270+ French Boy Names

Only if you're an aviation buff or seriously addicted to popcorn.

Unisex option Dominique peaked for boys at Number 170 in 1991, perhaps due to the popularity of basketball player Dominique Wilkins. While it has now fallen out of the popularity charts in both the US and its native France, it was still given to around 140 boys and 60 girls in a recent year. This makes it a truly gender-neutral baby name, joining the ranks with - yet standing out from - the likes of Charlie, Rowan, Parker, and Sevyn.

Friendlier french form of ancient Germanic royal name Amalric or Emmerich.

Didier is kind of a Desiree for boy--a lively, confident name that's widely used in France and has definite possibilities here. It's the name of an early French saint.

The y makes it seem more like a name and less like an animal, but it's still not as appealing as several Leo choices.

Designer (as in Marc Jacobs) form of Mark. An international classic, but long falling in popularity as a boys' name.

A name that looks intriguing and masculine on paper, but is, unfortunately, a homonym for a girl's name.

Soft, amber-hued herbal and autumnal name that's used most often to describe the color of a horse. The proper spelling: Sorrel.

As a surname, Viel is a French and English variation of Vial, ultimately from the Latin word for "life". The German variation is derived from the word vil, meaning "swamp" or "bog".

The chic Euro spelling of Henry is rising along with the original form.

The French spin on the name of the great Homeric hero with the vulnerable heel seems somewhat more portable into the modern world.

Loose, lean, and lanky cowboy-sounding names have become a recent trend, but how about the name of a real one--the Singing Cowboy Gene. Autry might be thought of as a masculine spin on the fashionable Audrey or a fresher version of Austin or Auden.

Some other cowboy surnames from the Golden Age of movie and TV westerns: Boone, Boyd, Cody, Corrigan, Gibson, Hart, Holt, Houston, McCoy and Renaldo.

Pronounced TEE-bow, this version, which is also a very common surname in France, has a lot more charm than the name it derives from — Theobald. A variant spelling is Thibaut.

Herby and aristocratic Basil remains a tough sell, but we’d like to introduce you to Basile, the delightful French version. It retains all of Basil’s charm, but sheds some of the pesto linkage.

Common in France, but could be confused with the feminine Maxine here.

A seraph is a heavenly, angelic being from Ancient Jewish scripture. The Hebrew word literally translates to "the burning one." It can also be considered a diminutive of the name Seraphim.

Popular President Franklin Delano Roosevelt inspired a brief fashion for this as a first name in the 1940s; almost never heard today.

Briefly in the US Top 1000 in the late 19th century, Fate likely emerged as a short form for the old French name, Lafayette. In the contemporary landscape however, it may well be perceived as a word name among English speakers, akin to Destiny, Chance, Blessing, and Chosen. Around six boys are given the name Fate each year in the US, though 2023 saw it rise a little, with ten babies receiving the name.

Mason with a French accent. It first entered the US Top 1000 in 2012, and it will likely hang on for as long as its brother-in-spelling-variations, Mayson.

This name, which is a French variant of Leo, is pronounced with the distinct French nasally N at the end. It is sometimes used in French to refer to popes named Leo.