500+ French Dog Names

Frenchified name rarely used in France. And perhaps even more rarely used in the US -- there were NO baby girls given the name on the official records of 2021.

Scottish actor Dougray (born Stephen) Scott made us aware of this name when he took on his French grandmother's surname as his stage name.

A name better left where it is, embroidered on a fifties poodle skirt.

The middle name of the Travoltas' Ella, this French color alternative hasn't caught on with many other parents.

Crescent is an intriguing word name with a pretty sound and links to the moon. Cressie could make for a cute nickname, as used in the Worst Witch children's TV series, short for Crescentmoon.

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.

This Danielle/Monique hybrid offers a new twist on an old favorite.

Relic of a past period of French favorites, out to pasture with Claudette and Paulette.

A traditional French male name that could, with American pronunciation, become an admirable word name.

This French word for star sounds like even more of a celebrity-worthy choice than Star or Esther or Estella or Stella. But count on English speakers who never took high school French to stumble over the pronunciation.

Five girls were given the name Perrine last year. More modern-sounding are Perrin, Perry, or even Petra.

Putting the emphasis on the "elle" softens a name that seems at once futuristic and medieval.

Thierry, which is very popular in France, would make an interesting import; it's somewhat familiar through designer Thierry Mugler and international soccer star Thierry Henry. It almost sounds like Terry, but not quite.

Dior was among the fastest-rising names for both girls and boys in the US in the early 2020s, but was the fastest-falling name for boys in the 2023 statistics.

The Indre is a river in France. Spelled Indra, it's the name of a powerful deity worshipped by Hindus, Buddhists, and Jains — roughly the South Asian equivalent of the Greek Zeus or Norse Odin. But either Indra or Indre might make a simple, captivating, attractive name for a modern little girl.

This name is hanging on as Renee, thanks to Ms. Zellweger, and in newer forms Renae and Renny.

Depending on your cultural references, you may think of Phantom of the Opera author Gaston Leroux, or the macho villain of Beauty and the Beast. While he's hardly a role model (unless you too use antlers in all of your decorating), his name was likely chosen because it's a classic in France. It's been used there since the middle ages, partly in honor of the Frankish bishop St Gaston. It went out of style in France mid-century, but now it's having a revival, entering the Top 300 in 2017.

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

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.