1200+ French Names (with Meanings and Popularity)

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.

The romantic fairy tale-like name has come to modern attention via the beautiful but terrifying sorceress in Game of Thrones. The character may look as lovely as her name sounds, but it's hard to imagine a parent familiar with the book wanting to use the name for their child. Two alternate directions: Millicent or Melisande.

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.

Here, it's strictly for girls, though Celine Dion's boy Rene-Charles reminded us of its masculine origins.

Prune is a fruit name loved by the French, for whom it's a Plum equivalent. In the U.S., Plum works, but Prune is not a name we'd want to inflict on a child. Prunella is slightly more plausible.

Héloïse is a chic French name related to sleek, peppy classic Eloise. Both ultimately derive from the Germanic name Helewidis, which became Helewis in medieval England. In the twelfth century, the name was borne by the beloved of the French philosopher Pierre Abelard, who was considered to be one of the most learned women of the Middle Ages.

Highly unlikely philosophical choice.

The name of a French city famous for its fine lace. Another association: Chantilly cream – a sweetened whipped cream apparently invented there in the 17th century by a chef at the Château de Chantilly. The town probably takes is name from the Gallo-Roman personal name Cantilius, derived from a word for "white".

One familiar name never used for real people, for obvious reasons. Read more about Cinderella and other Disney Princess Names in our featured blog.

Strictly for the girls.

This French name meaning goddess is a possible Gallic import in the Celine mode.

The least usable of the Three Musketeers names.