French names: prénoms by generation, Monsieur and Madame, Jean-Pierre and la fête
Né en… · pick a decade of birth
Garçons · boys
Filles · girls
Today’s forty-somethings.English and American names arrive, often in French spellings: Kevin said “kay-VEEN”.
Short answer: a first name is un prénom and a surname un nom (de famille). Address adults you don’t know as Monsieur or Madame, with no surname: Bonjour, Madame. Compound first names like Jean-Pierre are joined by a hyphen and count as one name. Each name has a saint’s day, la fête, still printed on French calendars. Names follow fashions: you can often guess a person’s age from their prénom.
Addressing people
Monsieur, Madame, or the first name?
Using a name in French depends on how well you know someone. Mademoiselle for young women is now old-fashioned and was removed from official forms in 2012.
Situation
Say
Why
A shop, a stranger, an official
Bonjour, Madame.bon-ZHOOR ma-DAM
No surname, and no “Madame Dupont” to her face.
A man you don’t know
Bonjour, Monsieur.bon-ZHOOR muh-SYUH
Spelt Monsieur, pronounced “muh-syuh”: the n is silent.
A formal letter or email
Madame, Monsieur,ma-DAM muh-SYUH
The standard opening when you don’t know who will read it.
A colleague you call vous
Bonjour, Madame Leroy.bon-ZHOOR ma-DAM luh-RWA
At work, title + surname, still with vous.
A friend or colleague who says tu
Salut, Nicolas !sa-LÜ nee-ko-LA
First name with tu. Wait for the older person to suggest it: on se tutoie ?
A young woman, today
Bonjour, Madame.bon-ZHOOR ma-DAM
Mademoiselle can sound patronising; Madame is the safe choice.
Compound first names
Jean-Pierre, Marie-Claire, Anne-Sophie
A hyphenated name is one name: never shorten Jean-Pierre to Jean unless he asks. Many compound names for boys start with Jean, many for girls with Marie or Anne. Tap to hear them said as one word.
Nicknames
Nico, Steph, Fred, Juju
Friends cut names to the first syllable or two, or double a syllable for affection, the way children speak. These are the forms you will hear among friends and family.
Cut to the startThe most common: keep the first one or two syllables.
Keep the endLess common, mostly for older names.
Double a syllableAffectionate, for children and close family.
Add -ou or -etteOld-fashioned, tender diminutives.
Name days
Bonne fête, Nicolas !
Each day on the French calendar carries a saint’s name. On your name’s day, family and colleagues may wish you Bonne fête !, and the weather forecaster still announces it on TV.
o-zhoor-DWEE, say la san nee-ko-LA : bon FET, nee-ko-LA · “Today is Saint Nicholas’s day: happy name day, Nicolas!”
Surnames and what they mean
Martin, Bernard, Dubois, Lefebvre
The most common French surnames come from a father’s first name, a trade, a place or a nickname, like English Smith or Wood. Surnames sometimes come first on forms, often in capitals: DUPONT Marie.
Saying your name
Je m’appelle, mon nom de famille
French separates le prénom (first name) from le nom or le nom de famille (surname). On forms, the surname often comes first, in capitals: DUPONT Marie.
Your name
JeIm’appellecall-myselfMarie.Marie
zhuh ma-PEL ma-REE · “My name is Marie.”s’appeler: literally “I call myself”.