The full guide to French girl names [with 500 names]

We'll start by looking at some common patterns in French girl names and discuss their origins. If you would like, you can skip directly to the list of 500 French female names at the end of this article.

Introduction to French female names

Most French female names end with the letter ‘e’. In fact, we have analyzed several hundred of the most commonly used French female names and found that approximately 84% of these names end with the vowel ‘e’.

Spanish female names, in contrast, end with the letter ‘a’ in most cases.

French	English	Spanish
Marie	Mary	María
Emilie	Emily	Emilia
Lucie	Lucy	Lucía
Sandrine	Sandra	Sandra
Brigitte	Bridget	Brígida
Jeanne	Joan	Juana
Véronique	Veronica	Verónica
Françoise	Frances	Francisca
Virginie	Virginia	Virginia
Marguerite	Margaret	Margarita
Cécile	Cecilia	Cecilia

In French, female names often end in ‘e’; in Spanish, they often end in ‘a’. These patterns in name endings reflect broader linguistic patterns across French and Spanish vocabulary words.

In French, a final ‘e’ can indicate the feminine form of a word; this distinguishes the word “ami” (male friend) from “amie” (female friend). In the same way, the masculine adjective “petit” (meaning “small”) is converted to its feminine form, “petite”, by adding an ‘e’ at the end.

Spanish, in contrast, uses the letter ‘a’ to indicate the feminine form. For example, to convert the masculine noun “amigo” (friend) to its feminine form, “amiga”, the final ‘o’ is replaced with an ‘a’.

The origins of French female names

From Latin

French is a language that evolved from Latin, so it is not surprising that many French names come from Latin.

We have estimated that 33% of French girl names originate from Latin (this does not count names that entered the French language from Ancient Greek or Hebrew via Latin).

• Nathalie
• Sylvie
• Martine
• Valérie
• Aurélie
• Céline
• Julie
• Laetitia
• Pauline

From Ancient Greek

Ancient Greek and Latin are languages that were in very close contact over a long period of time. The Romans and Greeks often came into conflict, and by the middle of the second century BCE, Greece had been incorporated into the Roman Empire.

Many Ancient Greek words, including names, entered the Latin language; that is how many of them entered the French language.

We have estimated that 20% of French girl names come from Greek. Here are some examples:

• Stéphanie
• Sandrine
• Catherine
• Véronique
• Nicole
• Marguerite
• Delphine
• Agnès

From Hebrew

18% of French girl names come from Hebrew. Here are some examples:

• Marie
• Isabelle
• Jeanne
• Jacqueline
• Danielle
• Annie
• Jeannine
• Suzanne

From Germanic languages

An estimated 14% of French girl names originate from Germanic languages.

This might seem surprising given that French is a Romance language (and not a Germanic language). But during the early Middle Ages, Germanic tribes, such as the Franks, settled in regions that are now part of modern France.

The name Clotilde, for example, was in use during that time: there was a Queen of the Franks named Clotilde. Here are more examples of French female names that come from Germanic languages:

• Adèle
• Aude
• Louise
• Maud
• Clotilde
• Géraldine
• Giselle
• Ségolène

From Celtic languages

8% of French girl names originate from Celtic languages. Many of these come from Breton, a Celtic language that originates from Brittany (the westernmost region of France).

• Murielle
• Maëlle
• Armelle
• Gaëlle
• Gwenaëlle
• Maëlys

Compound names

Compound names are fairly common in French. These names consist of two separate names combined into one; in French, they are called “prénoms composés”.

In French, compound names are hyphenated, whereas in Spanish and Italian, they are generally not hyphenated; for example: “Ana María” in Spanish, “Anna Maria” in Italian, but “Anne-Marie” (with a hyphen) in French.

In French, many of the most common female compound names have Marie or Anne as one of their components (generally as the first component).

Here is a list of some compound female names that are common in French:

• Marie-Christine
• Anne-Marie
• Marie-Thérèse
• Marie-Claude
• Marie-France
• Marie-José
• Marie-Hélène
• Marie-Laure
• Marie-Pierre
• Anne-Sophie
• Marie-Claire
• Marie-Françoise
• Marie-Line
• Marie-Louise
• Anne-Laure

In almost all cases, French female compound names consist of a combination of two female names. The name Marie-Pierre, however, is an exception: the second component, Pierre, is a male name.

French girl names that correspond to French words

A few French female names correspond to the capitalized form of French vocabulary words.

Several of these are flower or plant names in addition to being girl names. These include: Marguerite (which means “daisy”), Capucine (another type of flower), Violette (violet, a purple flower), Fleur (the French word for “flower”) and Marjolaine (marjoram, an aromatic herb).

Name	Translation
Marguerite	Daisy
Violette	Violet
Capucine	Nasturtium
Aurore	Dawn
Fleur	Flower
Victoire	Victory
Clémence	Clemency
Constance	Constancy
Marjolaine	Marjoram

List of 500 French female names

1. Marie
2. Nathalie
3. Sylvie
4. Isabelle
5. Stéphanie
6. Martine
7. Valérie
8. Sandrine
9. Catherine
10. Brigitte
11. Monique
12. Jeanne
13. Véronique
14. Nicole
15. Françoise
16. Aurélie
17. Céline
18. Chantal
19. Christelle
20. Corinne
21. Jacqueline
22. Danielle
23. Christiane
24. Elodie
25. Laurence
26. Emilie
27. Annie
28. Sophie
29. Jeannine
30. Léa
31. Virginie
32. Michèle
33. Madeleine
34. Julie
35. Suzanne
36. Marguerite
37. Yvonne
38. Marcelle
39. Pascale
40. Denise
41. Laetitia
42. Germaine
43. Manon
44. Marine
45. Paulette
46. Yvette
47. Odette
48. Evelyne
49. Delphine
50. Renée
51. Simone
52. Severine
53. Nadine
54. Marion
55. Andrée
56. Fabienne
57. Ginette
58. Josiane
59. Anne
60. Josette
61. Colette
62. Anaïs
63. Annick
64. Claudine
65. Jocelyne
66. Lucienne
67. Océane
68. Carole
69. Béatrice
70. Pauline
71. Joëlle
72. Mélanie
73. Micheline
74. Georgette
75. Raymonde
76. Thérèse
77. Justine
78. Cécile
79. Liliane
80. Mathilde
81. Bernadette
82. Simonne
83. Geneviève
84. Mireille
85. Amandine
86. Marie-Christine
87. Marthe
88. Henriette
89. Gisèle
90. Lucie
91. Carine
92. Amélie
93. Eliane
94. Angelique
95. Hélène
96. Huguette
97. Magali
98. Anne-Marie
99. Claire
100. Ophélie
101. Agnès
102. Lilou
103. Emmanuelle
104. Maelys
105. Sabine
106. Marie-Thérèse
107. Aurore
108. Muriel
109. Fanny
110. Arlette
111. Maeva
112. Mélissa
113. Adeline
114. Romane
115. Marie-Claude
116. Fernande
117. Berthe
118. Ghislaine
119. Eugénie
120. Juliette
121. Francine
122. Estelle
123. Marie-France
124. Margaux
125. Coralie
126. Odile
127. Pierrette
128. Janine
129. Frédérique
130. Clémence
131. Lucette
132. Sylviane
133. Laure
134. Régine
135. Gaelle
136. Noemie
137. Viviane
138. Maryvonne
139. Megane
140. Murielle
141. Nadege
142. Gabrielle
143. Aline
144. Solange
145. Charlène
146. Irène
147. Claudette
148. Maëlys
149. Geraldine
150. Christel
151. Gilberte
152. Angèle
153. Agathe
154. Antoinette
155. Margot
156. Jeanine
157. Louane
158. Marie-José
159. Augustine
160. Elise
161. Ludivine
162. Laurine
163. Yolande
164. Marie-Hélène
165. Victoire
166. Mauricette
167. Valentine
168. Léonie
169. Emilienne
170. Marie-Laure
171. Adèle
172. Marie-Pierre
173. Anne-Sophie
174. Maelle
175. Blanche
176. Magalie
177. Lydie
178. Marie-Claire
179. Solène
180. Emeline
181. Maud
182. Flavie
183. Rolande
184. Paule
185. Marjorie
186. Marie-Françoise
187. Alix
188. Christèle
189. Noémie
190. Aude
191. Marielle
192. Léane
193. Léana
194. Marie-Line
195. Marie-Louise
196. Benedicte
197. Mylène
198. Adrienne
199. Capucine
200. Corine
201. Lucile
202. Annette
203. Enora
204. Alizée
205. Séverine
206. Anaelle
207. Léontine
208. France
209. Salomé
210. Anne-Laure
211. Noëlle
212. Marlène
213. Faustine
214. Floriane
215. Charline
216. Julienne
217. Roselyne
218. Marianne
219. Dorothee
220. Lise
221. Loane
222. Chrystelle
223. Apolline
224. Soline
225. Cécilia
226. Clarisse
227. Angélique
228. Marie-Paule
229. Maëlle
230. Melodie
231. Marie-Noëlle
232. Clémentine
233. Reine
234. Claudie
235. Perrine
236. Aimée
237. Armelle
238. Eloïse
239. Roxane
240. Gaëlle
241. Céleste
242. Gwenaelle
243. Zélie
244. Ninon
245. Victorine
246. Meline
247. Léone
248. Héloïse
249. Tiphaine
250. Marie-Jeanne
251. Clemence
252. Eveline
253. Rosalie
254. Sylvette
255. Constance
256. Laëtitia
257. Roseline
258. Méline
259. Lylou
260. Jeannette
261. Marinette
262. Augusta
263. Nicolle
264. Zélie
265. Lou-Anne
266. Lauryne
267. Yveline
268. Cyrielle
269. Louisette
270. Lou-Ann
271. Anny
272. Blandine
273. Marie-Ange
274. Chrystele
275. Florine
276. Enola
277. Anaëlle
278. Mailys
279. Joséphine
280. Lison
281. Clotilde
282. Maïssa
283. Lauriane
284. Marie-Odile
285. Mallaury
286. Priscillia
287. Philomene
288. Eleonore
289. Marie-Madeleine
290. Laly
291. Cassandre
292. Lysiane
293. Doriane
294. Maëva
295. Marie-Josephe
296. Marie-Chantal
297. Laurene
298. Marilyne
299. Élise
300. Bérénice
301. Maeline
302. Alexandrine
303. Géraldine
304. Nadège
305. Violette
306. Janique
307. Rose-Marie
308. Marie-Anne
309. Maelie
310. Lucille
311. Naëlle
312. Lalie
313. Marie-Josee
314. Hortense
315. Eléonore
316. Louanne
317. Chrystel
318. Célestine
319. Giselle
320. Guylaine
321. Leane
322. Marie-Rose
323. Éléonore
324. Florie
325. Marie-Annick
326. Maëlya
327. Dorothée
328. Marie-Agnès
329. Christianne
330. Émilie
331. Francette
332. Marjolaine
333. Maylis
334. Mégane
335. Joffrette
336. Danièle
337. Pascaline
338. Ségolène
339. Armande
340. Violaine
341. Anne-Lise
342. Maëly
343. Berengere
344. Sylvaine
345. Marylou
346. Raphaëlle
347. Auriane
348. Roberte
349. Marie-Dominique
350. Rejane
351. Maëlyne
352. Anne-Charlotte
353. Salome
354. Noélie
355. Anne-Claire
356. Marie-Bernadette
357. Cendrine
358. Muguette
359. Daphné
360. Aliénor
361. Élodie
362. Marie-Charlotte
363. Annaelle
364. Maëline
365. Laureen
366. Loetitia
367. Déborah
368. Raphaelle
369. Noeline
370. Josseline
371. Flore
372. Tiphanie
373. Yvelise
374. Naelle
375. Laury
376. Ariane
377. Maelyne
378. Heloise
379. Bénédicte
380. Aurélia
381. Magdeleine
382. Marie-Amélie
383. Lorine
384. Solenne
385. Maëlie
386. Anne-Cécile
387. Isaure
388. Éline
389. Maïlys
390. Berangere
391. Etiennette
392. Clementine
393. Clélia
394. Mélodie
395. Octavie
396. Éva
397. Laurette
398. Armandine
399. Marie-Antoinette
400. Marie-Andrée
401. Sidonie
402. Eliette
403. Marie-Lise
404. Harmonie
405. Honorine
406. Clothilde
407. Éloïse
408. Marie-Lou
409. Sixtine
410. Typhaine
411. Noéline
412. Éléa
413. Anaë
414. Prune
415. Alexane
416. Fantine
417. Élina
418. Ysée
419. Bertille
420. Edmonde
421. Amelie
422. Marie-Laurence
423. Pénélope
424. Émy
425. Énora
426. Léonore
427. Maéva
428. Maurane
429. Marie-Pascale
430. Solene
431. Baptistine
432. Abigaëlle
433. Castille
434. Maëlia
435. Lorraine
436. Marie-Joëlle
437. Maïly
438. Fleur
439. Gaetane
440. Marie-Cécile
441. Marie-Luce
442. Madeline
443. Mélody
444. Mahaut
445. Sélène
446. Élisa
447. Marie-Catherine
448. Florentine
449. Naïs
450. Annaëlle
451. Leïna
452. Élia
453. Laurène
454. Hélèna
455. Téa
456. Cerise
457. Eulalie
458. Athenais
459. Adélaïde
460. Eglantine
461. Eléanore
462. Marie-Eve
463. Maélie
464. Felicite
465. Ombeline
466. Gwenaëlle
467. Antonine
468. Marie-Martine
469. Léanna
470. Abigaelle
471. Domitille
472. Marie-Aude
473. Anne-Gaelle
474. Leonore
475. Émie
476. Alizee
477. Jeanne-Marie
478. Oceanne
479. Yaël
480. Anne-Catherine
481. Colombe
482. Bérengère
483. Abigaël
484. Marie-Reine
485. Raphaele
486. Josephe
487. Laureline
488. Adélie
489. Carole-Anne
490. Ameline
491. Euphrasie
492. Maélys
493. Benoite
494. Ève
495. Philomène
496. Maïwen
497. Perle
498. Aliette
499. Chrystèle
500. Lorette
501. Lilianne