Euro Times / Paris
France has undergone a striking transformation in the way parents name their children. The number of different first names recorded for newborns rose from 8,007 in 1946 to 65,940 in 2025 — more than an eightfold increase — according to new data from France’s national statistics institute INSEE reported by BFMTV.
The surge in variety has come despite a decline in births. France recorded around 869,000 births in 1946, compared with roughly 643,900 in 2025. The figures point to a broad shift towards greater parental choice, more distinctive names and a wider range of cultural, social and religious influences.
Changes in French law helped drive the trend. A law dating back to 1803 had heavily restricted first-name choices, largely to names in the calendar or those associated with historical figures. The rules were gradually relaxed, with a January 1993 law marking a decisive break from the old restrictions.
The growing diversity has also weakened the dominance of the most popular names. In 1946, Jean was given to around 12% of boys and Marie to about 7.3% of girls. By 2025, the leading names — Gabriel and Louise — accounted for only around 1.4% and 1% respectively.
Name trends have also become shorter-lived. Where a popular first name could once remain dominant for decades, fashions now change more quickly, alongside a growing preference for unusual names and multiple spellings or variants of the same name.
INSEE publishes first-name data for children born in France dating back to 1900, based on civil-registry records.
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Illustrative image: Susan Holt Simpson / Unsplash
