French names that start with the letter 'P'

French girl names that start with p

“Small is cute,” they say, and indeed, the Latin term for small, “paulus,” has led to three adorable French girl names that all begin with the letter 'p.'

• Pauline: Pauline is a classic and elegant French girl’s name. It comes from the Latin name Paulina, which is derived from the Latin word “paulus” meaning “small.”
• Paule: Paule is a feminine form of the male name Paul. In French, both names are pronounced the same, and they differ only in spelling.
• Paulette: Paulette is a diminutive form of the name Paule, which itself is the feminine version of the name Paul.

“Pâques” is the French word for “Easter”. This word is connected to two French girl names that begin with the letter ‘p’.

• Pascale: Pascale is a French name derived from the Latin word “paschalis,” which means “related to Easter”. It can be a meaningful choice for a girl born during the Easter period. The feminine and masculine versions of this name (Pascale and Pascal) are pronounced the same — they differ only in their spelling.
• Pascaline: This name is formed by adding the suffix “-ine” to the name Pascale.

“Pierre” is the French word for “rock”, as well as a classic French male name that corresponds to “Peter” in English. It is the origin of two female names that start with the letter ‘p’:

• Perrine: Perrine is a girl’s name that is related to the French boy’s name Pierre (which corresponds to “Peter” in English)
• Pierrette: Pierrette is a feminine name that is a diminutive of the masculine name “Pierre”.

There are also some French girl names that come from ancient Greek. Some of these begin with the ‘f’ sound despite starting with the letter ‘p’ because the Greek letter phi (φ) is pronounced like “f” but transliterated to English as “ph”.

• Philomène: This French name starts with the letter ‘p’ but since it is combined with ‘h’ it forms an ‘f’ sound. The origin of this name can be traced back to the Greek word “philoménos,” which means “beloved” or “loved one.”
• Pénélope: Pénélope is a classic French name that comes from Greek mythology. In Homer's “Odyssey,” Pénélope is the faithful wife of Ulysses, who cleverly wove and unwove her tapestry while patiently awaiting her husband's return.
• Philippine: Philippine is the feminine form of the name Philippe. These originate from the Greek name “Philippos,” which means “the one who loves horses.”

Here are a few more French female names that begin with ‘p’:

• Priscillia: The name Priscilla is derived from the Latin word “priscus,” which means “antique” or “ancient.”
• Perle: This is a rather rare name in France. It is likely derived from the French word “perle” which means “pearl”.

French boy’s names that start with p

• Philippe: Philippe is the French equivalent of the English name Philip. Both originate from the Greek name “Philippos,” which means “the one who loves horses.”
• Patrick: This name is popular in France although it is not specifically a French name. The name “Patrick” became famous primarily due to Saint Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. It can be traced back to the Latin name “Patricius” which means “nobleman”.
• Pascal: Pascal is derived from the Latin name “Paschalis,” which means “relating to Easter”. In France, this is a common first name as well as last name, for instance, Blaise Pascal is a famous French mathematician from the 17th century.
• Pierre: This is a very common French male name that also appears in compound first names such as Jean-Pierre.
• Paul: This is a popular name in France and well as in many other countries. In France, it is also used to form compound first names such as Jean-Paul.
• Patrice: In France, Patrice is used as a boy’s name, whereas in English it is often used as a girl’s name. Patrice and Patrick are related names. They are both derived from the Latin word “patricius” (“patrician” in English) which originally referred to a group of ruling families in ancient Rome.
• Pierrick: Pierrick is a name that comes from Breton, a Celtic language native to Brittany, the westernmost region of France.
• Pierre-Yves: Among the many compound names with “Pierre” in them, “Jean-Pierre” is the most common, but it does not begin with the letter “p”. In contrast, “Pierre-Yves” is a name where “Pierre” comes first, so it does start with the letter “p”.
• Pierre-Louis
• Pierre-Antoine
• Pierre-Alexandre
• Pierre-Emmanuel
• Pierre-Marie: Pierre-Marie stands out among the many boy names that start with “Pierre” because it has “Marie” as the second part, which is a feminine name.
• Pierre-Jean
• Pierre-Henri
• Philibert: This French name originates from the Frankish language, an ancient Germanic language spoken by the Franks.
• Pierre-Baptiste
• Pierre-Alain
• Pierre-Olivier
• Pierre-Edouard
• Pierre-François
• Pierrot: Pierrot is an affectionate diminutive form of the name Pierre. In traditional French pantomime and commedia dell'arte, there is a character named Pierrot.
• Pierre-Alexis

French last names that start with p

English speakers are generally familiar with a few of the French surnames that start with ‘p’. For instance, Proust (the author Marcel Proust) and Poirot (Hercule Poirot, the detective created by author Agatha Christie).

• Petit
• Payet
• Perrin
• Pierre
• Picard
• Philippe
• Paris
• Poirier
• Prevost
• Poulain
• Pelletier
• Perrot
• Perrier
• Pasquier
• Perret
• Pichon
• Paul
• Pons
• Pineau
• Pascal
• Pruvost
• Potier
• Parent
• Pottier
• Peltier
• Peron
• Parmentier
• Petitjean
• Pages
• Prevot
• Poisson
• Picot
• Poncet
• Prigent
• Provost
• Pommier
• Papin
• Pujol
• Prieur
• Pierron
• Prost
• Parisot
• Pasquet
• Pollet
• Pepin
• Pain
• Pellerin
• Paquet
• Pinel
• Piquet
• Perron
• Pichard
• Proust
• Portier
• Pastor
• Porte
• Pelissier
• Paillard
• Prudhomme
• Poirot
• Page
• Pouget
• Prunier
• Pierrot
• Piot
• Pichot
• Perrault
• Peres
• Pinson