Most Popular Baby Boy Names in France 2025 (INSEE) and Their Meanings

The most popular name for baby boys born in France in 2025 was once again Gabriel. According to figures released in July 2026 by INSEE, France's national statistics institute, 4,625 boys were registered with Gabriel as their first name, compared with 4,555 in 2024. In our 2021–2025 data Gabriel is No. 1 every single year. The real movement is just behind it: Noah rose from fifth place in 2024 to second, with 3,465 babies – its best position in these five years.

Gabriel also has a Qur'anic link: it is the Western form of Jibril, the angel named in the Qur'an. Because the name can be written in Arabic letters in three different ways, its Abjad value changes with the spelling. We work this out letter by letter below.

Three things to know before reading the INSEE list

• Only the first given name counts. The list covers the first registered given name (prénom) of children born anywhere in France, Mayotte included; middle names are not counted.
• Counts are rounded to a multiple of 5. Ranks, however, are based on the unrounded figures. That is why Aylan and Naël both show 1,320 yet sit at 32nd and 33rd.
• Every spelling is a separate name. Imran is 31st with 1,360 babies, while Imrân is 96th with 625. In Arabic script both are the same word: عمران.

The 30 most popular boy names in France in 2025

The Abjad value is calculated from the name's established spelling in Arabic script: letters are counted plainly, shadda and vowel marks add nothing, and an alif carrying a hamza counts as alif. A Latin-script name has no fixed value until its Arabic spelling is chosen.

From 2024 to 2025: who rose and who slipped?

The biggest increase in the top 30 belongs to Elio: 305 more babies were given the name than a year earlier, lifting it from 25th to 17th. It is followed by Léon (+265, from 10th to 8th), Noah (+205) and Isaac (+175). Marceau also climbed two places to 13th.

In the other direction, the clearest falls are Lucas (290 fewer babies, from 16th to 19th), Ethan (285 fewer, from 26th to 30th) and Adam (240 fewer, from 7th to 9th). Victor (31st to 28th) and Eliott (32nd to 29th) entered the top 30, while Nathan (39th) and Naël (33rd) left the top 30; both remain in the top 100.

Over five years two different stories stand out. Elio, 54th in 2021, Ibrahim (52nd to 26th) and Marceau (30th to 13th) have risen steadily. Hugo (11th to 25th) and Lucas (10th to 19th) have fallen clearly over the same period.

Worked example: Gabriel's three spellings

Of Hebrew origin, Gabriel means "God is my strength". In the Qur'an this angel is called Jibril (al-Baqarah 2:97). The French name, however, is usually carried into Arabic letters by its sound. The result:

Almost the whole difference comes from one letter: غ, worth 1000. When the first letter changes, so does its letter element: in the classical scheme ج belongs to water and غ to earth. Raphaël shows the same effect on a smaller scale: رافاييل 332, رفائيل 331.

One name, three values: Noah, Noé and Nuh

The list contains two forms of the same name: Noah at No. 2 and its French form Noé at 16th with 2,035 babies. INSEE counts them separately; adding them up (5,500) is not an official ranking, it only shows the combined weight of the name. In Arabic letters there are three different values: نواه (Noah) 62, نوي (Noé) 66 and نوح, the name of the prophet Nuh in the Qur'an, 64.

A similar pair appears among the two names meaning "lion": Léo (ليو), of Latin origin, is 46, and Léon (ليون), of Greek origin, is 96. Same meaning – the letter ن adds 50.

Qur'anic and Arabic-origin names in the list

The top 30 includes the Western forms of several prophets named in the Qur'an: Adam, Noah and Noé (Nuh), Isaac (Ishaq) and Aaron (Harun). In their Arabic forms there are Mohamed (21st, 1,790 babies) and Ibrahim (26th, 1,575 babies). Just outside the top 30 come Imran (31st) and Zayn, meaning "beauty, grace" (38th, 1,245 babies). The rest of the list is mostly Latin, Hebrew, Germanic and Breton in origin; Breton names such as Malo and Maël give it a distinctly French touch.

The top 30 through Abjad eyes

• Initial letters of the top 10: 5 names begin with an earth letter (Gabriel, Léo, Raphaël, Louis, Léon), 3 with a fire letter (Arthur, Adam, Maël), 1 with an air letter (Noah) and 1 with a water letter (Jules). Some authors classify the air and water letters differently.
• Highest values: Gabriel 1253, Gabin 1054 and Hugo 1017. All three contain the letter غ; no other name in the top 30 does.
• Lowest values: Paul (بول) 38 and Jules (جول) 39.
• Shared values: Eden and Ayden 65, Liam and Maël 81.

These numbers are not an interpretation in themselves. In the Abjad tradition a name's value only becomes meaningful when it is read together with the parents' names; for the child's yildizname (star chart) the mother's name is part of the calculation too.

Three quick questions

Which spelling of Gabriel is "correct"? All three are used. Which one applies depends on how the family writes the name; the Abjad tradition does not make one spelling luckier than the others.

Is a name with a higher value stronger? No. The gap between Gabriel and Paul comes largely from a single letter. What matters is not the size of the number but how it meets the family's names at the level of element and sign.

Are Noah and Noé the same name? Yes, Noé is the French form; but INSEE counts them separately, and their Arabic spellings give different values.

Source: INSEE (French National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies), Fichier des prénoms, births in 2025 (published July 2026); counts are rounded to a multiple of 5.

This article is for information only. In tradition, Abjad values are a tool of interpretation; they carry no definitive judgement, guarantee or prediction about a name.