is wrong. Personally, I prefer Emeline. I think it looks cleaner and spunkier, and the people of France agree with me. Emeline is 192 in France, but neither Emmeline or Emmaline rank.

Geneviève

Pronunciation: Zhon-vee-ev

Ranking: n/a

Meaning: tribe woman

My Thoughts: One of my favorite things about Geneviève is how much it sounds like the French word for January (Zhon-vee-ay)! One of my favorite memories from grade school French was singing the months of the year song, I always loved Janvier, Avril et Juillet the best. The first time I heard this names French pronunciation was on a girl at camp and it just seemed so much prettier than the English and made me completely fall in love with the name.

Margot

Pronunciation: Mar-go

Ranking: 52 (France) and 66 (Belgium)

Meaning: pearl

My Thoughts: I’ve always loved Margaret, but had never considered Margot (in any spelling) until reading Paper Towns by John Green. The main female character in Paper Towns is name Margo Roth Spiegelman and absolutely made me fall in love with the name. I didn’t know it was French or that it was a diminutive of Margaret until I did some searching on it earlier this year. If Margot (or the more popular variant, Margaux) seem a little “too French” for your tastes, I think the Margo spellings is perfectly lovely.

Véronique

Pronunciation: Vay-ro-neek

Ranking: n/a

Meaning: bringing victory

My Thoughts: Between the summers of grade 9 and 10, I did volunteer work as an assistant councilor at a local camp. In the second week I worked, there was a Véronique in my group. I’ve always loathed the name Veronica so was surprised to find myself absolutely adoring her name. A large part of this adoration came from her nickname: Véro. I think it’s such a fun, spunky nickname.

Boys

Étienne

Pronunciation: Ay-tyen

Ranking: 225 (France)

Meaning: crown

My Thoughts: Étienne is the French form of Stephen. Stephen is my grandpa’s name and I’ve always thought about using it, but recently my brother called it. For a while, I considered Étienne, but it just felt a little too French for a girl who’s not planning on living in a French speaking area. A great association for me is also the male main character in the book Anna and The French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins. I think the name is very exotic and cool sounding and would be a super choice for a brave namer!

Julien

Pronunciation: Zhoo-lee-on

Ranking: 65 (France) and 66 (Belgium)

Meaning: downy bearded

My Thoughts: I adore the name Julien for others, but have a hard time seeing myself using it. I think it’s very sweet sounding, yet still cool and masculine. The French pronunciation is rarely used/needed where I live, but Julien would be a great choice for someone in a more bilingual area who wants a name common in both languages.

Olivier

Pronunciation: Oh-liv-yay

Ranking: 307 (France)

Meaning: elf warrior

My Thoughts: Olivier is the French (and, with a different pronunciation, Dutch) form of Oliver. I’ve always wanted to love Oliver, but found it to be lacking something. To me, Olivier is absolutely perfect. I love the –ay ending and I love the stronger o sound that Oliver does not have. This name is a little on the adventurous side, but it’s just so cute.

Henri

Pronunciation: On-ree

Ranking: 356 (France)

Meaning: home ruler

My Thoughts: Henri is the French form of Henry, and I must admit I do slightly prefer Henry. That being said, I think Henri is pretty darn cute too. Although in many parts of the world, it runs the risk of being seen as a Henry typo/misspelling, it’s definitely a sweet choice for someone with some French heritage. It’s easy to pronounce and spell and close enough to the English name to not be seen as “weird”.

Benoit

Pronunciation: Ben-wah

Ranking: 321 (France)

Meaning: blessed

My Thoughts: I’ve actually heard Benoit more frequently as a surname than as a first name, but the surname freak in me might love it even more. As a rule, I adore Ben- names and Benoit is not an exception. I think it would be easy to turn English only speakers onto this name as it is easy to pronounce, part of the surname trend and comes with the adorable nickname Ben.

            So, that was my post on French names. I hope you enjoyed it. Leave a comment with your favorite French names or some names from your own heritage you love and see you next Sunday!

-  Hayl