739 French Girl Names

Leontine is the French form of a name that's more familiar by its spelling variation Leontyne, the name made famous by opera diva Price. An obscure choice, Leontine nevertheless feels right for our lion-name-crazed moment.

French version of Leah, currently popular with French-speaking parents. In this spelling, it looks pleasingly like the female equivalent of Leo (or Léo), and sounds like Leia.

French Canadian pop star Avril Lavigne has put the spotlight on her name.

The sort of oh-so-French name that's falling out of favor now.

Marietta would make for a classy and uncommon long form for cool nickname Etta.

Though it's used far more often for boys, Lyle has a lot in common with today's trending girl names that share the double L sound: Lila, Layla, and Lola.

The French spelling of Lucy feels particularly light and shimmery.

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

Yet another creative character name from Toni Morrison, Denver was a daughter of Sethe's in the novel Beloved. Today Denver is most familiar as the name of the largest city in Colorado, used almost equally for girls and boys.

In the Top 25 in the unisex seventies, these days Tracy would more likely be Gracie.

Now that Violet is becoming more popular, parents are starting to explore same-but-different options such as the French Violette, which would properly be pronounced with a long e sound in the first syllable and three syllables -- vee-oh-let -- as well as the Spanish Violeta — both of which were among the fastest-rising girl names of 2023.

Sophisticated French choice. Or toxic petrochemical.

A sleek, smooth, understated name off the grid in the US but among the Top 100 girl names in Germany. In the US, it is a unisex name, while in Germany and the Netherlands, it is predominantly feminine.

A smooth and velvety Gallic choice first heard here as the heroine of the movie "Chocolat."

Marine is an extremely popular and fashionable name in France that's virtually unknown here — and is ready to set sail. Marine feels more contemporary than Marina and less hippie-esque than Oceane, another popular name for girls in France.

The rise of the the various Isabel names may give a boost to this variation, which has a sunny, springtime feel.

This is an energetic dance of an Irish surname, great for both genders. Could also be spelled Delancy.

Minuet is delicate, dancey, and lacy, with a Masterpiece Theatre feel. Is Minuet a real name? Not really, though similar-sounding French names such as Minette and Manette are.

While Sidney in this spelling has a long history as a girls' name, it fell off the Top 1000 from the early 50s until 1990. Then it reemerged as one of the newly chic androgynous names for girls, rising into the Top 300 before falling off the Top 1000 list again in 2016. Sydney is now the more fashionable form.