220+ French Cat Names (with Meanings & Popularity)

  1. Chandler
    • Origin:

      English from French occupational name
    • Meaning:

      "candle maker"
    • Description:

      For a generation, this name will always be linked to 1990s hit TV series Friends. Whether this is a positive or a negative will depend on your fondness for the show, and character Chandler Bing, but this name deserves consideration beyond these connotations: Chandler is a fresh take on the professional surname names.
  2. Emile
    • Leroy
      • Origin:

        French
      • Meaning:

        "the king"
      • Description:

        Leroy's heyday was in the early twentieth century, when it was in the US Top 100 until 1949. As a result, it's now more frequently seen as a father or grandfather name. Nevertheless, it remains in the latter end of the US Top 1000, perhaps passed down from father to son, or similar enough to popular Levi that it still appeals.
    • Pierre
      • Origin:

        French variation of Peter
      • Meaning:

        "rock, stone"
      • Description:

        One of the most familiar — if not stereotypical — Gallic names. Pierre was a Top 5 name in France from the 19th century through 1940 and is now on a steady decline in its native land. In the US, Pierre was most common in the 1980s but it has never cracked the Top 300.
    • Florin
      • Origin:

        French and Romanian
      • Meaning:

        "flower; flourishing"
      • Description:

        Florin is one of the legion of names derived from the root word for flower, most of them like Flora and Florence used for girls. But the boys' form Florin is among the popular French names for boys, along with sister name Fleur for girls. There was a ninth century Swiss St. Florin. The related Florian was the name of a second century Roman saint.
    • Bijou
      • Origin:

        French
      • Meaning:

        "jewel"
      • Description:

        Bijou is a name that lives up to its definition -- a real jewel. Warning: not unheard of on poodles' dog collars. Actress Bijou Phillips is its best known bearer. It can also be spelled Bijoux.
    • Isabeau
      • Origin:

        French variation of Isabel
      • Meaning:

        "pledged to God"
      • Description:

        With Isabel getting so popular, parents are searching for new varieties of the name, and Isabeau is one that makes a lovely French twist.
    • Jacques
      • Origin:

        French variation of James and Jacob
      • Meaning:

        "supplanter"
      • Description:

        Regal and ancient feeling, Jacques has been declining in popularity in its native France, but in the UK, it saw a surprising revival in 2022. Jumping from somewhere around the #2500 mark straight to #600, it was seven times more popular than in 2021.
    • Vanille
      • Origin:

        French
      • Meaning:

        "vanilla"
      • Description:

        While Vanilla might be too bland, the French version is more flavorful.
    • Bibi
      • Origin:

        French, Persian, or diminutive of Bibiana
      • Meaning:

        "toy; delight; lady of the house; life"
      • Description:

        A spunky nickname name for parents with showbiz aspirations for their daughter.
    • Maelle
      • Origin:

        French or Breton
      • Meaning:

        "chief or prince"
      • Description:

        This feminine form of Mael has the distinctive "aelle" ending found in Brittany. In the French spelling Maëlle, it is a Top 100 girls' name in France.
    • Cecile
      • Origin:

        French feminine form of Cecil
      • Meaning:

        "blind"
      • Description:

        Cecile is a fairly common French saint's name, scattered throughout classic French literature--in Les Liaisons Dangereuses, in Balzac's Cousin Pons, and Zola's Germinal.
    • Claudette
      • Origin:

        French, feminine variation of Claude
      • Meaning:

        "lame; enclosure"
      • Description:

        Once seen as a dated French Claudette-Colbert feminization, along with Annette and Paulette, we can see Claudette moving into a more plausible Colette-Cosette arena. While some may be put off by the common "lame" meaning, some etymologists theorize that the name may relate to the word for enclosure or clause, an alternate meaning that may appeal to a child with a form of this otherwise-appealing name.
    • Maribel
      • Origin:

        English combination of Mary and Bel, or Spanish short form of María Isabel, "drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + beautiful"
      • Meaning:

        "drop of the sea, bitter, or beloved + beautiful"
      • Description:

        This modern name gathers some steam from the wildly popular Isabel.
    • Pomeline
      • Origin:

        French, related to "apple"
      • Meaning:

        "apple"
      • Description:

        A rarely heard--even in France--name, most prominent as the third name of Charlotte Marie Pomeline Casiraghi, the daughter of Princess Caroline of Monaco and granddaughter of Grace Kelly.
    • Lancelot
      • Origin:

        French
      • Meaning:

        "servant"
      • Description:

        In Arthurian legend, Lancelot was one of the most dashing of the Knights of the Round Table who eventually had an affair with Queen Guinevere: it makes for a romantic story-- but perhaps overly romantic-- name.
    • Violette
      • Origin:

        French
      • Meaning:

        "purple"
      • Description:

        Now that Violet is becoming more popular, parents are starting to explore same-but-different options such as the French Violette, which would properly be pronounced with a long e sound in the first syllable and three syllables -- vee-oh-let -- as well as the Spanish Violeta — both of which were among the fastest-rising girl names of 2023.
    • Josette
      • Origin:

        French,pet form of Josephine, feminine of Joseph, Hebrew
      • Meaning:

        "Jehovah increases"
      • Description:

        One of the group of French 'ette'-ending names that emigrated to this country in the last century, though never as popular as some others, such as Claudette and Paulette--it did have a little six-year flurry here between 1967 and 1973. Josette may be feminine and flirty, but, given the choice, most parents today would prefer Josephine.
    • Ila
      • Origin:

        Scottish, Hindi, Hungarian, Finnish
      • Meaning:

        "from the island; earth, sacred speech; shining light; joy"
      • Description:

        A simple name that's rising fast in the US, likely inspired by the popularity of Isla and Ayla. This streamlined form might appeal to those who like Ana, Ivy, and Ada, and it brings a multicultural element to the name.
    • Raine
      • Origin:

        French
      • Meaning:

        "queen"
      • Description:

        Attracted attention as the stepmother of Princess Diana.