Beautiful, Chic French Names for Baby Girls

Despite a return to such feminizations of male names as Josephine, Clementine, and Theodora, starchy Henrietta has not made it into that group. Still, if you look hard enough, you'll see that Henrietta has the same vintage charm.

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

Feels more modern than the Y version but also less authentic.

Jacqueline originated as a feminine form of Jacques, the French variation of James, and therefore Jacob. Jacob was ultimately derived from the Hebrew name Ya’aqov, and gets its meaning, "supplanter" from the story of Jacob supplanting his brother Esau as the first-born son in the Bible. Jacqueline was first used in France in the Middle Ages.

Has lost all trace of its French accent.

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

A Top 100 name from the 1930s all the way through the 1950s, it's now firmly in Mom -- or Grandma -- land and supplanted for babies by Joanna.....or even great-grandmother Josephine. In its heyday, it had a host of variations, including JoAnn and Jo-Anne.

Jolie is as pretty as its literal meaning; nowadays it is also seen as a girls’ name, via Angelina for whom Jolie was originally her middle name.

Juliette, pronounced with the emphasis on the last syllable, adds a little something extra to Juliet. In the past years it has been rising up the chart.

Justine is a French name that's never reached the popularity we think it deserves. Like its far-more-common brother Justin, Justine is sleek, and sophisticated, but still user-friendly.

Landry is one rising surname name, often after legendary Dallas Cowboys football coach Tom Landry, that is given to boys and girls. But the y ending does give it a feminine sound (as opposed to the more boyish and more popular Landon). Land is a Landry nickname that might work for boys or girls.

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

Actress Leelee Sobieski's real name is Liliane, after her French grandmother -- a better choice for any baby-namer.

Liana is a pretty and graceful name — it's a flowering tropical vine — making a quiet comeback. Its connection to nature is one plus, and many parents like this kind of nonspecifically international name.

Now that Lily has become hugely popular, parents in love with this flower name are looking further afield for substitutes such as Liliane and Liliana.

Although the accent in Linnet is on the first syllable, it could be confused with the dated Lynette.