Whether you want to avoid stereotyping, or you’re looking for unisex or gender-neutral names for a little boy, here are nearly 200 softer, more feminine boy names given to males in France.
Softer-sounding, feminine and gender neutral names used in France
Lots of people have been giving boyish, androgynous and unisex names to girls, so why doesn’t it happen more often for boys?
One major concern might be that boys with feminine male names will get teased at school.
While it’s true that traditional male names tend to be masculine and strong sounding, a new trend is taking hold as more and more parents are opting for gender-neutral names, softer gender fluid names and feminine boy names.
Why choose a feminine boy name?
There are a number of reasons why someone might choose a softer, less macho boy’s name, specifically a feminine-sounding or gender neutral French boy’s name.
- Maybe you want to avoid stereotyping or expectations that are sometimes associated with masculine names.
- Maybe, you want to honour a family member.
- Maybe you want to pay homage to your French culture.
- Or maybe you’re just drawn to the cool French factor of feminine names for males.
What is a feminine boys name?
As you read through this list of nearly 200 feminine boy names, keep in mind that the concept of feminine and masculine is subjective. What sounds feminine in one culture might not sound feminine in another and vice versa.
For instance, take these three French boy names:
- “Florian” /Flor-ree-yan/
- “Michel” /Mee-Shel/
- “Paris” /Paw-Ree/.
These three French boy names sound perfectly masculine to a French person, but to an English speaker, yes they might sound very feminine, which is why I included these French male names and others like them on this list.
What about the name Marie which has historically been a feminine name?
Would it surprise you to learn that In France, Marie can be used as part of a compound masculine name for boys?
Ror example Paul-Marie and Jean-Marie, are both French male names because the leading names “Paul” and “Jean” are masculine. They can be turned into feminine names by flipping the order from Paul-Marie to Marie-Paul. Suddenly, it becomes a strong female name.
Names can switch genders or become unisex names.
Up until the 1950s, “Leslie” was a predominantly male name. Now you’ll be hard-pressed to find parents clamouring to name their newborn boys Leslie.
Ariel is another example of a name-switching genders.
In most English-speaking countries, Ariel sounds like a girl’s name but in France, this is a solid boy’s name unless you add “le” to the end. “Ariel” then becomes “Arielle,” a very rare female version of a male name in France.
If you’re ready, let’s dig into this list of softer more feminine boy names and unisex names used in France; perfect for strong boys with a softer side to them.
This list of French boy names is in alphabetical order. I’ve intermingled and highlighted the unisex names.
French boy names: Feminine boy names that start with the letter “A”
Feminine Names For Boys
( A ) |
English version |
---|---|
Adelin | Adeline |
Adrien | Adrian |
Aimé | |
Alexandre | Alexander |
Alix (unisex) | Alex |
Alphonse | Alfonso |
Amandin | Amandin |
Ambroise | Ambrosia |
Amor | |
Amour (unisex) | |
Amya | |
Anaël | |
Anatole | Anatole |
Ange (unisex) | |
Antoine | |
Antonin | Antonio |
Ariel | Ariel |
Armand | Armand |
Arnaud | Arnold |
Arthur | Arthur |
Augustin | Augustus |
Aurélien |
Feminine French boy names ( B through D)
Feminine boy names
( B – D ) |
English version |
---|---|
Baptiste | Baptiste |
Basile | Basil |
Baudouin, Baudoin, Baldwin | Baldwin |
Baye | Bay |
Bénard | Benard |
Benoît | Benedict, Benet |
Bertrand | Bertram, Bertand |
Brice | Brice, Bryce |
Calliste, Caliste (unisex) | Caliste |
Camille (unisex) | Cammy, Camilus? |
Charles | Charles |
Charlie (unisex) | Charlie |
Cédric | Cedric |
César | Caesar |
Cheyne | Shane |
Christien | Christian |
Christophe | Christopher |
Clair | Clare, Klare |
Cyrille | |
Damien | Damian |
Demis | |
Désiré, Dési | Desiree, Desi |
Didier | Desiderio |
Dominique (unisex) | Dominic |
Dorian | Dorian |
names for boys ( E through G)
Feminine Boys Names
( E – G ) |
English version |
---|---|
Élie | Eli, Elijah, Elias |
Émile | Emil |
Enzo | |
Éric | Eric |
Étienne | Steven, Stephan |
Eugène | Eugene |
Fabien | Fabian |
Fabrice | Fabrice, Brice |
Florian, Florien | Florian |
François | Francois, Francis |
François-Marie | |
Frédéric | Frederick (Fred) |
Gabriel | Gabriel |
Gaël | Gael |
Gaspard | Jasper |
Gaston | Gaston |
Gaultier, Gauthier, Gautier | Walter |
Gauvain | Gavin |
Ghislain | Ghislain |
Gilles | Jiles, Giles, Gyles |
Grégoire | Gregory |
Guillaume, (Guy) | William, (Bill) |
Guy | Guy, (Bill) |
Feminine French names for boys ( H through L)
Feminine Names For Boys
( H – L ) |
English version |
---|---|
Henri | Henry |
Hilarion (unisex) | |
Hugues | Hugo |
Ignace | Ignatius |
Isidore | Isidor |
Jacques, Jacquot | Jack, James, Jacob, Jimmy |
Johan | Ivan |
Jean, (Jeannot) | John, (Johnny) |
Jean-Marie | |
Jérémie | Jeremy |
Jessé | Jesse, Jessie |
Joël | Joel |
Jules | Jules, Julius |
Julien | Julian |
Laurent | Lawrence |
Léandre | Leander |
Léo | Leo |
Léon | Leon |
Léonide (unisex) | Leonide |
Lisandre (unisex) | Liandre |
Lionel | Lionel |
Loïc | Loic |
Louan | |
Louis | Louis, Louie, Lewis |
Louis-Marie | |
Luc | Luke |
Lucas | Lukas |
Lucien | Lucien, Lucian |
Feminine French boy names ( M through P)
Feminine Names For Boys
( M – P ) |
English version |
---|---|
Macey, Macy | Macy |
Maïley | |
Mallory | Mallory |
Marcel | Marcel |
Matéo | Mateo |
Mathieu, Matthieu | Matthew |
Maurice | Morriss |
Maxence (unisex) | Maxentius |
Migelly | |
Maxime | Maxim, Max, Maximilian |
Maximilien | Maximilian |
Michel | Michael |
Morgan | Morgan |
Nathan | Nathan |
Nathaniël | Nathaniel |
Nicolas, Noël | Nicholas |
Noa (unisex) | Noa, Noah |
Noé | Noah, Noa |
Normand | Norman |
Narcisse | |
Norville | Norvil |
Olivier | Oliver |
Page | Paige |
Paris (yes, this is a boy’s name in France) | Paris |
Pascal | Pascal |
Patrice (unisex) | Patrick |
Paul-Marie | |
Perceval, Percival | Percy |
Phénix | Phoenix |
Pierre | Peter |
Pomeroy |
Feminine French boy names ( Q through S)
Feminine Names For Boys
( Q – S ) |
English version |
---|---|
Quennel | |
Quincy | Quincy, Quin |
Quentin | Quentin |
Rainier | Rayner, Rainor, Ragnar |
Régis | Regis |
Renard | Reynard |
Renaud | Reynold, Ronald |
René | Rene |
Réginald | Reginald |
Robin (unisex) | Robin |
Rodolphe | Rudolph |
Roland | Roland |
Romain | Roman |
Rousseau | Russel |
Rowan | |
Sable | |
Sabre | |
Sage | |
Sacha, Sasha (unisex) | Sasha |
Saville | |
Sébastien, Bastien | Sebastian |
Serge | Serge |
Simon | Simon |
Stéphane (unisex) | Stephen |
Sorrell (unisex) | |
Sylvain, Silvain | |
Sylvestre | Silvester |
Feminine boy names from France ( T through Z)
Feminine Names For Boys
( T – Z ) |
English version |
---|---|
Thaïs (unisex) | |
Théophile | Theophilus |
Thibaut, Thibault | Theobald |
Thierry | Terry |
Timothée | Timothy |
Tristan | Tristan |
Urbain | Urban |
Valentin | Valentino |
Valéry, Valère | Valery, Valerius |
Victoire, Victor | Victor |
Victorien | |
Vivien | Vivian |
Yann | Ian |
Yves | Yve , Ives |
Yvon | Yvon, Ivan |