When you think of popular French boy names, which ones come to mind? Pierre, Francois, Michel, Arnaud? Names like that? Do you know any unique French boy names? Well, whether you’re looking for French baby boy names for inspiration or just want to be more familiar with popular French names for boys in general, we’re going to get into some of the top French male first names from the past and present.
Popular French boy names in France
First, if you’re interested in popular French girl names, the linked post is worth a look. But here it’s all about popular and unique French boy names from years past and today, so let’s jump in.
To me, both girl and boy French names in general always sound so beautiful and interesting. Even after living in France for a while, they have a unique ring to them and sound so classy to my ear.
You’ll find that in English, we have many of the same popular male French names with one big difference. When it’s a first name that we commonly say in English-speaking countries, the pronunciation is different than it is in French. So keep the pronunciation in mind.
Take French male names like Thomas, Quentin, Benjamin, etc. They all sound oh-so-French once you give them the necessary French accent. For example, Thomas is my husband’s name and in French, you say this popular French boys’ name kind of like toe-mah.
To compile my lists of French baby boy names below, I looked at official data of what the popular names were last year and in previous years according to birth record data, so these aren’t random lists of male French names.
To give you some context, the data gathered from birth records includes metropolitan France and the DOMs, excluding Mayotte, that have been registered by the State but excludes French babies who were born abroad.
Let’s get into my list of some of the best French boy names that are worth a look. Maybe you’ll want to steal one for yourself!
Photo credit: www.depositphotos.com / madorf
Top French boy names in 2020
1 LÉO
2 GABRIEL
3 RAPHAËL
4 ARTHUR
5 LOUIS
6 JULES
7 ADAM
8 MAËL
9 LUCAS
10 HUGO
11 NOAH
12 LIAM
13 GABIN
14 SACHA
15 PAUL
16 NATHAN
17 AARON
18 MOHAMED
19 ETHAN
20 TOM
21 EDEN
22 LÉON
23 NOÉ
24 TIAGO
25 THÉO
26 ISAAC
27 MARIUS
28 VICTOR
29 AYDEN
30 MARTIN
31 NAËL
32 MATHIS
33 AXEL
34 ROBIN
35 TIMÉO
36 ENZO
37 MARCEAU
38 VALENTIN
39 NINO
40 ELIOTT
41 NOLAN
42 MALO
43 MILO
44 ANTOINE
45 SAMUEL
46 AUGUSTIN
47 AMIR
48 LYAM
49 RAYAN
50 YANIS
Top French boy names from 2000
Let’s take it back to 2000 and see if any unique French boy names topped the list then. Twenty-two years ago wasn’t that long ago, so maybe we’ll see some names we still give to babies today. Are any of these more modern options one of your favorite French baby boy names?
1 THOMAS
2 LUCAS
3 THÉO
4 HUGO
5 MAXIME
6 NICOLAS
7 QUENTIN
8 ALEXANDRE
9 ANTOINE
10 CLÉMENT
11 ALEXIS
12 VALENTIN
13 JULIEN
14 ROMAIN
15 FLORIAN
16 LOUIS
17 BENJAMIN
18 PAUL
19 PIERRE
20 BAPTISTE
21 ENZO
22 DYLAN
23 KEVIN
24 ANTHONY
25 TOM
26 ADRIEN
27 GUILLAUME
28 ARTHUR
29 CORENTIN
30 LÉO
31 NATHAN
32 MATHIEU
33 AXEL
34 VINCENT
35 VICTOR
36 JEREMY
37 MATHIS
38 BASTIEN
39 LOÏC
40 SIMON
41 SAMUEL
42 DAMIEN
43 DORIAN
44 RAPHAËL
45 JORDAN
46 JULES
47 RÉMI
48 MAXENCE
49 THIBAULT
50 TRISTAN
Photo credit: www.depositphotos.com / serrnovik
Top 50 names for French boys in 1970
Let’s turn back the clock a little more and look at some popular French baby boy names from 1970. Something you’ll notice here and also on the list below for 1950 is that hyphenated first names were popular.
Jean-Paul, Jean-Michel, and others were all common French first names. Hyphenated French male first names often start with Jean but aren’t as popular for babies today.
1 CHRISTOPHE
2 STÉPHANE
3 LAURENT
4 DAVID
5 OLIVIER
6 FRÉDÉRIC
7 PHILIPPE
8 ERIC
9 FRANCK
10 THIERRY
11 PASCAL
12 FABRICE
13 BRUNO
14 EMMANUEL
15 PATRICK
16 SÉBASTIEN
17 DIDIER
18 JEAN
19 ALAIN
20 NICOLAS
21 HERVÉ
22 VINCENT
23 PATRICE
24 JEROME
25 MICHEL
26 DOMINIQUE
27 GILLES
28 MARC
29 CHRISTIAN
30 FRANÇOIS
31 SYLVAIN
32 PIERRE
33 LIONEL
34 XAVIER
35 LUDOVIC
36 DENIS
37 ARNAUD
38 DANIEL
39 JEAN-MARC
40 JEAN-FRANÇOIS
41 YANNICK
42 BENOÎT
43 JEAN-LUC
44 JEAN-MICHEL
45 RICHARD
46 JEAN-PIERRE
47 BERTRAND
48 JOSÉ
49 CYRIL
50 GUILLAUME
Top 50 names for French boys in 1950
Some male French names might be misleading because they sound like female names. Take #39 below, Jacky, which is indeed a name for a man in France. I wrote a separate post all about misleading French first names. Like Sofiane!
Some names are pronounced the same way and can be male or female names like Dominique, Camille, Michel/Michèle, Frédéric/Frédérique and so many more. Unisex French names are quite popular!
OK, here’s the list of French male names from 1950:
1 JEAN
2 MICHEL
3 ALAIN
4 GÉRARD
5 BERNARD
6 DANIEL
7 CHRISTIAN
8 JACQUES
9 PATRICK
10 CLAUDE
11 PIERRE
12 JEAN-PIERRE
13 ANDRÉ
14 GUY
15 JEAN-CLAUDE
16 PHILIPPE
17 SERGE
18 JOËL
19 YVES
20 ROBERT
21 RENÉ
22 DOMINIQUE
23 FRANCIS
24 FRANÇOIS
25 GILBERT
26 ROGER
27 GEORGES
28 MARC
29 JEAN-PAUL
30 MARCEL
31 GILLES
32 HENRI
33 PATRICE
34 DIDIER
35 JEAN-LOUIS
36 JEAN-MARIE
37 ROLAND
38 DENIS
39 JACKY
40 MAURICE
41 RAYMOND
42 JOSEPH
43 PAUL
44 LOUIS
45 JEAN-LUC
46 RICHARD
47 JEAN-JACQUES
48 JEAN-FRANÇOIS
49 HERVÉ
50 JEAN-MICHEL
Photo credit: www.depositphotos.com / franckito
Top 50 French baby boy names in 1910
These traditional French names for boys are classics and still popular today. Many of these old French male names have made a comeback in recent years and are back in fashion. The even seem like unique French boy names in some cases over 100 years later.
Gaston, #23 below, makes me think of Beauty and the Beast and I can’t say I’ve ever met a real-life French Gaston. I think Marcel is a such a standout name. What about you?
1 JEAN
2 ANDRÉ
3 LOUIS
4 PIERRE
5 MARCEL
6 HENRI
7 RENÉ
8 JOSEPH
9 GEORGES
10 MAURICE
11 ROGER
12 PAUL
13 ROBERT
14 CHARLES
15 ALBERT
16 FRANÇOIS
17 EMILE
18 LUCIEN
19 RAYMOND
20 LÉON
21 EUGÈNE
22 FERNAND
23 GASTON
24 AUGUSTE
25 JULES
26 ANTOINE
27 MARIUS
28 ALFRED
29 GABRIEL
30 JACQUES
31 ERNEST
32 VICTOR
33 JULIEN
34 CAMILLE
35 EDOUARD
36 ARMAND
37 ALPHONSE
38 MICHEL
39 EDMOND
40 YVES
41 ALEXANDRE
42 GUSTAVE
43 ADRIEN
44 GILBERT
45 ETIENNE
46 BERNARD
47 FÉLIX
48 AIME
49 RAOUL
50 ELIE
French nicknames
Let’s talk about French nicknames. Take note that the French boy names Thomas and Tom (spots 1 and 25, respectively on the year 2000 official French names for boys list) are listed as different names. Tom isn’t one and the same for Thomas. It’s listed out separately and not a nickname for Thomas.
Nicknames are way less common in France. Alain is called Alain not Al, Grégoire is not Greg, and people always refer to my husband Tom in France by his full first name, Thomas. In the US, my whole family calls him Tom. It’s just more familiar and Tom/Thomas would be thought of as variations of the same name in the US.
It’s not that nicknames don’t exist at all in France — you will hear Emmanuel shorted to Manu, for example — but it’s just what your friends call you in super casual settings. At work, people generally go by their full name and French nicknames aren’t as much of a thing.
In the US, it’s common for people to have a nickname and people introduce themselves by their nickname and everyone calls them that, like “Hi, nice to meet you I’m Rob.” That’s not the case in France. You won’t hear of too many Robs or Bens. It’s Robert and Benjamin.
Something else about nicknames in the US is that it’s common for people to ask someone what name they go by. So upon being introduced as “Michael,” someone might say, do you go by Mike or Michael? Just to check. In France, you really don’t hear that because it’s a given that people will use the full first name.
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What French baby boy names are your favorites? I love Marcel and Axel.
Did you know that baby showers aren’t common in France? More on French social norms here and how some American ones don’t translate >>
PIN my French baby boy names post:
A bloody interesting list
Glad you liked it!