French baby names for girls & boys

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French is a beautiful old language, but for years, their names for people were very limited. Why? It was the law.

As it was explained in The Monroe (Louisiana) News-Star in 1966:

Heretofore, people in France have been restricted, in naming their children, chiefly to “those names appearing in the various calendars,” described as “mainly saints’ names” and “those of personalities known in history.”

No wonder it seemed that so many of the Frenchmen were named Jean or Pierre.

Now, however, the French government has ruled that children can be named after figures from Greek and Roman mythology, and also that the parents can give them such common names as James, Ivan or Manfred.

But still barred are “first names of pure fantasy, words representing objects, animals or qualities and names recalling political events.”

Fortunately, those rules were eased in the mid-1990s, and now, citizens of France can pick from a wide variety of French baby names — or names that are Irish or Arabic or Japanese — or any kind they like… almost.

It’s not exactly a free-for-all. As of 2019, the French government’s Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE) site explained it this way (as translated):

In particular since 1993, the registrar can no longer refuse the first name chosen by the parents. He may, however, notify the public prosecutor if he considers that the first name is detrimental to the child’s interest (example: ridiculous or rude name); or that the name disregards the right of a third party to have his family name protected (for example: a parent cannot choose as a first name the surname of another person whose use would constitute a usurpation). The public prosecutor can then refer the matter to the family court judge, who can request the deletion of the first name from the civil registry.

Here’s a look at some of the most popular French baby names, past and present.

The formatted tables show the most popular names in France given to babies born in 2017.

Top 100 most popular baby names for girls in France

You can sort this baby name list by popularity rank, in alphabetical order, or by the number of letters in the name -- or also choose to view some or all of the records. (Search for all or part of a baby name using the search area on the upper right of the table.)

Rank	Name	Number of letters
1	Emma	4 letters
2	Louise	6 letters
3	Jade	4 letters
4	Alice	5 letters
5	Chloé	5 letters
6	Lina	4 letters
7	Mila	4 letters
8	Léa	3 letters
9	Manon	5 letters
10	Rose	4 letters
11	Anna	4 letters
12	Inès	4 letters
13	Camille	7 letters
14	Lola	4 letters
15	Ambre	5 letters
16	Léna	4 letters
17	Zoé	3 letters
18	Juliette	8 letters
19	Julia	5 letters
20	Lou	3 letters
21	Sarah	5 letters
22	Lucie	5 letters
23	Mia	3 letters
24	Jeanne	6 letters
25	Romane	6 letters
26	Agathe	6 letters
27	Eva	3 letters
28	Nina	4 letters
29	Charlotte	9 letters
30	Inaya	5 letters
31	Léonie	6 letters
32	Sofia	5 letters
33	Margaux	7 letters
34	Louna	5 letters
35	Clara	5 letters
36	Luna	4 letters
37	Maëlys	6 letters
38	Olivia	6 letters
39	Adèle	5 letters
40	Lilou	5 letters
41	Clémence	8 letters
42	Léana	5 letters
43	Lana	4 letters
44	Capucine	8 letters
45	Elena	5 letters
46	Victoria	8 letters
47	Aya	3 letters
48	Mathilde	8 letters
49	Margot	6 letters
50	Iris	4 letters
51	Anaïs	5 letters
52	Giulia	6 letters
53	Alicia	6 letters
54	Romy	4 letters
55	Nour	4 letters
56	Elise	5 letters
57	Théa	4 letters
58	Yasmine	7 letters
59	Victoire	8 letters
60	Lya	3 letters
61	Mya	3 letters
62	Elsa	4 letters
63	Charlie	7 letters
64	Assia	5 letters
65	Lise	4 letters
66	Lily	4 letters
67	Noémie	6 letters
68	Emy	3 letters
69	Lisa	4 letters
70	Lyna	4 letters
71	Marie	5 letters
72	Soline	6 letters
73	Apolline	8 letters
74	Alix	4 letters
75	Gabrielle	9 letters
76	Valentine	9 letters
77	Louane	6 letters
78	Candice	7 letters
79	Pauline	7 letters
80	Faustine	8 letters
81	Héloïse	7 letters
82	Océane	6 letters
83	Ines	4 letters
84	Mélina	6 letters
85	Maya	4 letters
86	Thaïs	5 letters
87	Roxane	6 letters
88	Salomé	6 letters
89	Lila	4 letters
90	Maria	5 letters
91	Célia	5 letters
92	Constance	9 letters
93	Sara	4 letters
94	Livia	5 letters
95	Zélie	5 letters
96	Lyana	5 letters
97	Emmy	4 letters
98	Alya	4 letters
99	Elisa	5 letters
100	Maryam	6 letters

Bonus list: Our top 20 best French baby names for girls

And here’s another version of the highlights, plus a few extras:

Addie
Bridgette
Calanthe
Colette
Danielle
Dalaney
Eglantina
Elicia
Emma
Gemma
Hanriette
Jade
Kamille
Louise
Naeva
Noelle
Shantel
Trista
Verna
Zuri

Top 100 most popular baby names for boys in France

Rank	Name	Number of letters
1	Gabriel	7 letters
2	Louis	5 letters
3	Raphaël	7 letters
4	Jules	5 letters
5	Adam	4 letters
6	Lucas	5 letters
7	Léo	3 letters
8	Hugo	4 letters
9	Arthur	6 letters
10	Nathan	6 letters
11	Liam	4 letters
12	Ethan	5 letters
13	Maël	4 letters
14	Paul	4 letters
15	Tom	3 letters
16	Sacha	5 letters
17	Noah	4 letters
18	Gabin	5 letters
19	Nolan	5 letters
20	Enzo	4 letters
21	Mohamed	7 letters
22	Aaron	5 letters
23	Timéo	5 letters
24	Théo	4 letters
25	Mathis	6 letters
26	Axel	4 letters
27	Victor	6 letters
28	Antoine	7 letters
29	Valentin	8 letters
30	Martin	6 letters
31	Noé	3 letters
32	Eden	4 letters
33	Robin	5 letters
34	Marius	6 letters
35	Rayan	5 letters
36	Clément	7 letters
37	Baptiste	8 letters
38	Maxime	6 letters
39	Samuel	6 letters
40	Léon	4 letters
41	Yanis	5 letters
42	Augustin	8 letters
43	Eliott	6 letters
44	Maxence	7 letters
45	Evan	4 letters
46	Mathéo	6 letters
47	Alexandre	9 letters
48	Thomas	6 letters
49	Simon	5 letters
50	Gaspard	7 letters
51	Naël	4 letters
52	Tiago	5 letters
53	Amir	4 letters
54	Isaac	5 letters
55	Nino	4 letters
56	Ibrahim	7 letters
57	Lyam	4 letters
58	Lenny	5 letters
59	Malo	4 letters
60	Imran	5 letters
61	Marceau	7 letters
62	Alexis	6 letters
63	Kaïs	4 letters
64	Camille	7 letters
65	Noa	3 letters
66	Oscar	5 letters
67	Noam	4 letters
68	Mathys	6 letters
69	Esteban	7 letters
70	Ayden	5 letters
71	Ilyes	5 letters
72	Lorenzo	7 letters
73	Kylian	6 letters
74	Adrien	6 letters
75	Côme	4 letters
76	Wassim	6 letters
77	Ismaël	6 letters
78	Soan	4 letters
79	Amine	5 letters
80	Youssef	7 letters
81	Naïm	4 letters
82	Milo	4 letters
83	Benjamin	8 letters
84	Ayoub	5 letters
85	Joseph	6 letters
86	Owen	4 letters
87	Ali	3 letters
88	William	7 letters
89	Jean	4 letters
90	Louka	5 letters
91	Adem	4 letters
92	Bastien	7 letters
93	Léandre	7 letters
94	Antonin	7 letters
95	Noham	5 letters
96	Logan	5 letters
97	Kenzo	5 letters
98	Younes	6 letters
99	Sandro	6 letters
100	David	5 letters