French name generator

Yes. Every first name and surname is a real name used in France, picked from our researched database with its meaning. Only the pairings are random, so any match with a real person is a coincidence.

Martin, with 228,857 people born in France between 1891 and 1990, followed by Bernard, Thomas, Petit and Robert. Many of the top surnames began as old first names; Martin's popularity owes much to Saint Martin of Tours.

It is two first names used together as one, such as Jean-Pierre or Marie-Claire. French law lets the parents write it with a hyphen or a space, and they say which when the birth is registered. Set First name to Compound to make one here.

Yes. Choose Female or Male for names traditionally given to girls or boys, or Unisex for names used for both, such as Dominique.

Yes. From 1803 to 1993, French law limited first names mostly to names found in calendars and to figures from ancient history. A 1966 instruction eased this to allow regional, mythological and foreign names, and since 1993 parents have chosen freely.

In 2025 they were Louise (3,070 girls) and Gabriel (4,625 boys), according to INSEE, followed by Jade and Ambre, and Noah and Léo. Gabriel led in 12 of France's 18 regions; Malo led in Brittany.

Almost. Since 1993 the registrar must record the name the parents choose. If it seems against the child's interest, the registrar alerts the prosecutor, who can ask a family judge to remove it; that is how a baby named Nutella became Ella in 2015.

No. The particle is often linked with nobility but is no proof of it: most French families with a de today are not noble, some middle-class families simply adopted it, and some noble families never had one.

Yes. The birth register accepts à, â, ä, é, è, ê, ë, ï, î, ô, ö, ù, û, ü, ÿ, ç, æ and œ, even on capitals; other marks such as the ñ of the Breton name Fañch led to a court case. Only a passport's machine-readable line drops them, writing Chloé as CHLOE.

There is no legal limit, though a registrar may alert the prosecutor if a long list seems against the child's interest. A compound name such as Jean-Baptiste counts as one, and any of the names can be the one used every day.

Since 1 July 2022 an adult can choose, once in a lifetime, to carry the mother's surname, the father's or both, with a simple form at the town hall and no reason needed.

Custom mode lets you set a few options and add a sentence of details, such as a surname or sibling names. An AI language model then picks up to 10 real names from our database that fit, each with its meaning from our records and a note on why it fits, and you can ask for more like any name you like.

No. The AI can only choose from the real names in our database, and every meaning shown comes from our own records. It adds a short note on why each name fits what you asked for.