739 French Girl Names

In Pierre Benoit's novel, Antinea is a beautiful and charming queen with a hideous secret: She has a cave wall with 120 niches carved into it, one for each of her lovers. Only 53 have been filled; when all 120 have been filled, Antinea will sit atop a throne in the centre of the cave and rest forever.

A variation made famous by Australian Aboriginal tennis champ Evonne Goolagong.

This fabric word name would be a one-of-a-kind.

Sleek and sophisticated.

The feminine version of the newly-stylish Roman -- and the longer form of the also-newly-stylish Romy -- would make a girls' choice that achieves that near-impossible balance of being both original and fashionable. This variation is far superior to Romaine, which is too lettuce-y.

Romany is a melodious name referring to the Roma or Romani community and their culture, which makes it a potentially controversial choice for a baby not of that heritage. Romany Malco is an actor who appeared on the television show "Weeds." Other similar ideas: Roman, Romano, or Romeo.

Fine in France, but here it means vegetables sliced into thin strips.

Whether you spell it Lisette or Lizette, a somewhat dated diminutive that nevertheless retains some charm.

Sleek and sophisticated single-syllable choice that has NEVER been in the Top 1000, though sister name Paige has ranked since the mid 1950s. Though off her peak, Paige is still in the Top 200. Along with Poppy, Patience, and Plum, Page is one of the girl names that start with P that are also words.

Though it has never charted in the United States, this frilly name has the elements some brave, modern namers might find attractive—namely, the initial O and the -ia suffix.

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.

Lobbing off the final E makes Melanie more modern.

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

Albertine and Alberta are old-fashioned feminizations ala Geraldine and Roberta. This is the kind of name that sounds very dowdy until a hip celebrity chooses it, at which point we don't know how we missed its coolness all this time.

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