France is the stereotypical home of high fashion, gourmet food, the best wines, and romance and love. French girl names can hold certain associations just by their pronunciation. But finding the meanings and facts behind each name can take a long time.
If you or your family have French heritage, or if you adore all things Française, here are 100 French names for girls to consider for your petit. We’ve done all the legwork, so all you have to do is sit back, put your feet up, and make a list of your favorites.
100 French Girl Names and Meanings
These French female names are a great mix of trendy and old-school.
1. Adeline
Adeline evolved from the Germanic word element adal, which means noble.
In 2017, British indie rock band alt-J released the track, Adeline. The song tells the story of a Tasmanian devil who falls in love with a woman he watches swimming in a waterhole.
2. Adrienne
Adrienne means from the city of Hadria.
Adrienne is a painting by Belgian painter Gustave Van de Woestyne. Painted in 1919, Adrienne now hangs in the Royal Museum of Fine Arts, Antwerp.
3. Aglaé
Aglaé comes from the Greek name, Aglaia, which means splendor, beauty.
Aglae, without the accent above the e but from the same Greek root, is a genus of orchid bees found in South America. What makes these bees unique is their beautiful metallic blue body.
4. Albertine
The French feminine form of Albert, Albertine means noble and bright.
Payne Whitney House is the New York location of the French Embassy to the United States’ cultural services. Within this historical mansion, there’s the Albertine bookshop which hosts cross-cultural events, book clubs, and more.
5. Alizée
A modern French name from the French word alizé, Alizée means trade wind.
Singer Alizée is the most successful French music artist of the 21st century so far. Her mezzo-soprano voice and flexible artistic style have made her a darling of the European music scene.
6. Amandine
A French diminutive of Amanda, Amandine means worthy of love, lovable.
In French cooking, an amandine is a garnish of almonds, while in Romania, amandine is a type of layered chocolate sponge cake with caramel, chocolate, fondant, and sometimes almond cream.
7. Ambre
Ambre means amber, like the semi-translucent fossilized tree resin.
Pronounced OHM-br, Ambre has been steadily climbing up the French top 1,000 name charts since 1980. In 2019, it was number 10 with 2,654 new little Ambres joining the population.
8. Amélie
Amélie is the French form of Amelia and means work.
Set against the backdrop of modern Parisian society, the 2001 movie Amélie is a romantic comedy about a waitress trying to make life better for those around her.
9. Amour
Amour means love.
Rarely used since the early 20th century, Amour is a French gender-neutral name that was used far more frequently for boys than it was for girls.
10. Anaëlle
Anaëlle means favor or grace.
Anaëlle is the feminine version of Anaël, which was coined in Breton during the 1960s as a male form of Anne. Anne is the French Anna, which comes from Hannah, and that’s where the definition of grace comes from.
11. Andrée
The French feminine form of Andrew, Andrée means manly, masculine.
Andrée Borrel helped establish a safe house for allied forces members escaping from France in WWII. Borrel later became instrumental in the Parisian Special Operations Executive network, was captured by the Nazis, transported to Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp, and executed.
12. Angeline
Angeline means messenger.
The most popular year for Angeline in the U.S. was 1915. That year, there were 922 baby girls given the name in the states.
13. Annabelle
Annabelle means lovable.
The 2014 supernatural horror movie Annabelle is based on the story of a vintage porcelain doll of the same name. A prequel to The Conjuring, it tells the tale of a doll that’s supposedly possessed by a demon.
14. Ariane
Ariane evolved from Ariadne, meaning most holy.
Ariane is the name of a series of non-reusable launch vehicles. Manufactured and operated by Arianespace, Ariane rockets have launched satellites and automated transfer vehicles into orbit.
15. Babette
Babette can mean foreign, or my God is my oath.
Babette has two potential meanings because it is the French diminutive for both Barbara, meaning foreign, and Elizabeth, meaning my God is my oath.
16. Béatrice
Béatrice means voyager, traveler.
Beatrice reached peak popularity in the U.S. in 1910. Interestingly, the U.S. is the only country where Béatrice was used as a boys’ name frequently enough to reach the top 1,000 most popular names lists.
17. Bénédicte
Bénédicte means blessed.
Bénédicte is one of two French feminine forms of Benedict. The other is Benoîte, which is the French girls’ name equivalent of Benoît, also a form of Benedict.
18. Bernadette
Bernadette means brave, hardy.
Born in southwestern France, Bernadette Soubirous became famous for her visions of The Virgin Mary and subsequent discovery of the “holy spring of Lourdes.” The site has been visited by millions of all denominations, some of whom claim miraculous cures.
19. Camille
The meaning of Camille is unknown.
Many places list Camille and Camilla as being derived from the Latin word Camillus, meaning a youth employed in religious services. But many experts believe this to be unlikely.
20. Capucine
Capucine is French for nasturtium.
Capucine was the stage name of the French model and actress born Germaine Hélène Irène Lefebvre. A prolific actress in TV and film, Capucine was famous for her comedic roles in The Pink Panther series of movies.
21. Cécile
Cécile comes from the Roman family name Caecilius, meaning blind.
As a mambo or priestess, Cécile Fatiman presided over the ceremony at Bois Caïman at which the first slave insurrection of the Haitian Revolution was planned.
22. Céleste
From the Late Latin name Caelestis, Céleste means heavenly, of the sky.
In the video game Céleste, a young woman, Madeline, tries to climb a fictional version of the Canadian Mount Céleste. On the way, Céleste meets other characters and must face her inner demons to complete her quest.
23. Claude
Claude means lame, crippled.
Many English speakers assume Claude is masculine and are surprised to discover it’s a gender-neutral name. A popular choice for girls in the French royal family during the 15th and 16th centuries, Claude for a girl oozes cool French chic.
24. Clémence
Clémence is from the Latin name Clemens and means merciful, gentle.
The quasi-legendary Clémence Isaure is said to have founded The Academy of Floral Games. The oldest literary institution in the Western world, the academy administers the Floral Games, a series of poetry competitions with floral prizes.
25. Cossette
Cossette comes from the French chosette, which means little thing.
In Victor Hugo’s novel Les Misérables, the character Cossette is the daughter of Fantine. Her mother leaves Cossette with the Thénardiers, who victimize and exploit her until she is rescued and raised by Jean Valjean.
26. Cunégonde
Cunégonde may have evolved from the Germanic Kunigunde, meaning clan, family war.
In Voltaire’s novel Candide, Cunégonde’s a promiscuous and unpleasant woman. Cunne is French slang for a**hole, and it’s speculated Voltaire created the name as a play on words. Voltaire also spoke Farsi, and the Persian words cun and gonde mean “fat ass.”
27. Edmée
Edmée is the French feminine version of Edmund, meaning rich protection.
Edmée Daenen’s most successful track is a cover version of Roxette’s Listen To Your Heart. One of few Trance music tracks to make the Billboard Hot 100, where it reached number 8, the single also achieved Gold Record status.
28. Églantine
Églantine is another name for the flower sweet-briar.
Eglantyne Jebb founded the charity Save The Children and drafted a document that went on to become the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. In 1924, the French government ordered Jebb’s document displayed in all French schools.
29. Élodie
Élodie means other wealth.
Last seen on the U.S. name charts in 1886, Élodie is experiencing a revival. Currently number 862 in the U.S., Élodie is number 391 in the Netherlands, number 198 in Italy, number 112 in the U.K., and is dwindling in France, having hit number 1.
30. Enora
Enora is from the Late Latin Honorius, meaning honor.
Enora is a name used initially by the Breton people of northwestern France. As one of six Celtic nations, the Bretons have a strong cultural identity, have two languages, and consider themselves distinct from the rest of France.
31. Eulalie
Eulalie is from the Greek eulalos, meaning sweetly speaking.
The Edgar Allan Poe poem Eulalie, A Song was published in 1845, the same year as the more famous The Raven. The poem tells of a man who overcomes his hopelessness when he marries the beautiful Eulalie.
32. Faustine
Faustine evolved from the Roman nickname Faustus, which means lucky.
The name Faustine is a relative of the surname Faust. If you’re looking for a name that will direct your child’s life, although this means lucky, with the Faustian associations, you may want to give this one a miss.
33. Flavie
Flavie is from the Roman family name Flavius, meaning golden or yellow-haired.
We think the meaning of this pretty and delicate French girls’ name makes it great for the child who is born with a shining golden mane.
34. Fleur
Fleur is French for flower.
If you’re looking for an alternative to the somewhat overused Flora, then Fleur might be the name you’re looking for.
35. Gervaise
Gervaise means skilled with a spear.
Gervaise is a rare girls’ name from France and hasn’t seen much use since the 1950s. However, although we adore this name, you might spend your time explaining that your daughter is not named after comedian Ricky Gervais.
36. Gwenaëlle
Gwenaëlle means blessed and generous.
Gwenaëlle Aubry is the author of Personne, published as No One in the U.S. and prefaced by Rick Moody. It tells the story of Aubry’s father and what it was like growing up with him as he struggled with bi-polar.
37. Hortense
Hortense is thought to come from the Latin Hortus, meaning garden.
With its horticultural associations, we think Hortense would be a fabulous French girls’ name for the child of someone in gardening, soil management, landscaping, plant conservation, or similar careers. It would also work for a recreational gardener.
38. Huguette
Huguette means heart, mind, spirit.
American philanthropist, painter, and heiress Huguette Clark is the subject of the book Empty Mansions. Following successful basal cell cancer treatment, Clark chose to spend the following 20 years in hospital while her staff maintained her three sprawling, unoccupied mansions.
39. Inès
Inès is the French form of Agnes, meaning chaste.
Agnes is often incorrectly thought to mean lamb because the name is said to come from the Latin word agnus or lamb. Agnes actually comes from the Greek name Ἁγνή or Hagne from the Greek word ἁγνός or hagnos, meaning chaste.
40. Isaure
Isaure means from Isauria, a region in what is now known as Turkey.
Riding the wave of “old lady name” chic, Isaure was a moderately popular French girls’ name in the early 1900s. However, it was rediscovered in the early 2000s and is currently number 315 in the French top 1,000 names chart.
41. Joëlle
Joëlle is the French feminine form of Joel which means Yahweh is God.
American comic book artist and writer Joëlle Jones has illustrated Supergirl, drawn interiors and covers for multiple Batman and Catwoman, and is a regular writer for DC. Her illustrations have been the basis for eight DC Cover Girl statues.
42. Laetitia
Laetitia means joy, happiness.
Among her professional achievements, model and actress Laetitia Casta has been the spokesperson for L’Oréal, a Victoria’s Secret Angel, and cover model for Vogue, Elle, and Glamor.
43. Léone
Léone is from the Late Latin name Leonius, and it means lion.
Pastiglie Leone is an Italian candy company founded in Alba in 1857. Famous for their Victorian-era style packaging and the beautiful wedding party specialties, they ship their retro reproductions around the world.
44. Léonie
Léonie evolved from Leo, which means lion.
Canadian toy company Maplelea Dolls produces 18-inch dolls similar to the American Girl series. The backstory of their Léonie doll is that she lives in Québec City, writes music, plays the guitar, and enjoys playing outdoor hockey.
45. Lilou
Lilou has no meaning.
Lilou began as a nickname for girls whose name started with lee. It was first registered as a name in France in 1997, the same year the movie The Fifth Element, with its character Leeloo was released.
46. Livie
Livie is the French feminine form of Linius, meaning envy.
Livia Drusilla was the wife of and advisor to Roman emperor Augustus Caesar. Drusilla was given the honorific title of Augusta. That also elevated her to a divine being, or god of the Roman Empire.
47. Loane
The modern French girls’ name Loane means bright.
Loane Rathier is a French singer-songwriter known by the mononym Loane. Performing in a genre called French contemporary chanson on her album, Le Lendemain, Loane duets with Lenny Kravitz.
48. Luce
Luce means light.
The movie Luce is an American social thriller about a child-soldier adopted from Eritrea and raised in the U.S. After an incident at school, Luce’s parents are forced to confront their idealized image of their child.
49. Ludivine
Ludivine means people’s friend.
French kickboxer Ludivine Lasnier is the former ISKA World K-1 Rules Flyweight kickboxing champion. Competing since 2015, Lasnier is the current ISKA World Oriental Rules Flyweight champion.
50. Lya
Lya means weary.
Lya is a modern variant of Léa, which is the French form of Leah. As Leah is a Biblical Hebrew name, and Leia is the Greek Biblical translation of Leah, Lya can be a covert Star War fan name.
51. Lyna
Lyna is a variant of Lina, meaning tender.
The River Lyna flows from the northern reaches of Poland into the Kaliningrad Oblast area of Russia. As a tributary of the Pregolya River, it eventually flows into the Baltic Sea.
52. Madeline
Madeline is the French form of Magdalene, meaning of Magdala.
Austrian American author Ludwig Bemelmans wrote the Madeline books. They tell of Madeline, a small, feisty, redheaded 7-year-old at a Parisian boarding school, and the adventures she and her schoolmates experience.
53. Maëlie
Maëlie is a Breton name meaning prince or chieftain.
The pronunciation on this one is both complex and simple at the same time. The complexity comes from the look of the name, which scares many people. Meanwhile, it is pronounced exactly how it’s spelled — Ma-Ehl-Lee.
54. Magali
Magali evolved from Magdalene, meaning from Magdala.
Despite her more than 50-year onscreen career, French actress and singer Magali Noël is most famous in France for her 1956 single, Fais-moi mal, Johnny. One of the first foreign language rock and roll songs, it was banned for risque lyrics.
55. Mahault
Mahault evolved from Matilda, meaning strength in battle.
Pronounced MAY-o, it is no wonder this French girls’ name has fallen out of use. Naming your child Mahault is sentencing them to a lifetime of mayonnaise jokes.
56. Maia
Maia means good mother, foster mother, dame.
With a French spelling of Maïa, Maia is a name from Greek mythology that has experienced a massive swell of popularity in France.
57. Mailys
Mailys is a variant of Maylis, meaning mother of lilies.
Award-winning French author Maylis de Kerangal’s second novel, Mend the Living, was adapted into a movie of the same name and was published in the U.S. as The Heart. Within the story, it examines the ethics of organ donation.
58. Manu
Manu evolved from Emmanuel, meaning God is with us.
Manu is also a masculine name seen most frequently in Hinduism, where it means thinking or wise in Sanskrit. It is also a male name from Finland, meaning great.
59. Marceline
A French name evolved from Mars, Marceline means male.
Marceline is a kind of fabric similar to taffeta-silk. It’s primarily used in hatmaking or as a slightly stiff lining for dresses.
60. Margaux
Margaux is a variant of Margot, meaning pearl.
Château Margaux is a French wine estate that produces Bordeaux wine. A much sought-after exclusive wine, a bottle of Château Margaux costs upwards of $400.
61. Marianne
Marianne is a combination of Marie and Anne and means love, favor, grace.
Marianne is the name of the personification of the French Republic. Multiple French women have been models for the national Marianne busts in every town hall, courthouse, and government building in France.
62. Marine
Marine is from the Roman family name Marinus, meaning man.
In the context of a French girls’ name Marine means man. But naming your child Marine in English-speaking countries, the first thought will usually be Marines, the military force, or marine as in pertaining to the ocean or sea.
63. Marjolaine
Marjolaine is French for marjoram.
A marjolaine is a layered dessert made with long rectangles of nutty meringue, interspersed with ganache or buttercream. The ganache is usually dark chocolate, pistachio, hazelnut, or coffee flavor.
64. Marthe
Marthe means the lady, as in Lord and Lady of the manor.
French-American composer Marthe Servine was Parisian by birth, but her family moved to the U.S. when she was 10 years old. Servine was best known for her solo piano compositions.
65. Maximilienne
Maximilienne means the greatest.
Maximilienne was relatively popular in France for the first two decades of the 20th century. However, the name then became less common, falling off the top 1,000 girls’ names charts entirely in the 1940s.
66. Mélina
Mélina means honey.
The root of Mélina is disputed. The most popular theory is that it evolved from the Greek meli, meaning honey. But it could come from the Greek mel, meaning bee.
67. Mélisande
The French form of Millicent, Mélisande means strong worker.
Austrian painter Marianne Stokes painted Mélisande between 1895 and 1898. The painting now hangs in the Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, Germany.
68. Michelle
Michelle means who is like God.
If you are looking for a beautiful girls’ name from France, but you want something low-key, Michelle is a distinctly French name that has migrated to everyday use in English-speaking countries.
69. Mirabelle
Mirabelle is from the Latin mirabilis, meaning wonderous or wondrous beauty.
In the English language version of the Japanese anime for kids, Ojamajo Doremi, the tile is changed from the direct translation of Troublesome Witch Doremi to Mirabelle Haywood, Magical DoReMi in honor of the central character.
70. Mireille
Mireille is thought to mean to admire.
Poet Frédéric Mistral created the name Mirèio for the title character of his poem of the same name. This Occitan name from the south of France evolved into Mireille.
71. Modeste
From the Late Latin Modestus, Modeste means restrained, moderate.
This gender-neutral French name was equally popular for boys and girls at the beginning of the 20th century. However, use as a girls’ name virtually stopped in the 1920s, followed by use as a boys’ name in the 1950s.
72. Monique
Monique is the French form of Monica, meaning unknown.
It will surprise most people to discover Monique was used for boys and girls in France until the 1950s. However, Monique took off in English-speaking countries around this time and was used exclusively for girls.
73. Morgane
Morgane may mean sea circle.
Morgane is the French, exclusively feminine form of Morgan, which is gender-neutral. It may also have evolved from the character of Arthurian legend Morgan le Fay,
74. Mylène
Mylène means beloved moon.
Mylène is both a contraction of Marie, the French form of Mary, and Hélène, the French form of Helen. It’s also a French form of Milena which means dear to me, gracious.
75. Nadège
Nadège means hope.
Actress, producer, and podcast host Nadège August was born in Brooklyn but spent part of her childhood being raised in Haiti. Appearing in multiple TV shows, such as Tyler Perry’s Ruthless, August also hosts the podcast, What the Fockery?
76. Nadine
Nadine means hope.
Nadine is the French variant of Nadia, which is short for the Russian name Nadezhda. However, Nadia is also an entirely separate Arabic name meaning delicate, tender, moist.
77. Narcisse
Narcisse means sleep, slumber.
The Narcisse Snake Dens is a famous wildlife conservation location in Canada. It’s home to tens of thousands of red-sided garter snakes who hibernate during the winter and emerge en masse in the spring.
78. Natacha
The French form of Natasha, Natacha means Christmas Day.
Online fitness influencer Natacha Océane was halfway through her Ph.D. studies when her YouTube channel became so successful she left college. Océane is known for backing up her advice with sound science.
79. Nicolette
Nicolette means victory of the people.
This affectionate version of the French name Nicole is gorgeous for a little one but may not be the best name once a child is older.
80. Noèle
Noèle means Christmas.
This French feminine variant of Noël should be pronounced Naw- Elle. However, English speakers often pronounce it No-El or as the single syllable Nole to rhyme with bowl.
81. Noémie
Noémie means lovely, pleasant, good.
New York-based Canadian choreographer Noémie Lafrance is famous for her work creating dance that is symbiotic with architecture.
82. Océane
Océane means ocean.
Océane experienced a brief but impressive burst of popularity in France during the late 1990s and early 2000s. Océane peaked at number 6 in the top 1,000 French girls’ names from 1998 and 1999 and 2001 to 2003.
83. Odette
Odette means wealth, fortune.
In Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, Princess Odette is transformed into the white swan, sometimes referred to as the Swan Princess.
84. Oriane
Oriane means gold.
This French version of Oriana, rather than pronouncing it as ORI-Anne, the correct French pronunciation is Aw-Ryan with the ryan as a single syllable and not as Ry-Ann.
85. Osanne
Osanne is the French form of Hosanna, meaning deliver us.
Hosanna is a religious expression used in Judaism and Christianity. Used by Christians as the first exclamation to welcome Jesus to Jerusalem, it has special significance to Christians.
86. Pascale
Pascale is related to the Late Latin Paschalis, which means Easter.
For those who celebrate the Christian religious festival, this French girls’ name would make an excellent choice for a baby born at Easter.
87. Perle
Perle means pearl.
Perle is not only a stand-alone French girls’ name, but it is also a Yiddish contraction used for the name Margeret, which also means pearl.
88. Perrine
Perrine means stone.
As the feminine form of the French boys’ name Pierre, which means Peter, Perrine is an exciting possibility if you want to name your daughter in honor of a male relative named Peter.
89. Philomène
Philomène means friend, mind, force, strength.
French girl names tend to be longer and frillier than their English language counterparts. However, Philomène is the opposite and feels like a more grown-up version of the girly Philomena.
90. Placide
Placide means calm, quiet.
If you’re looking for a name that reflects your child’s temperament and you have a calm baby, Placide could be a good option.
91. Régine
Régine means queen.
French Canadian Régine Chassagne is a founding member of and vocalist, keyboard player, and percussionist for the Grammy Award-winning band Arcade Fire.
92. Romaine
Romaine is a French feminine version of Romanus, meaning Roman.
Although this name has been used in France, it fell out of favor in the 1960s, just as romaine lettuce became widely available year-round across the world.
93. Rosalie
Rosalie means famous type.
Rosalie Duthé was a French courtesan and a popular portrait model. According to historian Joanna Pitman, Rosalie Duthé is the first recorded dumb blonde.
94. Rosemonde
Rosemonde means horse protection.
Despite what you might think, Rosemonde has no connection to the name Rose. Instead, it is the French variation of the English name Rosamund.
95. Roxane
The French form of the Ancient Greek name Roxana, Roxane means bright or dawn.
Also spelled by some as Roxanne, we think this would be a wonderful French girls’ name for a child born at dawn.
96. Sacha
The gender-neutral French name Sacha means defender of man.
This is the French form of the Russian and Ukrainian name Sasha. Sasha is a diminutive of Aleksandra, the Russian Alexandra, which is where the meaning defender of man originates.
97. Sébire
The Norman-French name Sébire means prophetess.
This French form of Sybil was popular in 19th century France when medieval names associated with early Christianity were popular.
98. Séphora
Séphora is from the Hebrew Zipporah, meaning bird.
Rarely used today, the close association with the French cosmetics brand Séphora means friends and family will likely think you named your child after a makeup company.
99. Séraphine
Séraphine means fiery ones.
The name of a 6th-century saint who made clothes for the poor, Séraphine was named after the seraphim, an order of angels who were said to have six wings each.
100. Solange
Solange means religious.
The meaning of Solange makes it ideal for a family who thinks of their faith to be a central component of their lives.
