270+ French Boy Names

This surname-name comes with some great connotations: Addie Ballou the American feminist, Kurt Ballou — guitarist with the band Converge, or Adin Ballou — abolitionist and pacifist. It has a trendy, whimsical sound that sets it apart from more traditional surnames like Cooper, Hunter, and Archer and puts it more in the camp of the softer international names like Aaru, Bayou, and Finlo.

This French feminine version of Germain is a unisex choice in the U.S., also spelled Jermaine, Jemaine, and Germain. Rooted in the ancient Latin Germanus, which may mean sprout or brother, it's no longer a fashionable choice in any version.

Unusual saint's name rarely heard outside Roman Catholic rectories until it made an appearance on a reality-TV show; has an attractive French feel.

Conjures up a tweedy English country gentleman with a large paunch.

The English name pool is lacking a male equivalent to Seraphina, but this angelic boy name is occasionally used in France.

A Blaise/Blaze hybrid that maintains neither the history of Blaise nor the wordiness of Blaze.

Name of Faulkner's great emotional villain in As I Lay Dying, Anse is not ordinarily used as a first name. It literally means cove in French, though the element ans means God in Old German and is found in names such as Ansel and Anselm.

Surname of a fifteenth-century saint and a twenty-first-century quarterback, Brett Favre.

The name of an ancient saint, a legendary holy man and martyr who is the patron saint of the city of Pamplona in Navarre, Spain. The popular week-long festival Sanfermines, which takes place in Pamplona every year from July 6-14 and includes the infamous encierro or bull runs, is named in his honor.

Though Patrice is still common for boys in France, it has long been feminine here.

Short form found in historical records, feels a tad feminine for modern times.

More masculine than Paris for a boy, but in danger of being misunderstood as that name; has a slightly churchy feel.