French names

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.

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.

Severin is an ancient Roman family name borne by several early saints. It's still alive throughout Europe, and could be ready for import here. Severin Winter is a wrestling prodigy character in John Irving's The 158-Pound Marriage and, in its original Latin form, Severus Snape appears in Harry Potter.

The chic Euro spelling of Henry is rising along with the original form.

Anatole is one of the unique boys' names with an unusual-ish feel but an uncertain provenance, with a meaning related to sunrise and thus to fire. While it's Greek in origin, it is associated more closely with France. Anatole Kuragin is a dashing, roguish prince in Tolstoy's War and Peace.

Fans of the classic French designer would now more fashionably choose Coco.

Soft, amber-hued herbal and autumnal name that's used most often to describe the color of a horse. The proper spelling: Sorrel.

The French variation of Giselle was made famous by the spectacular Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bundchen.

Associated with Reynard the cunning fox in medieval European animal tales. Reynard can make an unusual yet historic choice for a modern boy, a modern day Richard or Robert.

Marcheline was the first name of Angelina Jolie's late mother, who was part French-Canadian, which Jolie and Brad Pitt used as the middle name for their twin daughter Vivienne. The name is related to the Latin Marcellus and Marcus, which come from Mars, the name of the God of War, and is often spelled Marceline. Jolie's mother's birth name was Marcia Lynne.

Mignonette is kind of a diminutive of a diminutive. Mignon is the French word for cute, so Mignonette is more or less cutie.

Noel, the French word for Christmas has been given to both boys and girls born on that holiday since the Middle Ages. For girls it's often spelled Noelle.