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(Redirected from French names)
This article describes the conventions for using people's 'names in France', including the norms of custom and practice, as well as the legal aspects.
In normal polite usage, a person's name is preceded by a title:
★ ''Monsieur'', for males; pronounced ; plural: ''Messieurs'', pronounced ; abbreviation: ''M.'' or ''Mr''; plural: ''MM.'' or ''Mrs''. The latter forms are frowned on by purists, but are extremely common, and figure in the earliest dictionaries. Etymologically, ''Monsieur'' means "my Lord".
★ ''Mondemoiseau'', an archaic term historically used for a gentleman that had not yet reached the status of '' chevalier'', and was used in a similar fashion as the modern ''mademoiselle'' ); plural: ''Mesdemoiseaux''. The term has not been in common use since the 17th century, but it can be found in works of classic French literature, such as Molière's ''L'avare''.
★ ''Madame'', for married, divorced or widowed females; pronounced ; plural: ''Mesdames'', pronounced ; abbreviation: ''Mme''; plural: ''Mmes''. Etymologically, it means "my Lady".
★ ''Mademoiselle'', for an unmarried female; pronounced ; plural: ''Mesdemoiselles'', pronounced ; abbreviation: ''Mlle'' ou ''Mle''; plural: ''Mlles'' ou ''Mles''. Etymologically, this means "my Damsel". During the ''Ancien Régime'', a laywoman was always addressed "Mademoiselle", even when married, but this practice ceased after the French Revolution. This form of address is now tending to disappear altogether in favour of "Madame", as womens' rights movements consider the usage to be discriminating and disrespectful. However, one tendency that remains fairly common is the addressing of young-looking females ''Mademoiselle'', and older females ''Madame''. Actresses are usually styled ''Mademoiselle'' in film or theatre credits, regardless of their age or personal situation; one would thus read ''Mademoiselle Deneuve est habillée par Soandso''
A traditional address to a crowd of people is ''Mesdames, Mesdemoiselles, Messieurs'' — whose order of words represents decreasing degrees of respect. A less formal variant is ''Messieurs-Dames''.
It is normally impolite to address people by their first name unless one is a family member, a friend or a work colleague. Also, contrary to English or German usage, it is considered somewhat impolite to address someone as ''Monsieur X'': a mere ''Monsieur'' is in order, when not referring to the person as a third party. However, an excessive usage of ''Monsieur'' or ''Madame'' may indicate irony, implying that the person addressed or referred to is pompous.
''Monsieur/Madame first-name last-name'' is by far the most polite form of address, but is generally reserved for the most solemn occasions. ''Monsieur/Madame last-name'' or ''first-name last-name'' is polite and used in normal formal occasions, as well as in the formal quality press (''Le Monde'', ''Le Monde Diplomatique'', for example). By contrast, in colloquial usage the last names of personalities are used alone. Formally, a married or widowed woman can be called by the first name of her husband (''Madame (first name of husband) last-name'' or ''Madame veuve (first name of husband) last-name''), although this is now definitely out-of-fashion.
In the workplace or in academic establishments, particularly in a male-dominated environment, it is quite common to refer to male employees by their last name only, but to use ''Madame'' or ''Mademoiselle'' before the names of female employees.
Officials acting in their official capacity are addressed by their rank or title; thus, the President of the French Republic is addressed as ''Monsieur le Président''. If someone says, ''Monsieur Sarkozy'', this implies that Nicolas Sarkozy is being referred to as a private person, not in his official capacity. However, the distinction may be blurred in journalistic writing or speech. Note that ''Monsieur le Président'' can refer to ''any'' president, be it the president of the National Assembly, the presiding judge (chief justice) of a court, or even the president of a private nonprofit association; in case of possible confusion, one would add what the person addressed is president of. As another example, in a formal workplace setting, a person of a lower rank would call a director ''Monsieur le Directeur'', though this is uncommon nowadays in spoken usage.
In previous times, the names of certain functions (''Ministre'' — minister, ''préfet'' etc.) were exclusively masculine; thus, one spoke of ''Madame le Ministre''. The feminine form of certain names, such as ''présidente'' or ''préfète'', was applied to the wife of the official. However, under the administration of Lionel Jospin, official terminology was changed, despite protests from the ''Académie française'', the body responsible for setting rules on the use of the French language. Now, the feminine term ''Madame la Ministre'' is considered acceptable, and is the form used in official government publications.
The law professions bear the style of ''Maître'' abbreviation : ''Me''. This style comes from the academic degree of ''maître en droit'' ("master of law"). It is used by both men and women, but only when they act in their professional capacity. With the exception of the physicians the title of ''docteur'' is seldom used.
''See also Ranks in the French Navy and Ranks in the French Army''
Military officers are addressed by their rank (not "monsieur"). Male officers of the Army and the Air Force are addressed as ''Mon'' by inferior ranks and deferential civilians. This usage is said not to be the possessive pronoun "mon", but an abbreviation of "monsieur". However, women do not say "mon"; instead they use "Général" rather than "mon Général".
As a punishment by Napoléon Bonaparte, Navy officers have not been addressed as "mon" since the Battle of Trafalgar. Confusingly, the title used does not always match the rank. "Lieutenant" is the form of address for an ''enseigne de vaisseau'', "capitaine" for a ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' and "commandant" for a ''capitaine de corvette'', ''frégate'' or ''vaisseau''.
In everyday written contexts, ranks are abbreviated.
French people have one, two or more given names. Only one of them, almost always the first, is used in daily life; the others are solely for official documents, such as birth, death and marriage certificates. Thus, one always speaks of ''Jacques Chirac'' and never of ''Jacques René Chirac''; and ''Henri Philippe Pétain'' is always referred to as Philippe Pétain (or Marshal Pétain), because ''Philippe'' was the given name that he used in daily life. Middle initials are not used. For example, while English-speaking scientific publications may cite Claude Allègre as ''Claude J. Allègre'', this is never done in France. Typically, second and further given names may be somewhat old-fashioned, given in honour of the child's grandparents etc., though such practice has now become less common.
Traditionally, most people were given names from the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. Common names of this type are ''Jean'' (John), ''Jacques'' (James), ''Michel'' (Michael) or even ''Jean-Baptiste'' (John the Baptist) for males, ''Marie'' (Mary), ''Jeanne'' (Jean) or ''Julie'' for females. In certain regions such as Brittany or Corsica, more local names (usually of local saints) are often, but not always used (in Brittany, for instance, male ''Corentin'' or female ''Corentine''; in Corsica, ''Dominique'' (suitable both for males and females). However, people from immigrant communities often choose names from their own culture. Furthermore, in recent decades it has become common to use first names of foreign origin, such as ''Kevin'', ''Enzo'' or ''Anthony'' for males; for females, ''Jessica'', ''Jennifer'', ''Karine'' or ''Sonia''. Also, females were given names that are feminine to the common French names like Jacqueline and Geraldine.
The prevalence of given names follows trends, with some names being popular in some years, and some considered definitely out-of-fashion. As an example, few children born since 1970 would bear the name ''Germaine'', which is generally associated with the idea of an elderly lady — however, as noted above, such old-fashioned names are frequently used as second or third given names (middle names).
Almost all traditional given names are gender-specific. However, a few given names, such as ''Dominique'' (see above, Corsica - completely gender-neutral), ''Claude'' (traditionally masculine) and Camille (traditionally feminine), are given to both males and females; in medieval times, a woman was often named ''Philippe'' (Phillipa), now an exclusively masculine name (Phillip). Compound given names, such as ''Jean-Luc'', ''Jean-Paul'', or ''Anne-Sophie'' are not uncommon. These are not considered to be two separate given names.
The second part of a compound name may be a given name normally used by the opposite sex. However, the gender of the compound is determined by the first component. Thus, Marie-George Buffet has a given name considered as female because it begins with ''Marie''. The feminine component in male compound names is mostly ''Marie'', as in ''Jean-Marie'' or ''Bernard-Marie''. In the past, some Frenchmen would have ''Marie'' or ''Anne'' as first name (example : Anne du Bourg). Second or third given names, which usually are kept private, may also include names normally used by the opposite gender. For instance, in 2006, 81 Frenchmen have ''Brigitte'' among their given names, 97 ''Catherine'', 133 ''Anne'' and 204 ''Julie''.[1]
First names are chosen by the child's parents. There are no legal ''a priori'' constraints on the choice of names. This has not always been the case. The choice of given names, originally limited by the tradition of naming children after a small number of popular saints, was restricted by law at the end of the 18th century. Officially, only names figuring on a calendar or names of illustrious Frenchmen/women of the past could be accepted. Much later in 1966, a new law admitted in a limited number of mythological, regional or foreign names, substantives (Olive, Violette), diminutives and alternative spelling. Only in 1993 were French parents set free to name their child without constraint.[2] However, if the birth registrar thinks that the chosen names (alone or in association with the last name) may be detrimental to the child's interests, or to the right of other families to protect their own family name, the registrar may refer the matter to the local prosecutor, who may choose to refer the matter to the local court. The court may then refuse the chosen names. Such refusals are rare and mostly concern given names that may expose the child to mockery.
To change a given name, a request can be made before a court (''juge des affaires familiales'').
A child's last name, until recently, was inherited from the father unless the father was unknown, in which case it was inherited from the mother. A recent law allows couples to choose, for all their children, which name they would use, or opt for the use of a double-barrelled name, separated by a hyphen.
The ratio of the number of last names to the population is high in France, due to the fact that most surnames had many othographic and dialectal variants (more than 40 for some) which were registered as separate names around 1880 when “” were issued. According to the French Institute for Statistics INSEE, more than 1,300,000 surnames have been registered in the country between 1891 and 1990, but about 200,000 disappeared meanwhile (mainly orthographic variants). It is believed that the number of last names at any time since 1990 hovers between 1,200,000 and 800,000.
According to different estimations, 50 to 80 percent of French citizens would be the bearers of a « rare » surname (less than 50 bearers alive at the census time).
Many French last names originate from working-class occupations, or place names, at the time when systematic birth registries were put in place. Thus, many people are called ''Charpentier'' or ''Carpentier'' ("carpenter"), ''Boulanger'' ("baker"), ''Dufour'' ("of the oven"), ''Dumoulin'' ("of the mill"), ''Dupont'' ("of the bridge"). ''Dupont'' is considered France's archetypal "ordinary" surname, thus ''Jean Dupont'' is the name of the standard ordinary person, rather like John Smith in the UK and John Doe in the USA.
If both parents are unknown, the birth registrar chooses a common given name, often the name of the saint for the day the child was found, to be used as the child's last name. This explains to some extent the fact that many people have ''Michel'' or ''Martin'' as a last name, since a number of the saints of the calendar bear that name. ''Martin'' is actually France's most common surname; it is thus no surprise that there exist several people of varying degrees of celebrity called Jacques Martin.
Many last names betray a regional origin:
★ Germanic last names (''Walker'', ''Kauffmann'', ''Reutenauer''...) often indicate an origin in Alsace or Lorraine.
★ Names in ''Le XXX'' (''Le Guen'', ''Le Pen'', ''Le Moüel'') may indicate a Breton origin (see for instance Jean-Marie Le Pen)
★ Names in -oz (''Chavanoz''...) may indicate a Savoyard origin.
Some French last names include the word ''de'' ("of") or ''du'' (contraction for ''de'' and ''le'' = "of the"). This is known as a ''particule''. The ''particule'' generally indicates some land or feudal origin, but this is not always the case. The name de Gaulle, for example, is not a traditional French name with a ''particule'', but a Flemish name evolved from a form of "De Walle" meaning "the wall".
A popular misconception is that a ''particule'' always indicates membership of the former nobility. Almost all nobility titles were of the form <particule> <name of the land>: for instance, ''<a href="Louis-Philippe_of_France">Louis, duc d'Orléans</a>'' ("Louis, <a href="Duke">duke</a> of <a href="Orléans">Orléans</a>"), or simply ''Louis d'Orléans''. However, many non-noble people also have ''particules'' in their names, simply because they indicate some geographic origin or property. An example from current political life is <a href="Dominique_de_Villepin">Dominique de Villepin</a>. Former president <a href="Valéry_Giscard_d'Estaing">Valéry Giscard d'Estaing</a>'s father had his surname legally changed from "Giscard" to "Giscard d'Estaing" in 1922, claiming the name of a family line extinct since the <a href="French_Revolution">French Revolution</a>. <br />
Adding a ''particule'' was one way for people of non-noble origins to pretend they were nobles. In the 19th century wealthy laymen buying nobility titles were derisively called ''Monsieur de Puispeu'', a pun on ''depuis peu'' meaning "since recently". Similarly, during the <a href="French_Revolution">French Revolution</a>, when being associated with the nobility was unfashionable and even risky, some people dropped the ''de'' from their name, or omitted the mention of their feudal titles (see image). <br />
In some cases, names with ''particules'' are made of a normal family name and the name of an estate (or even of several estates). Thus, Dominique de Villepin is ''Dominique Galouzeau de Villepin''; <a href="Hélie_Denoix_de_Saint_Marc">Hélie de Saint-Marc</a> is ''Hélie Denoix de Saint Marc'' (in both cases, omitting second or other given names). As in these examples, most people with such long family names shorten their name for common use by keeping only the first estate name or, in some cases, only the family name. Whether the family name or the estate name is used for the shortened form depends on a variety of factors: how people feel bearing a ''particule'' (people may for instance dislike the connotations of nobility that the ''particule'' entails; on the other hand, they may enjoy the impression of nobility), tradition, etc. For instance, one never refers to Valéry Giscard d'Estaing as "d'Estaing", probably because his ''particule'' is a recent addition to the family surname by his father. On the contrary, Valéry Giscard d'Estaing is often simply referred to in the press as ''Giscard''.<br />
Traditionally, the ''particule'' ''de'' is omitted when citing the name of a person without a preceding given name, title (''baron'', ''duc'' etc.), job description (''général'', ''colonel'', etc.) or polite address (''monsieur'', ''madame'', ''mademoiselle''). Thus, one would say ''Monsieur de la Vieuville'', but if calling him familiarily by his last name only, ''La Vieuville'' (note the initial capital letter); the same applies for ''<a href="Gérard_de_la_Martinière">Gérard de la Martinière</a>'', who would be called ''La Martinière''. Similarly, <a href="Philippe_de_Villiers">Philippe de Villiers</a> talks about the votes he receives as ''le vote Villiers''. However, this usage is now losing ground to a more egalitarian treatment of surnames; it is, for instance, commonplace to hear people talking of ''De Villiers''. <br />
<br />
Note that English language <a href="Camel_case">medial capital</a> spellings such as ''DeVilliers'' are never used in France<br />
<a name="Changes of names"></a><h5>Changes of names</h5><br />
Contrary to popular belief, and also contrary to the practice of some other countries, French women do not legally change names when they marry. However, it is customary that they take their husband's name as a "usage name". This is not a legal obligation and not all women decide to do so. However, if they do, they may retain the use of this name, depending on circumstances, even after a divorce. In some cases, the wife, or even both spouses, choose to adopt a double-barrelled surname made from joining the surnames of both partners.<br />
This distinction is important, because many official documents use the maiden name of the person.<br />
Several decades ago, it was still common for wives to be called ''Madame'' followed by the name of their husband, including the husband's first name. This implied that the wife was an accessory to her husband in social relationships. The women's liberation movement has resulted in this usage becoming infrequent.<br />
People may also choose to use other names in daily usage, as long as they are not impersonating others, and as long as their usage name is socially accepted. One example of this is the custom of actors or singers to use a <a href="Stage_name">stage name</a>. However, identity documents and other official documents will only bear the "real name" of the person.<br />
In some cases, people finally change their real name to their stage name; for example, the singer <a href="Patrick_Bruel">Patrick Bruel</a> changed his name from ''Benguigui''. Another example of aliases being turned into true name: during <a href="World_War_II">World War II</a>, some <a href="French_Resistance">Resistance</a> fighters (such as <a href="Lucie_Aubrac">Lucie Aubrac</a>) and Jews fleeing persecution adopted aliases, and some kept the alias as a legal name after the war or added it to their name (<a href="Jacques_Chaban-Delmas">Jacques Chaban-Delmas</a>' name was ''Delmas'', and ''Chaban'' was the last of his wartime aliases).<br />
Truly changing one's last name, as opposed to adopting a usage name, is quite complex. Such changes have to be made official by a <a href="Decree">''décret''</a> of the <a href="Prime_Minister_of_France">Prime Minister</a>. Requests for such changes must be justified by some legitimate interest: for instance, changing from a foreign name difficult to pronounce in French to a simpler name, or changing from a name with unfavorable connotations.<br />
<a name="See also"></a><h2>See also</h2><br />
<br>★ at the <a href="French_Wikipedia">French Wikipedia</a><br />
<br>★ <a href="German_name">German name</a><br />
<br>★ <a href="Dutch_name">Dutch name</a><br />
<a name="References"></a><h2>References</h2><br />
<br>★ French Republic, <a href=http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnCode?&commun=&code=CCIVILL0.rcv class=wikiexternal target=_blank>''Code Civil''</a>, Book I Title II Chapter II<br />
<br>★ Imprimerie Nationale, ''Lexique des règles typographiques en usage à l'Imprimerie nationale'', ISBN 2-7433-0482-0<br />
<a name="Footnotes"></a><h5>Footnotes</h5><br />
<small><a name='ref_1'></a><a href='French_name#ref_text_1'>1.</a> <a href=http://www.meilleursprenoms.com/stats/histogram.php3?recherche=julie&sexe=1 class=wikiexternal target=_blank>male INSEE stats</a><br></small><small><a name='ref_2'></a><a href='French_name#ref_text_2'>2.</a> <a href=http://www.babyfrance.com/prenoms/legislation.htm class=wikiexternal target=_blank> Legislation concerning given names</a><br></small><br />
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This article provided by <a href="http://www.wikipedia.org">Wikipedia</a>. To edit the contents of this article, <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French name" target="_blank">click here</a> for original source.</div>
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<a href="add_fave.html?page=French name&type=2&title=All%20about%20French name" rel="ibox&height=225&width=325"><small>psst.. try this: add to faves</small></a>
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This article describes the conventions for using people's 'names in France', including the norms of custom and practice, as well as the legal aspects.
| Contents |
| Styles and forms of address |
| Madame, Mademoiselle, Monsieur |
| Officials |
| Military |
| Given names |
| Last names |
| Origins |
| Particles |
| Changes of names |
| See also |
| References |
| Footnotes |
Styles and forms of address
Madame, Mademoiselle, Monsieur
In normal polite usage, a person's name is preceded by a title:
★ ''Monsieur'', for males; pronounced ; plural: ''Messieurs'', pronounced ; abbreviation: ''M.'' or ''Mr''; plural: ''MM.'' or ''Mrs''. The latter forms are frowned on by purists, but are extremely common, and figure in the earliest dictionaries. Etymologically, ''Monsieur'' means "my Lord".
★ ''Mondemoiseau'', an archaic term historically used for a gentleman that had not yet reached the status of '' chevalier'', and was used in a similar fashion as the modern ''mademoiselle'' ); plural: ''Mesdemoiseaux''. The term has not been in common use since the 17th century, but it can be found in works of classic French literature, such as Molière's ''L'avare''.
★ ''Madame'', for married, divorced or widowed females; pronounced ; plural: ''Mesdames'', pronounced ; abbreviation: ''Mme''; plural: ''Mmes''. Etymologically, it means "my Lady".
★ ''Mademoiselle'', for an unmarried female; pronounced ; plural: ''Mesdemoiselles'', pronounced ; abbreviation: ''Mlle'' ou ''Mle''; plural: ''Mlles'' ou ''Mles''. Etymologically, this means "my Damsel". During the ''Ancien Régime'', a laywoman was always addressed "Mademoiselle", even when married, but this practice ceased after the French Revolution. This form of address is now tending to disappear altogether in favour of "Madame", as womens' rights movements consider the usage to be discriminating and disrespectful. However, one tendency that remains fairly common is the addressing of young-looking females ''Mademoiselle'', and older females ''Madame''. Actresses are usually styled ''Mademoiselle'' in film or theatre credits, regardless of their age or personal situation; one would thus read ''Mademoiselle Deneuve est habillée par Soandso''
A traditional address to a crowd of people is ''Mesdames, Mesdemoiselles, Messieurs'' — whose order of words represents decreasing degrees of respect. A less formal variant is ''Messieurs-Dames''.
It is normally impolite to address people by their first name unless one is a family member, a friend or a work colleague. Also, contrary to English or German usage, it is considered somewhat impolite to address someone as ''Monsieur X'': a mere ''Monsieur'' is in order, when not referring to the person as a third party. However, an excessive usage of ''Monsieur'' or ''Madame'' may indicate irony, implying that the person addressed or referred to is pompous.
''Monsieur/Madame first-name last-name'' is by far the most polite form of address, but is generally reserved for the most solemn occasions. ''Monsieur/Madame last-name'' or ''first-name last-name'' is polite and used in normal formal occasions, as well as in the formal quality press (''Le Monde'', ''Le Monde Diplomatique'', for example). By contrast, in colloquial usage the last names of personalities are used alone. Formally, a married or widowed woman can be called by the first name of her husband (''Madame (first name of husband) last-name'' or ''Madame veuve (first name of husband) last-name''), although this is now definitely out-of-fashion.
In the workplace or in academic establishments, particularly in a male-dominated environment, it is quite common to refer to male employees by their last name only, but to use ''Madame'' or ''Mademoiselle'' before the names of female employees.
Officials
Officials acting in their official capacity are addressed by their rank or title; thus, the President of the French Republic is addressed as ''Monsieur le Président''. If someone says, ''Monsieur Sarkozy'', this implies that Nicolas Sarkozy is being referred to as a private person, not in his official capacity. However, the distinction may be blurred in journalistic writing or speech. Note that ''Monsieur le Président'' can refer to ''any'' president, be it the president of the National Assembly, the presiding judge (chief justice) of a court, or even the president of a private nonprofit association; in case of possible confusion, one would add what the person addressed is president of. As another example, in a formal workplace setting, a person of a lower rank would call a director ''Monsieur le Directeur'', though this is uncommon nowadays in spoken usage.
In previous times, the names of certain functions (''Ministre'' — minister, ''préfet'' etc.) were exclusively masculine; thus, one spoke of ''Madame le Ministre''. The feminine form of certain names, such as ''présidente'' or ''préfète'', was applied to the wife of the official. However, under the administration of Lionel Jospin, official terminology was changed, despite protests from the ''Académie française'', the body responsible for setting rules on the use of the French language. Now, the feminine term ''Madame la Ministre'' is considered acceptable, and is the form used in official government publications.
The law professions bear the style of ''Maître'' abbreviation : ''Me''. This style comes from the academic degree of ''maître en droit'' ("master of law"). It is used by both men and women, but only when they act in their professional capacity. With the exception of the physicians the title of ''docteur'' is seldom used.
Military
''See also Ranks in the French Navy and Ranks in the French Army''
Military officers are addressed by their rank (not "monsieur"). Male officers of the Army and the Air Force are addressed as ''Mon
As a punishment by Napoléon Bonaparte, Navy officers have not been addressed as "mon" since the Battle of Trafalgar. Confusingly, the title used does not always match the rank. "Lieutenant" is the form of address for an ''enseigne de vaisseau'', "capitaine" for a ''lieutenant de vaisseau'' and "commandant" for a ''capitaine de corvette'', ''frégate'' or ''vaisseau''.
In everyday written contexts, ranks are abbreviated.
Given names
French people have one, two or more given names. Only one of them, almost always the first, is used in daily life; the others are solely for official documents, such as birth, death and marriage certificates. Thus, one always speaks of ''Jacques Chirac'' and never of ''Jacques René Chirac''; and ''Henri Philippe Pétain'' is always referred to as Philippe Pétain (or Marshal Pétain), because ''Philippe'' was the given name that he used in daily life. Middle initials are not used. For example, while English-speaking scientific publications may cite Claude Allègre as ''Claude J. Allègre'', this is never done in France. Typically, second and further given names may be somewhat old-fashioned, given in honour of the child's grandparents etc., though such practice has now become less common.
Traditionally, most people were given names from the Roman Catholic calendar of saints. Common names of this type are ''Jean'' (John), ''Jacques'' (James), ''Michel'' (Michael) or even ''Jean-Baptiste'' (John the Baptist) for males, ''Marie'' (Mary), ''Jeanne'' (Jean) or ''Julie'' for females. In certain regions such as Brittany or Corsica, more local names (usually of local saints) are often, but not always used (in Brittany, for instance, male ''Corentin'' or female ''Corentine''; in Corsica, ''Dominique'' (suitable both for males and females). However, people from immigrant communities often choose names from their own culture. Furthermore, in recent decades it has become common to use first names of foreign origin, such as ''Kevin'', ''Enzo'' or ''Anthony'' for males; for females, ''Jessica'', ''Jennifer'', ''Karine'' or ''Sonia''. Also, females were given names that are feminine to the common French names like Jacqueline and Geraldine.
The prevalence of given names follows trends, with some names being popular in some years, and some considered definitely out-of-fashion. As an example, few children born since 1970 would bear the name ''Germaine'', which is generally associated with the idea of an elderly lady — however, as noted above, such old-fashioned names are frequently used as second or third given names (middle names).
Almost all traditional given names are gender-specific. However, a few given names, such as ''Dominique'' (see above, Corsica - completely gender-neutral), ''Claude'' (traditionally masculine) and Camille (traditionally feminine), are given to both males and females; in medieval times, a woman was often named ''Philippe'' (Phillipa), now an exclusively masculine name (Phillip). Compound given names, such as ''Jean-Luc'', ''Jean-Paul'', or ''Anne-Sophie'' are not uncommon. These are not considered to be two separate given names.
The second part of a compound name may be a given name normally used by the opposite sex. However, the gender of the compound is determined by the first component. Thus, Marie-George Buffet has a given name considered as female because it begins with ''Marie''. The feminine component in male compound names is mostly ''Marie'', as in ''Jean-Marie'' or ''Bernard-Marie''. In the past, some Frenchmen would have ''Marie'' or ''Anne'' as first name (example : Anne du Bourg). Second or third given names, which usually are kept private, may also include names normally used by the opposite gender. For instance, in 2006, 81 Frenchmen have ''Brigitte'' among their given names, 97 ''Catherine'', 133 ''Anne'' and 204 ''Julie''.[1]
First names are chosen by the child's parents. There are no legal ''a priori'' constraints on the choice of names. This has not always been the case. The choice of given names, originally limited by the tradition of naming children after a small number of popular saints, was restricted by law at the end of the 18th century. Officially, only names figuring on a calendar or names of illustrious Frenchmen/women of the past could be accepted. Much later in 1966, a new law admitted in a limited number of mythological, regional or foreign names, substantives (Olive, Violette), diminutives and alternative spelling. Only in 1993 were French parents set free to name their child without constraint.[2] However, if the birth registrar thinks that the chosen names (alone or in association with the last name) may be detrimental to the child's interests, or to the right of other families to protect their own family name, the registrar may refer the matter to the local prosecutor, who may choose to refer the matter to the local court. The court may then refuse the chosen names. Such refusals are rare and mostly concern given names that may expose the child to mockery.
To change a given name, a request can be made before a court (''juge des affaires familiales'').
Last names
A child's last name, until recently, was inherited from the father unless the father was unknown, in which case it was inherited from the mother. A recent law allows couples to choose, for all their children, which name they would use, or opt for the use of a double-barrelled name, separated by a hyphen.
The ratio of the number of last names to the population is high in France, due to the fact that most surnames had many othographic and dialectal variants (more than 40 for some) which were registered as separate names around 1880 when “” were issued. According to the French Institute for Statistics INSEE, more than 1,300,000 surnames have been registered in the country between 1891 and 1990, but about 200,000 disappeared meanwhile (mainly orthographic variants). It is believed that the number of last names at any time since 1990 hovers between 1,200,000 and 800,000.
According to different estimations, 50 to 80 percent of French citizens would be the bearers of a « rare » surname (less than 50 bearers alive at the census time).
Origins
Many French last names originate from working-class occupations, or place names, at the time when systematic birth registries were put in place. Thus, many people are called ''Charpentier'' or ''Carpentier'' ("carpenter"), ''Boulanger'' ("baker"), ''Dufour'' ("of the oven"), ''Dumoulin'' ("of the mill"), ''Dupont'' ("of the bridge"). ''Dupont'' is considered France's archetypal "ordinary" surname, thus ''Jean Dupont'' is the name of the standard ordinary person, rather like John Smith in the UK and John Doe in the USA.
If both parents are unknown, the birth registrar chooses a common given name, often the name of the saint for the day the child was found, to be used as the child's last name. This explains to some extent the fact that many people have ''Michel'' or ''Martin'' as a last name, since a number of the saints of the calendar bear that name. ''Martin'' is actually France's most common surname; it is thus no surprise that there exist several people of varying degrees of celebrity called Jacques Martin.
Many last names betray a regional origin:
★ Germanic last names (''Walker'', ''Kauffmann'', ''Reutenauer''...) often indicate an origin in Alsace or Lorraine.
★ Names in ''Le XXX'' (''Le Guen'', ''Le Pen'', ''Le Moüel'') may indicate a Breton origin (see for instance Jean-Marie Le Pen)
★ Names in -oz (''Chavanoz''...) may indicate a Savoyard origin.
Particles
Announcement of the mass given for the Fête de la Fédération by Charles Maurice Maury de Talleyrand-Périgord, now better known as "Talleyrand". Only his family name "Maury" is cited.
Some French last names include the word ''de'' ("of") or ''du'' (contraction for ''de'' and ''le'' = "of the"). This is known as a ''particule''. The ''particule'' generally indicates some land or feudal origin, but this is not always the case. The name de Gaulle, for example, is not a traditional French name with a ''particule'', but a Flemish name evolved from a form of "De Walle" meaning "the wall".
A popular misconception is that a ''particule'' always indicates membership of the former nobility. Almost all nobility titles were of the form