French

Where French comes from

French hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1882
    First appearance
    #837 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1891
    Peak, #524
    12 babies named French — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1893
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #907.
  4. 1956
    French Hill born
    U.S. Representative from Arkansas
  5. 1964
    French Stewart born
    American actor
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • French Stewart · American actor, born 1964
  • French Hill · U.S. Representative from Arkansas, born 1956
  • French Ensor Chadwick · US naval officer, 1844–1919
  • French Forrest · United States and Confederate Navy officer, 1796–1866
  • French Tickner · Canadian voice actor, 1930–2021

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.