French
French was last recorded in 1999, when 7 babies were given it; 1,129 Americans have been recorded with it between 1882 and 1999 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of French by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is French?
Unranked in 2025
Its last boys’ rank on record is #8,139, in 1999; SSA lists a name only in years with 5 or more births.
35 babies in 1920, the peak
French peaked in 1920, when 35 babies were given it (30 boys, #1,338 among boys’ names). It was not recorded in 2025.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 7 | #8,139 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 5 | #8,315 | under 0.01 |
| 1986 | 7 | #5,524 | under 0.01 |
| 1978 | 7 | #4,696 | under 0.01 |
| 1976 | 5 | #5,895 | under 0.01 |
| 1975 | 9 | #3,743 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 6 | #4,705 | under 0.01 |
| 1972 | 6 | #4,622 | under 0.01 |
| 1971 | 7 | #4,116 | under 0.01 |
| 1970 | 6 | #4,418 | under 0.01 |
Every recorded year (90)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 7 | #3,716 | under 0.01 |
| 1968 | 10 | #2,803 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 5 | #4,164 | under 0.01 |
| 1966 | 9 | #2,853 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 6 | #3,664 | under 0.01 |
| 1964 | 10 | #2,722 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 8 | #3,146 | under 0.01 |
| 1962 | 6 | #3,772 | under 0.01 |
| 1961 | 8 | #3,189 | under 0.01 |
| 1960 | 6 | #3,796 | under 0.01 |
| 1958 | 13 | #2,300 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 11 | #2,536 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 6 | #3,671 | under 0.01 |
| 1955 | 11 | #2,477 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 15 | #2,069 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 9 | #2,779 | under 0.01 |
| 1952 | 9 | #2,750 | under 0.01 |
| 1951 | 9 | #2,731 | under 0.01 |
| 1950 | 11 | #2,362 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 11 | #2,383 | 0.01 |
| 1948 | 15 | #1,971 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 10 | #2,552 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 15 | #1,908 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 10 | #2,302 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 17 | #1,702 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 12 | #2,216 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 16 | #1,823 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 14 | #1,937 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 21 | #1,493 | 0.02 |
| 1939 | 17 | #1,664 | 0.02 |
| 1938 | 11 | #2,242 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 15 | #1,859 | 0.01 |
| 1936 | 15 | #1,835 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 24 | #1,404 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 19 | #1,631 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 24 | #1,373 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 12 | #2,236 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 18 | #1,729 | 0.02 |
| 1930 | 13 | #2,221 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 27 | #1,395 | 0.03 |
| 1928 | 22 | #1,621 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 20 | #1,768 | 0.02 |
| 1926 | 22 | #1,624 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 27 | #1,433 | 0.02 |
| 1924 | 25 | #1,547 | 0.02 |
| 1923 | 25 | #1,520 | 0.02 |
| 1922 | 27 | #1,448 | 0.02 |
| 1921 | 22 | #1,669 | 0.02 |
| 1920 | 30 | #1,338 | 0.03 |
| 1919 | 20 | #1,720 | 0.02 |
| 1918 | 29 | #1,323 | 0.03 |
| 1917 | 20 | #1,662 | 0.02 |
| 1916 | 18 | #1,722 | 0.02 |
| 1915 | 31 | #1,166 | 0.04 |
| 1914 | 18 | #1,460 | 0.03 |
| 1913 | 12 | #1,615 | 0.02 |
| 1912 | 12 | #1,453 | 0.03 |
| 1911 | 10 | #1,143 | 0.04 |
| 1910 | 7 | #1,353 | 0.04 |
| 1908 | 5 | #1,462 | 0.03 |
| 1907 | 8 | #1,032 | 0.05 |
| 1906 | 7 | #1,049 | 0.05 |
| 1905 | 6 | #1,147 | 0.05 |
| 1900 | 10 | #863 | 0.07 |
| 1899 | 9 | #737 | 0.08 |
| 1898 | 10 | #712 | 0.08 |
| 1897 | 8 | #814 | 0.07 |
| 1896 | 6 | #1,031 | 0.05 |
| 1895 | 8 | #820 | 0.07 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,145 | 0.04 |
| 1893 | 6 | #949 | 0.05 |
| 1892 | 7 | #887 | 0.06 |
| 1891 | 12 | #534 | 0.12 |
| 1890 | 10 | #644 | 0.09 |
| 1888 | 5 | #1,088 | 0.04 |
| 1886 | 5 | #1,018 | 0.05 |
| 1885 | 5 | #990 | 0.05 |
| 1884 | 7 | #803 | 0.06 |
| 1883 | 7 | #754 | 0.07 |
| 1882 | 6 | #874 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is French a boy’s or a girl’s name?
French has been given almost only to boys: 10 girls in 90 years of records.
Girls and boys named French: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named French, and how old are they?
An estimated 262 Americans named French and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (23% of everyone recorded); the median is 69 years old and half are between 58 and 79. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 470 people named French (61 women and girls, 409 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 334 born in the U.S. The Census count is 41% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named French born?
The states with the most babies named French are West Virginia, Virginia and Kentucky, with 98% of its births recorded by state since 1910; West Virginia and Virginia and Kentucky are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| West Virginia | 165 | not ranked | 10.8× |
| Virginia | 45 | not ranked | 1.9× |
| Kentucky | 26 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Alabama | 5 | not ranked | 0.2× |
Where French is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, French is most over-represented in West Virginia: since 1910 it was given 10.8 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among boys’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of French with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as French
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about French and names like it
- Compare French and RoswellBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sFrench peaked in 1920.
- West Virginia’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named French since 1910.
- The top names of 1920The year the most babies were named French.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named French alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with FMost given first.