French Cat Names

Andre is one of the international forms of Andrew that has been familiar in the English-speaking world for decades without any need to be overly Anglicized - though round the world, it is more likely to be written as André.

In this form, or as Sebastian or as Bas, Bastien is a fashionable Euro name with a possible future in America.

Florin is one of the legion of names derived from the root word for flower, most of them like Flora and Florence used for girls. But the boys' form Florin is among the popular French names for boys, along with sister name Fleur for girls. There was a ninth century Swiss St. Florin. The related Florian was the name of a second century Roman saint.

Linda begat Lynn which gave way to Lynette, which peaked in the late 1960s. Lynette has been off the Top 1000 for a couple decades now, and the Lynn variations finding the most favor are those that put the "lyn" part at the end: Evelyn, Madelyn, Brooklyn.

Attracted attention as the stepmother of Princess Diana.

This feminine form of Mael has the distinctive "aelle" ending found in Brittany. In the French spelling Maëlle, it is a Top 100 girls' name in France.

Regal and ancient feeling, Jacques has been declining in popularity in its native France, but in the UK, it saw a surprising revival in 2022. Jumping from somewhere around the #2500 mark straight to #600, it was seven times more popular than in 2021.

Once seen as a dated French Claudette-Colbert feminization, along with Annette and Paulette, we can see Claudette moving into a more plausible Colette-Cosette arena. While some may be put off by the common "lame" meaning, some etymologists theorize that the name may relate to the word for enclosure or clause, an alternate meaning that may appeal to a child with a form of this otherwise-appealing name.

In Arthurian legend, Lancelot was one of the most dashing of the Knights of the Round Table who eventually had an affair with Queen Guinevere: it makes for a romantic story-- but perhaps overly romantic-- name.

Luc is the sleeker Gallic cousin of Luke, and if you want to know the difference between their pronunciations, just watch Kevin Kline's hilarious description in the film French Kiss. Peter Gabriel and Sean Patrick Thomas picked this version for their sons.

Mauve is an offbeat color name whose soft and sentimental Victorian spirit is conveyed by the name. One of the newer color names like Blue, Gray and Plum that are increasingly being used as novel middle names.

With Isabel getting so popular, parents are searching for new varieties of the name, and Isabeau is one that makes a lovely French twist.

In European countries where it's regularly used as a form of the Amelia family of names, the pronunciation is very similar to the a-ending form, Amalia.

One of the group of French 'ette'-ending names that emigrated to this country in the last century, though never as popular as some others, such as Claudette and Paulette--it did have a little six-year flurry here between 1967 and 1973. Josette may be feminine and flirty, but, given the choice, most parents today would prefer Josephine.

An aromatic, unconventional name.

An original choice for a fisherman's child.

Pronounced "crwa", this unusual name was chosen by Cedric the Entertainer for his son.

A spunky nickname name for parents with showbiz aspirations for their daughter.

Cecile is a fairly common French saint's name, scattered throughout classic French literature--in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, in Balzac's Cousin Pons, and Zola's Germinal.