Tag: hugo

Did you know that France is the most-visited tourist destination in the world?

Last year, the country welcomed about 738,000 babies. The most popular names among these babies were Jade (pronounced zhahd) and Gabriel.

Here are France’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2021:

Girl Names

1. Jade, 3,802 baby girls
2. Louise, 3,768
3. Emma, 3,202
4. Ambre, 3,017
5. Alice, 2,769
6. Rose, 2,703
7. Anna, 2,515
8. Alba, 2,504
9. Romy, 2,446
10. Mia, 2,430
11. Lina, 2,366
12. Lou, 2,222
13. Julia, 2,212
14. Chloé, 2,210
15. Léna, 2,093
16. Léa, 2,039
17. Agathe, 2,020
18. Iris, 2,006
19. Nina, 1,896
20. Juliette, 1,870
21. Inaya, 1,867 – an Urdu name derived from the Arabic word inayah, meaning “care, concern.”
22. Zoé, 1,840
23. Jeanne, 1,727
24. Léonie, 1,726
25. Charlie, 1,725
26. Eva, 1,709
27. Mila, 1,706
28. Luna, 1,686
29. Adèle, 1,661
30. Victoire, 1,648
31. Inès, 1,594
32. Olivia, 1,594
33. Lola, 1,547
34. Victoria, 1,537
35. Lucie, 1,493
36. Margaux, 1,472
37. Romane, 1,458
38. Giulia, 1,454
39. Camille, 1,428
40. Sofia, 1,381
41. Charlotte, 1,352
42. Alix, 1,349
43. Nour, 1,274
44. Lyana, 1,237
45. Margot, 1,225
46. Sarah, 1,214
47. Louna, 1,209 – likely based on Luna (#28).
48. Mya, 1,182
49. Manon, 1,177
50. Lya, 1,158

Boy Names

1. Gabriel, 4,974 baby boys
2. Léo, 4,358
3. Raphaël, 3,957
4. Louis, 3,715
5. Arthur, 3,598
6. Jules, 3,594
7. Maël, 3,438
8. Noah, 3,384
9. Adam, 3,148
10. Lucas, 3,054
11. Hugo, 2,905
12. Gabin, 2,719 – based on the Latin name Gabinus, which might have referred to the ancient city of Gabii (located in what is now central Italy).
13. Liam, 2,672
14. Sacha, 2,628
15. Aaron, 2,496
16. Léon, 2,362
17. Isaac, 2,322
18. Paul, 2,291
19. Nathan, 2,286
20. Noé, 2,276
21. Eden, 2,260
22. Mohamed, 2,183
23. Ethan, 2,104
24. Tom, 1,995
25. Malo, 1,935 – a Breton name probably derived from the Old Breton elements mach, meaning “pledge, hostage,” and lou, meaning “luminous; beautiful.”
26. Naël, 1,919
27. Théo, 1,902
28. Marius, 1,868
29. Nino, 1,838
30. Marceau, 1,834
31. Mathis, 1,801
32. Victor, 1,768
33. Ayden, 1,753
34. Milo, 1,723
35. Martin, 1,712
36. Tiago, 1,658
37. Robin, 1,657
38. Axel, 1,571
39. Timéo, 1,541
40. Eliott, 1,538 (tie)
41. Lyam, 1,538 (tie)
42. Enzo, 1,503
43. Antoine, 1,445
44. Nolan, 1,439
45. Augustin, 1,430
46. Gaspard, 1,379
47. Valentin, 1,362
48. Amir, 1,309
49. Samuel, 1,301
50. Côme, 1,300 – (pronounced kohm, as in the brand name Lancôme) the French form of Cosmas, ultimately derived from the ancient Greek word kosmos, meaning “order.”

The girls’ top 100 included Capucine (52nd), Apolline (65th), Thaïs (82nd), and Garance (98th).

The boys’ top 100 included Sohan (55th), Kaïs (58th), Soan (66th), and Livio (81st).

Soan, a variant spelling of Sohan, has been popularized recently by French singer/songwriter Soan (born Julien Decroix).

Also on the boys’ list, Charly (#78) pulled ahead of Charlie (#90) after the names saw nearly identical levels of usage in 2020. I wonder if this means that Charly is emerging as the preferred male spelling of the name…?

Gabriel also topped the rankings for the capital city of Paris last year. Jade, on the other hand, didn’t even make the top 10 — it was way down in 32nd place.

Finally, here are France’s 2020 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources: Classement des prénoms en France depuis 1900 – Insee, Demography report 2021 – Insee, World Tourism rankings – Wikipedia, Behind the Name, Malo (saint) – Wikipeda