83 French unisex and gender neutral names (with meanings)

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For everyone who doesn’t like to be pigeon-holed, that moment when you are expecting a baby comes with a question: should you go with a unisex baby name? And a French unisex name? Ooh là là!

Unisex, gender-neutral and non-binary names are rising in popularity as more and more parents look for unique and interesting names for (what they hope will be) unique and independent children.

Living in France, I find that French baby names are actually quite well suited to this. There are many gender-neutral French names (prénoms mixte) that are quite popular here in France, when expecting a baby.

Which is not to say that the lists of top French girl names and top French boys names are falling by the wayside, but if you are looking for something special that is non-binary, perhaps one of these names is the answer..?

And with that, here is my list of the top French unisex names with their meanings. I’ve broken the names down into categories to provide some context as to popularity, uniqueness, etc., rather than just putting them all together. So allons-y!

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Popular names

Many popular French unisex names like “Claude” or “Jean” actually go back generations. Claude François is a famous male French musician from the 1950s, while former President Jacques Chirac also used the name for his daughter.

Here are the top popular gender-neutral names in France, and their meanings:

Adraste – name from Basque region
Agathon – good
Alex/Alexis – helper, defender
Anaël – Grace of God
Andréa – force, courage
Ange – angel
Arte – art (also the name of a documentary channel in France)
Aurèle – morning
Blaise – one who stutters (was considered divine in Roman times)
Camille – serving at the alter
Candide – white
Chandler – candlemaker
Charés – name from Basque region
Cheney – growing from oak
Ciel – Sky
Clarence – bright and clear
Claude – from the name Claudius, stuttering
Dominique – who comes from God
Eden – Biblical Garden of Eden, meaning delight
Elaloïs – desirable
Elie – The Lord Is My God
Émile – to strive or excel
Etienne – meaning “crowned”; traditionally Provençal male name also used for females. Variation of “Stéphane”.
Félice – a Corsican/Provencal name meaning great happiness
Fleury – flower
Florian – flower (eg. male football player Florian Thauvin)
Fortunatus – happy
Gène – wellborn
Gurvan – just, name from Brittany region
Hilaire – joyous
Ilian – superiority
Jordane – River Jordan, meaning down flowing
Jules – youthful
Keziah – optimist
Leone – lion
Lilian – My God is a vow (eg. male football player Lilian Thuram)
Lior – the light is in me
Loann – light, a traditionally Celtic name from Brittany
Loïs – more desirable
Lou – famed warrior
Louison – illustrious at combat
Lyonel – lion
Maé – short form Mary and Maelle, meaning a wished-for child
Mahé – chief
Mantel – makes garments
Marley – from the land of lakes
Marquette – landowner
Matiese – one who is the gift of God
Maxence – greatest
Michon – gift from God
Morgan – Of the sea
Milan – dear
Nikola – Basque name, victory of the people
Noa – movement
Sasha – shortform of Alexandre
Silouane – forest
Sofiane – who walks fast
Thaïs – link
Yaél – savage goat

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Certain names like Camille or Sofiane may strike you as being female names, but in France, these are actually quite common for boys as well as girls. Camille Lacourt (male) is a famous French swimmer, while Camille Claudel (female) is a French sculptor.

The name Jules is traditionally male in France, such as Jules Verne (French writer) and Jules Ferry (French politician). But is starting to gain in popularity as a female name as with American journalist and model Jules Asner.

Félice and Candide, on the other hand, were historically male names, but are now more frequently given to baby girls today in France.

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Unisex Names which change spelling

Unlike in English, the French language gender-izes nouns into male and female. For example, the chair is feminine (“la chaise“), while the world is masculine (“le monde“).

There is no rhyme or reason to this masculine-feminine allocation, much to the frustration of French-language learners. Professions also change gender like a teacher (“maître/maîtresse“) and a writer (“écrivain/écrivaine“).

So you can imagine that, in French, we also change the spelling of the name to match gender. The pronunciation however remains the same, with these top non-binary names.

Adel / Adele – noble or elite
Aimé / Aimée – loved one
Axel / Axelle – my Father Is Peace
Bérenger / Bérengère – bear
Cyril / Cyrille – masterful
Emmanuel / Emanuelle – God with us
Esmé / Esmée – beloved, esteemed
Faustin / Faustine – lucky
Frédéric / Frédérique – peaceful ruler
Gaël / Gaëlle – joyful
Gervais / Gervaise – spearman
Gwénaël / Gwénaëlle – blessed and generous
Isidore / Isadore – gift
Jean / Jeanne – God Is Gracious
Lawrence / Laurence – winner
Maël / Maëlle – Chief, Leader
Maxime / Maxine – the biggest
Morgan / Morgane – sea protector
Noël / Noëlle – Christmas
Océan / Océane – meaning the ocean, sea
Pascal / Pascale – relating to Easter, Passover
Raphaël / Raphaëlle – he has healed
Rémy / Rémi – oarsman
Romain / Romaine – from Rome

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You will notice that a lot of names come from the Bible and so names like “Marie” are often given to boys and girls as compound names. Jean-Marie is a rather common French compound name for boys, as is Marie-Lou for girls.

So feel free to play around with the combinations to pick a name that is truly unique for your special little one!

And for fun, you can check out my top names for cats and dogs as well, lots of unique names there. But I must admit, I’m not sure you will want to name your baby that!

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