90 French Boy Names (Half of Them Are Already Yours)

Here's the thing about French boy names: English already took most of the good ones. Charles, Robert, Richard, William, Henry, Roger and Walter all arrived with the Normans and stopped sounding foreign about eight hundred years ago.

So the useful split isn't French versus English — it's between the ones that have been fully absorbed, the ones that still read as French but pronounce easily, and the handful with a nasal vowel or a French r that English speakers simply will not produce. Ninety below, sorted that way.

Already absorbed — you may not think of these as French

1. Charles — "Free man." Came over in 1066 and never left.
2. Robert — "Bright fame."
3. Richard — "Brave ruler."
4. William — From Guillaume.
5. Henry — From Henri.
6. Roger — "Famous spear."
7. Walter — "Army commander."
8. Geoffrey — "Peace of God."
9. Stewart — Via Norman French administration.
10. Percy — A Norman place name turned surname turned first name.
11. Russell — "Little red one."
12. Bruce — Norman-French place name.
13. Sinclair — "Saint Clair."
14. Grant — "Great, tall."
15. Curtis — "Courteous."

Still sound French, easy to say

16. Louis — loo-EE in France, LOO-iss in English. Both fine; pick one early.
17. Luc — "Light." One syllable, no ambiguity.
18. Marc — "Of Mars."
19. André — "Manly." AHN-dray.
20. René — "Reborn." Used for both in France.
21. Gabriel — Currently number one in France.
22. Julien — zhoo-lee-EN, or simply "Julian."
23. Olivier — "Olive tree." The French Oliver.
24. Théo — Short for Théodore.
25. Arthur — Enormously popular in France right now and entirely at home in English.
26. Jules — "Youthful." Rising fast in France.
27. Nathan — Used identically in both.
28. Adrien — "From Hadria."
29. Émile — "Rival."
30. Félix — "Happy, lucky."
31. Simon — Identical in both.
32. Victor — "Conqueror."
33. Noé — The French Noah.
34. Raphaël — Top five in France.
35. Clément — "Merciful."

Worth the explaining

Nasal vowels and the French r — beautiful, and reliably anglicized.

36. Jean — zhahn, one syllable. Not "jean," and not "gene."
37. Laurent — lo-RAHN, silent t.
38. Vincent — van-SAHN in French; VIN-sent in English. Works either way.
39. Thibault — tee-BOH. "Bold people."
40. Guillaume — gee-YOHM. The French William.
41. Étienne — ay-tee-EN. The French Stephen.
42. Grégoire — greg-WAHR.
43. Xavier — gzah-vee-AY in French.
44. Baptiste — bah-TEEST.
45. Augustin — oh-goos-TAN.
46. Jean-Luc — The classic compound. Also Jean-Paul, Jean-Pierre.
47. Aurélien — oh-ray-lee-AN. "Golden."
48. Fabien — fah-bee-AN.
49. Damien — dah-mee-AN.
50. Lucien — loo-see-AN.

Strength and character

51. Armand — "Army man."
52. Bastien — Short for Sébastien, "venerable."
53. Gaston — "Guest, stranger." Due a revival despite the film.
54. Renaud — "Counsel power." The French Reynold.
55. Thierry — "Ruler of the people."
56. Bertrand — "Bright raven."
57. Ferdinand — "Bold journey."
58. Gaultier — The French Walter.
59. Amaury — "Work power."
60. Roland — "Famous land." The hero of the Chanson de Roland.

Saints and tradition

61. Sébastien — "From Sebaste."
62. Antoine — an-TWAHN. "Priceless."
63. Benoît — ben-WAH. "Blessed."
64. Christophe — The French Christopher.
65. Dominique — "Of the Lord." Used both ways.
66. François — frahn-SWAH. "Frenchman."
67. Gérard — "Brave spear."
68. Mathieu — "Gift of God."
69. Michel — "Who is like God?"
70. Nicolas — "Victory of the people."
71. Pascal — "Of Easter."
72. Philippe — "Lover of horses."
73. Pierre — "Rock."
74. Rémi — "Oarsman." Currently fashionable.
75. Yves — eev. "Yew."

Nature and place

76. Florian — "Flowering."
77. Sylvain — "Of the forest."
78. Océane — "Ocean." Usually feminine.
79. Aubin — "White, fair."
80. Chardon — "Thistle." Rare.
81. Merle — "Blackbird."
82. Roch — "Rock."
83. Beau — "Handsome." Fully anglicized now.
84. Val — "Valley."
85. Loïc — lo-EEK. Breton, and very French.

Short and modern

86. Léo — Top of the French charts.
87. Tom — Used as a standalone name in France.
88. Enzo — Italian by origin, hugely popular in France.
89. Noa — Short, modern, both genders.
90. Ilan — "Tree." Rising.

The two decisions worth making early

Louis: loo-EE or LOO-iss? Both are legitimate outside France. But whichever your family hears first is the one that sticks, and changing it at three is much harder than choosing it at zero.

Nasal vowels don't survive. Jean, Laurent and Aurélien will be anglicized by nearly everyone who isn't French. That's not a reason to avoid them — plenty of families happily correct people — but it's a decision, not a surprise.

More origin lists: 85 Italian boy names, 95 Spanish boy names, 100 Greek boy names and 95 Irish boy names.