200+ Gender neutral, softer sounding & feminine boy names used in France

Here is a curated list of over 200 traditional gender-neutral, softer-sounding and feminine boy names from France that makes a powerful statement.

By Annie André ⦿ updated January 10, 2024  
cute boy with curly hair and paper moustache
cute boy with curly hair and paper moustache

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. 

boy looking up at a questions mark thinking about his feminine boy name

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:

  1. Florian” /Flor-ree-yan/
  2. Michel” /Mee-Shel/
  3. 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”

boy holding a camera up to his eye

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)

twho cute boys dressed up with boy ties holding hands

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)

cute chubby Asian baby asleep on a white rug wearing a bowtie, glasses and bowler hat

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)

boy in the country wearing a hat and boots squatting next to a kitten

 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)

Cute blond boy wearing a striped shirt running along a path in the countryside

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)

adorable chubby toddler wearing suspenders, sitting on a bench in a park

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)

cute blond haired boy wearing hipster hat

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

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I get a 'petite commission' at no extra cost to you if you make a purchase through my links. It helps me buy more wine and cheese. Please read my disclosure for more info.

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Annie André

Annie André

About the author

I'm Annie André, a bilingual North American with Thai and French Canadian roots. I've lived in France since 2011. When I'm not eating cheese, drinking wine or hanging out with my husband and children, I write articles on my personal blog annieandre.com for intellectually curious people interested in all things France: Life in France, travel to France, French culture, French language, travel and more.

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