Chrétien de Troyes, Marie de France, Jean Bodel and Christine de Pisan are just some of the authors I've drawn from to make this list. Some names are not uncommon, while others seem totally unique. And quite a few can be found in the Tales of King Arthur!
Female
Iseult
Igraine
Elaine
Blanchefleur
Laudine
Lunete
Claris
Fresne
Codre
Guinevere
Christine
Jehanne
Yvette
Marions
Yvonne
Nicolette
Male
Jehans
Perceval
Guios
Yvain
Flore
Tristan
Roland
Guigemar
Equitan
Lanval
Rogaus
Eliduc
Brendan
Aucassin
Gautier
Gille
What are some of your favorite French names, old and new?
Online sources: Old French Literature, Medieval French Literature, History of French Literature
Michelle, Antionette, Luc, JeanPaul
ReplyDeleteIf you're interested in medieval forms of French names, then do check out the Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (http://dmnes.org/), you can lose hours in there browsing!
ReplyDelete[Note: Your "comment as" function is failing for Wordpress. You might want to look into this.]
(Though I wouldn't call Brendan a French name, per see. It is an anglicized version of the Latin form of an early Gaelic name which derives from a Welsh word...)
Hmm, I wonder why Wordpress isn't working....
DeleteI see your point, Brendan isn't French, but I included it since I first read the story of St Brendan in a medieval French class. More personal than actual, but why not?
And dmnes.org... !!!! So cool !!!!
Can you give me a male first name that sounds accurately of the medieval French era and goes well with the surname 'Aguillard'? It should sound unique, like something out of an ancient family tree...
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