French Girl Names and their Meanings
Whether you have a daughter on the way and want to give her a French name, or you just want to know the meaning of the name of a French girl you like, this list covers some of the most popular French names and their meanings.
A little bit about France.
All throughout popular media France is depicted as the most romantic country in the world, as it’s capital, Paris, is often called the city of love. The same could be said about the French language as it is known for being the most romantic language in the world.
French Girl Names and Meanings
Name | Meaning |
|---|---|
Adéle | French form of the name Adela, which was originally used as a short form for names that contained the Germanic name element adal, which meant “noble.” |
Alice | From the Old French name Aalis, which was ultimately derived from the Germanic name Adalheidis, which combined the Germanic elements adal, meaning “noble” and heid, meaning “kind, sort, type.” |
Anna | A form of the name Hannah, which comes from the Hebrew name Channah, meaning “favor, grace.” |
Camille | French form of the name Camilla, which was derived from the name Camillus, a Roman name of Etruscan origin and unknown meaning, most likely unrelated to the Latin word camillus, which means “a youth employed in religious services.” |
Célia | Feminine form of the Roman family name Caelius, derived from the Latin word caelum, which means “heaven.” |
Charlotte | French feminine diminutive form of the name Charles, which was derived from the name Karl, a Germanic name that was derived from a Germanic word which meant “man.” Another theory states that this name could possibly be derived from the Germanic element hari, meaning “army, warrior.” |
Chloe | In Greek this name means “green shoot,” referring to the shoot of a plant. |
Clara | Feminine form of the Late Latin name Clarus, which meant “clear, bright, famous.” |
Diane | French form of the name Diana, probably derived from an old Indo-European root meaning "heavenly, divine." |
Elina | Finnish and Swedish form of the name Helen, which is the English form of the Greek name Helene. Most likely derived from the Greek word helene, meaning “torch, corposant,” or possibly related to the Greek word selene, meaning “moon.” |
Elsa | A short form of the name Elisabeth, which comes from the Greek name Elisabet, which itself was derived from the Hebrew name Elisheva, meaning “my God is an oath.” |
Emma | Originally a short form for names that contained the Germanic element ermen, meaning “whole, universal.” |
Eva | A Latinate form of the name Eve, which comes from the Hebrew name Chawwah, a name which was derived from the Hebrew word Chawah, meaning “to breathe.” |
Faustine | French feminine form of the Roman name Faustinus, which was derived from the Roman name Faustus, meaning “auspicious, lucky.” |
Gabrielle | French feminine form of the name Gabriel, which was ultimately derived from the Hebrew name Gavri’el, meaning “God is my strong man” or “God is my protector.” |
Giulia | Italian name popular in France, this name is the feminine form of the Latin name Julius, which comes from the Greek word ioulos, meaning “down-bearded youth.” |
Héloïse | an Old French name which was most likely derived from the Germanic name Helewidis, a name composed of the Germanic elements heil, meaning “hale, healthy” and wid, meaning “wide.” |
Inés | A form of the name Agnes, which is the Latinized form of the Greek name Hagne, a name derived from the Greek word hagnos, meaning “chaste.” |
Iris | This name simply means “rainbow” in Greek. |
Jade | From the name of the precious stone that is often used in carvings. |
Jeanne | Modern French form of the Old French name Jehanne, which was derived from the name Ioannes, the Latin form of the Greek name Ioannes. The name Ioannes itself was derived from the Hebrew name Yochannan, meaning “Yahweh is gracious” or “God is gracious.” |
Laura | The well-known circular wreath worn in Ancient Rome, as a symbol of glory and honor, were made from the leaves of laurel trees, from which came the name Laurus and with it, it’s feminine counterpart, Laura. This name has the meaning “Victorious.” |
Léa | French form of the name Leah, which comes from the Hebrew name Le’ah. This name was most likely derived from the Hebrew word le’ah, meaning “weary.” |
Léonie | Derived as a feminine form of the Late Latin name Leonius, which was derived from the name Leo. The meaning of this name was derived from the Latin word leo, meaning “lion.” |
Louise | French feminine form of the name Louis, which was the French form of the name Ludwig. The name Ludwig was derived from the Germanic name Chlodovech, which was composed of the Germanic elements hlud, meaning “famous” and wig, meaning “war, battle.” |
Maëlys | eminine form of the French name Maël, which was derived from a Celtic word meaning “chief” or “prince.” |
Mathilde | A cognate of the name Matilda, which comes from the Germanic name Mathilidis, which means “might in battle.” The name combines the Germanic elements maht “might, strength” and hild, “battle.” |
Melina | This name is most likely derived from the Greek word meli, meaning “honey.” |
Mila | This name was derived from the Slavic element milu, meaning “gracious, dear.” |
Noémie | French form of the name Naomi, which comes from the Hebrew name No’emi, meaning “pleasantness.” |
Olivia | The name Olivia was first used by William Shakespeare, and it may have been based on the names Oliver or Oliva, however, it is also possible that this name is derived from the Latin word oliva, meaning “olive.” |
Pauline | French feminine form of the name Paulino, which was derived from the name Paul, which itself was originally derived from the Roman family name Paulus, meaning “small” or “humble.” |
Romane | French feminine form of the name Roman, which comes from the Late Latin name Romanus, meaning “Roman.” |
Rose | Originally derived from a Germanic name which was composed of the elements hrod, meaning “fame” and heid, meaning “kind, sort, type,” however it has, from an early date, been associated with the word for the flower rose. |
Sarah | This name means “lady, noblewoman, princess” in Hebrew. |
Sofia | A form of the name Sophia, which means “wisdom” in Greek. |
Théa | Most commonly used as a short form of names like Dorothea or Theodora. |
Victoria | This name means “victory” in Latin. |
Zoé | The name Zoé means “life” in Greek. |
Most Common French GIrl Names
Some of the more common names from this list are
Chloe, Emma, Inés, Victoria and my personal favorite, Zoé.
You might notice some of these names have an Italian origin, that’s because there are some similarities between French girl’s names and Italian and even some Spanish girl’s names.
Conclusion
Whether you were looking for a name for your baby daughter or were interested in knowing the meaning behind a French girl’s name, we hope this list helped you out.
If you’re interested in more similar sounding names make sure to check out our list on Spanish and Italian girl’s names.