French
From the Frankish Germanic tribe name meaning "free person".
Name Census estimates that about 316 living Americans carry the first name French. It is a predominantly male name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named French today is around 71 years old, and the year with the single highest number of French births was 1920 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for French. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named French is about 71 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Frenchs were born before 1965.
People living today
316
~ 1 in 1,084,666 Americans
Peak year
1920
35 babies that year
Average age
71
years old
1999 SSA rank
#5,261
Tracked since 1882
Census
French in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 479 people with the first name French, which placed it at #21,270 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#21,270
National first-name rank
People counted
479
479 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for French
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named French is White at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name French described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name French at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.8% · 301
- Black or African American28.4% · 136
- Two or more races2.5% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino2.1% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.9% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for French
Out of the 1,129 babies given the name French since 1880, 99.1% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
French as a male name
- Ranked #8,146 in 1999
- 7 male births in 1999
- Peak: 1915 (31 births)
French as a female name
- Ranked #5,261 in 1920
- 5 female births in 1920
- Peak: 1918 (5 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, French leans strongly male. 409 people counted with this name were male (87.0%), compared with 61 female bearers (13.0%).
Popularity
French: popularity over time
The SSA tracks French from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 252 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
French by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name French during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Frenchs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky recorded the most babies named French, while Alabama, Kentucky, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of French
The name French is an English name derived from the Old French word "franc", which means "free" or "freeman". This name originated in medieval France and England during the Middle Ages.
In the early medieval period, the term "franc" was used to refer to a person of Frankish or Germanic descent who was not a serf or slave. The Franks were a Germanic tribe that settled in the region of modern-day France and established the Frankish Empire in the 5th century AD.
The name French is thought to have first appeared as a surname in England during the Norman Conquest of 1066. After the conquest, many Norman nobles and their followers settled in England, and some took on the surname "French" to indicate their Frankish heritage.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name French as a given name dates back to the 13th century. In 1275, a man named French de Beneyt was mentioned in the Hundred Rolls of Huntingdonshire, England.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name French. One example is French Ensor (1858-1949), a Belgian painter and printmaker known for his innovative and unconventional style. Another is French Strother (1726-1794), an American soldier and pioneer who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War.
In the 16th century, French Laurence (c. 1550-1609) was an English clergyman and author who wrote a book on religious controversies. Additionally, French Mercer (1720-1768) was a Scottish naval officer and explorer who served in the Royal Navy and was involved in the exploration of the Pacific Ocean.
Another notable figure was French Townley (1675-1738), an English antiquarian and collector of classical sculptures and artifacts. His collection formed the basis of the Townley Marbles, now housed at the British Museum.
While the name French has its roots in medieval Europe, it has been adopted and used as a given name across various cultures and regions over the centuries, reflecting the influence and spread of the French language and culture.
Notable bearers
Famous people named French
People
French + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with French as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
French: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named French?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 316 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for French going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,084,666 US residents.
Is French a common name?
We classify French as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,129 babies have been registered with this name.
When was French most popular?
The single biggest year for French was 1920, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living French is about 71 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was French in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 479 people with the name French, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,270 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name French in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for French?
In the 2020 Census sex table, French leans strongly male. 409 people counted with this name were male (87.0%), compared with 61 female bearers (13.0%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named French?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named French is White at 62.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name French most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named French in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.8% (301 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name French in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is French a male name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as French in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is French still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded French in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like French can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name French?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.