500+ French Dog Names

Short form found in historical records, feels a tad feminine for modern times.

his engaging French saint's name, pronounced like tangy, with a hard 'g,' also has a creative connection to French surrealist painter Yves Tanguy.

Place-name waiting to be discovered.

Mercer is one fashionable occupational name that can work as well for girls as boys, perhaps because of the soft c or the conventionally feminine nickname Mercy.

Jeter, which of course is used as a first name only because of Yankee star Derek, rhymes with Peter and may be derived from the French surname Jette, which was often bestowed on foundlings because it means "thrown out," or the German Jetter, an occupational name meaning "weeder." If your husband insists on Jeter, counter with Percival.

There was an ancient Saint Fort, and this is a modern, original way to convey a powerful meaning, especially in the middle place.

Venerable old saint's name now associated solely with talk show host Philbin, who is constantly seeking namesakes. It comes from the word rex meaning "king".

This name of famed philosopher, mathematician and Nobel laureate Bertrand Russell becomes slightly more plausible with the French pronunciation, bare-TRAHN. Another noted bearer is French director and screenwriter Bertrand Tavernier.

Truly offbeat, but just on the brink of outré.

Pronounced as the English word joy, rather than as the French phrase joie de vivre, Joie might produce more complications than joy.

Patrice is a more modern-sounding and polished unisex alternative to Patricia.

Cabot is an attractive English surname associated with the daring early Italian-born British explorer known as John Cabot; his birth name was Giovanni Caboto.

A Gallic twist on a word or nature name, which has a nice lemony feel. 

Intriguing way to signal Welsh ancestry; more unusual than Wallace.

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.

Highly unlikely philosophical choice.