1200+ French Names (with Meanings and Popularity)

Octave shortens Octavius to a more manageable length, keeping the "eighth" meaning. In English speaking countries, however, people could easily confuse this with the musical term octave.

For years there was only one Cher, and then along came the charming heroine of the movie "Clueless." The world now officially has enough Chers in it.

Unisex option Dominique peaked for boys at Number 170 in 1991, perhaps due to the popularity of basketball player Dominique Wilkins. It's one of the most truly gender-neutral baby names right now.

Philippe, pronounced fill-EEP, is Philip with Gallic flair.

A Dorothy nickname name with a measure of nostalgic charm. Kids will associate it with the funny fish character voiced by Ellen DeGeneres in the Pixar animated instant classic Finding Nemo.

A cute, zippy French saint's name that's picking up in popularity there, and here in the US. Zélie originated as a short form of Azélie, thought to derive from Adelaide via the Occitan form Azalaïs. Saint Zélie was born Marie-Azélie.

Once you get past the pronunciation hurdle, a smooth and elegant choice. In French, it's spelt with a circumflex: Benoît.

What life Hadrien and Hadrian enjoy today, they owe to Adrian along with the revival of ancient Roman names in general. Hadrian was a 2nd century Roman emperor famous for his wall.

Sasha in all its forms -- which include Sacha and Sascha -- is rising in popularity for both boys and girls, especially with the Sasha spelling attached to one of the First Daughters.

Traditionally used by the ultrareligious, the French boys' name Baptiste comes from the Greek word meaning "to dip". Baptiste is one of the Top 100 Boy Names in France.

One of the oldest and most widely used compound names, now a bit dated but not as much so as its opposite Mary-Ann. The hyphen is optional.

Embroidered lace hankie of a name, used in a Thomas Hardy novel. That literary cred lends some gravitas.

Charming French endearment, first used as a name by Goethe, that now makes an appealing choice -- though the proper feminine form is Mignonne. Note, though, that this is not actually used as a name in France, where Manon would be the closest choice.

Yes, we tend to think of Claude as a male name and Claudia and Claudette as the female, but this ancient clan name is used in France for girls as well as boys, and could make a distinctively chic boy name for girls here too. You may be surprised to know that Claude was in fairly regular use for American girls in the 1880's and nineties, reaching as high as 553 in 1880.

Has joined Chanel and Armani on the fashionista hit parade of names. The meaning of Dior is uncertain but it may be "gold".