213 French Cat Names: Cute Kitten names with meanings

If you’ve fallen in love with your new little kitten and are looking for a name, why not get inspired by popular names in la Belle France? You could go with something like Paris (pronounced par-ee), but if you are looking for something more interesting, I’ve got a ton of delicious and unique French cat names for you to pick from.

There are of course the cute and funny cat names like:

• Monsieur Le Chat – Monsieur the Cat
• Madame La Chat – Madame the Cat
• Chatouille – tickle
• Chaton – kitten
• Minou/Minette – little cat
• Pepe Le Pew – the cat-chasing French skunk on Bugs Bunny

But there are a lot more unique French felines monikers than that. Spoiler alert, my favorite is Coquine (naughty tease), but let’s do things officially shall we?

Naming Purebreds in France

Now, if you really wanted to do things like the French, you have to pick a name based on the year the cat was born. Each year has a designated letter, and the name must be picked with that letter, for that year.

This is similar to French dog names, where purebred cats born in France are recorded in a genealogical register. Since 1901 by an association called Fédération pour la gestion du Livre Officiel des Origines félines (LOOF) has been keeping track of purebred cats by name, race, birthdate, genealogy, etc.

Following the canine rules, the letters run in alphabetical order, for example, R for cats born in 2020. The LOOF initially kept the same rule as dogs that certain letters like K, Q, W, X, Y, and Z were excluded from the list because there were too few names starting with those letters.

However, since it seems rather a shame that people couldn’t give their kitten a name beginning with K, the rule was changed in 2014 to allow those letters to become alternatives in the year of the letter preceding them.

The alphabet naming goes as follows:

Now, of course, most cat lovers are not interested in registering their cats and so don’t need to be constrained by these rules. For all the rule-flouters out there (I count myself amongst them, I did like Coquine after all), we’ve got a lot more intriguing names to get to!

Female Feline Names

Now there are a great many French names for girls, but we’re looking for ones that specifically work well with cats. Names like Gisele and Sophie are absolutely lovely, but they also work well for children.

Here I’ve tried to go for names that you wouldn’t necessarily name a child, and you can click the link below it for general female french names as well.

1. Aimée – beloved
2. Angèlique – angel
3. Antoinette – named after Marie-Antoinette
4. Babette – small baby
5. Belle – beautiful
6. Biscotte – biscuit
7. Blanche – white
8. Bleue – blue
9. Boulette – mistake
10. Camille – perfect
11. Celine – sky
12. Cendrillon – Cinderella in French
13. Chantal – after the verb chanter meaning to sing
14. Chouquette – a type of french pastry
15. Clareto – illustrious”; Provencal female version of “Claire”.
16. Claudette – enclosure
17. Clémentine – a type of orange
18. Clochette – from “fée clochette“, which is French for Tinkerbell (from Peter Pan)
19. Colette – victorious
20. Coquelicot – the poppy flower
21. Coquette – a tease
22. Cosette – small and tiny
23. Desirée – desired one
24. Démoiselle – lady, from mademoiselle. Can sometimes be a courtesan.
25. Doudoune – blanket
26. Duchesse – duchess
27. Farine – flour
28. Florine – flowering
29. Frimousse – face of someone young
30. Felicienne – version of feline
31. Ficelle – string
32. Galipette – from the French expression “faire des galipettes“, meaning to tumble around
33. Gamine – playful, young girl
34. Gisele – bright light
35. Grisette – a type of candy from Montpellier; popular name for a cat in France
36. Jacadi – name of a children’s clothing store in France
37. Jolie – pretty
38. Julliet – justice
39. Jolie – pretty
40. Libellule – dragonfly
41. Lourdes – a city named after a saint in France
42. Lyonette – after the city of Lyon in the France
43. Maëlle, Maëlie – princess, typical Celtic/Breton female name
44. Manette – a video game controller (eg. for playstation)
45. Miette – crumbs
46. Minou – nickname for cat
47. Minouche – small cat
48. Mistigri – feline that could be domesticated
49. Myrtille – blueberry
50. Mystique – a quality of glamor
51. Nanette – grace
52. Nicolette – victory
53. Noisette – small nut
54. Odette – rich heritage
55. Olivette – from the “olive” which is grown in Provence
56. Ophelie – one who saves
57. Paulette – small, humble
58. Perle – pearl
59. Pierrette – female version of Pierre
60. Reinnette – Small queen
61. Risette – one who sings
62. Satine – satin
63. Sucette – lollipop
64. Suzette – from the name “Susanne”
65. Tartiflette – a cheesy potato dish
66. Toulouse – a city in the south of France
67. Vedette – celebrity star
68. Yuna – variation of the name “Yvonne”, celtic female name after saint from Wales.

☞ READ MORE: 183 French Girl Names that are too chic for words

Male Cat Names

For male cats, I love French names like Amboise or Rouen which sound quite regal. A lot of these names are named after places or people, with that aristocratic touch.

Here are my top male French names for cats:

1. Alphonse – noble
2. Amand – almond, lover
3. Amboise – a city in the Loire Valley
4. Aslan – meaning “lion”
5. Barnabé – after the Saint Barnaby
6. Barthélemy – after the Saint Bartholomew
7. Beauregard – good-looking one
8. Boursin – a type of French cheese spread
9. Cezanne – a famous French painter
10. Chanceux – lucky one
11. Chevalier – knight
12. Dagobert – after a French King in a children’s song, male name of Celtic origin
13. Descartes – a French philosopher
14. Eustache – fertile, rhymes with moustache
15. Fabrice – craftsman
16. Félix – happy
17. Figaro – named after a French newspaper called “le Figaro”
18. Filou – short nickname for Philipe
19. Franc – old name for French person. Variation can be the Breton male name “Fragan” and the Provençal boys’ name “Frances”
20. Fripon – meaning naughty
21. Gaillard – popular name in the south of France, meaning courageous
22. Gin – for the alchoholic drink
23. Gouda – a type of cheese
24. Grenouille – frog
25. Grincheux – grumpy
26. Hameau – isolated home or place
27. Haussmann – after Baron Haussmann who was the architect who rebuilt Paris in the 19th century
28. Hélix – spiral
29. Hipo – from the old French name Hippolyte
30. Hisop – very old name
31. Houpett – after the last name “huppe”, which is a type of bird
32. Isidor – gift
33. Jardin – garden
34. Jouer (m) – playful male (Joueuse is the female version)
35. Kaput – broken
36. Lafayette – after the Marquis Lafayette
37. Leroux – redhead
38. Leroy – after the French hardware store Leroy Merlin
39. Lutin – elf
40. Magou – after the french word “magouille”, meaning a bit of a mess or a maneuver
41. Marcel – old French name, meaning “dedicated to Mars”
42. Maximilien – greatest
43. Moustache – mustache
44. Nostradamus – after the French astrologer from St-Rémy de Provence
45. Obelix – after the Asterix and Obelix comics
46. Orfeus – meaning “obscurity in the night”
47. Ourson – small bear
48. Patapouf – cute name for “fat little one”
49. Philou – short nickname for Philipe
50. Pilou – nickname in Brittany
51. Pipou – excited, awake
52. Quatre – meaning four in French
53. Rafale – after the French fighter jet
54. Ripley – compensation
55. Romeo – from Rome
56. Rouen – city in France
57. Sartre – after the French philosopher and writer Jean-Paul Sartre
58. Saturne – after the planet Saturn
59. Schtroumpf – the TV show Smurf in French
60. Stylo – meaning “pen” in English
61. Tambour – meaning “drum” in English
62. Tchoupi – pronounced “choupi”, after the French children’s book series and cartoon
63. Thibert – brilliant
64. Tigrou – Tigger in French (from Winne the Pooh)
65. Titoune – a boy
66. Uno – after the card game
67. Valentin – Valentine in French (male)
68. Vicomte – A French nobility title

☞ READ MORE: 137+ French male names you will love

Unisex Cat Names

Now for unisex cat names, the sky is the limit! And I mean that literally, Ciel, meaning sky.

1. Altesse – Your highness
2. Amiral – admiral
3. Arc-en-ciel – rainbow
4. Atchoum – the French sound for a sneeze
5. Bisou – kiss
6. Bastille – after the Place de la Bastille in Paris, where the French revolution started
7. Bijou – jewel
8. Bonaparte – after Napoleon Bonaparte
9. Bonbon – candy
10. Calîn(e) – hug, cuddle
11. Ciel – sky
12. Chanel – after the French fashion house and designer Coco Chanel
13. Croissant – french breakfast pastry
14. Chatou – small cat
15. Coeur – heart
16. Crue – flood
17. Diamant – diamond
18. Diablo – devil
19. Déjà – already
20. Dijon – a city in France
21. Dormeur – sleeper
22. Eau – water
23. Eclair – a type of french dessert
24. Elysée – Palais Elysée, the residence of the French President near the Champs Elysées in Paris
25. Epice – a spice
26. Etoile – a star
27. Floçon – snowflake
28. Foi – faith
29. Fondue – melted cheese used as a bread dip
30. Fripouille – scoundrel
31. Gauffre – a waffle
32. Gourmand(e) – lover of fine foods
33. Grisouille – grey
34. Hermes – after French fashion house and designer Thierry Hermès
35. Idée – idea
36. Ilot – small island
37. Indou – little one
38. Jaune – Yellow
39. Juju – nickname for Julien
40. Kikou – French slang for hello, coucou
41. Leelou – good at combat
42. Letchi – a type of fruit
43. Limonade – lemonade
44. Lumière – light
45. Lune – moon
46. Maël – chief, traditional celtic name
47. Matisse – after French artist Henri Matisse
48. Milou – worker
49. Monet – after French artist Claude Monet
50. Neige – snow
51. Noel/Noelle – Christmas
52. Papillon – butterfly
53. Parfait – perfect
54. Pepère – father
55. Pitchoun – little one (French term of endearment)
56. Pluie – rain
57. Raclette – a cheesy dish with potatoes and charcuterie
58. Rescousse – rescue
59. Rouge – red
60. Rue – street
61. Saphir – saphire
62. Soufflé – a French pastry dish filled with cheese
63. Trésor – treasure
64. Umtiti – after French football player Samuel Umtiti
65. Utopie – utopia
66. Ultra – really extreme
67. Uzzi – my power
68. Velours – velvet
69. Vadrouille – type of comic show
70. Voyou – scoundrel
71. Yaourt – yogurt
72. Zizou – nickname of French football player Zinadine Zidane

☞ READ MORE: 34 French Unisex Baby Names that are fantastic

Picking a French name

Now, there are several tips to picking a French cat name:

1. First of all, pick a short and pronounceable name that you are comfortable using on an everyday basis. If it is too convoluted, you won’t be happy with the name.
2. Secondly, make sure you know the meaning of the name of your cat. If someone asks you at a picnic what the name of your cat means, you should be able to explain it.
3. And finally, pick the name you love! There is no need to worry about what other people think, pick a crazy, out-of-the-box name and you will be happier for it.

So have you found the perfect French cat name for your little sweetheart? Comment below and let me know. For even more names, head over to my lists of girl, boy, and unisex baby names. A bientôt!

¹ Featured Image: Alex Nirta