Naming a dog is the one part of getting a French Bulldog that nobody needs to research, and yet here you are. Below are nearly a thousand names, sorted A to Z, but read the four rules first, because they rule out a surprising number of the ones people fall in love with.

Charlie the French Bulldog

My own Frenchie is Charlie, after Charlie Brown. Two syllables, and nothing like any cue I use.

Four rules worth following

Keep it to one or two syllables. Longer names get shortened by everyone anyway, so choose the short form you actually want. Maximilian becomes Max within a fortnight.

Don’t pick a name that sounds like a cue. This is the rule people skip, and there’s a good reason for it: when researchers recorded dogs’ brain activity while playing them familiar instruction words alongside nonsense words differing by a single sound, the responses were the same, suggesting dogs don’t attend to every sound in a word (Magyari and colleagues, 2020). So Kit and “sit”, Bo and “no”, Jay and “stay”, Rover and “over” are asking your dog to make a distinction they may not hear. Our training guide covers the cues you’ll be using.

Say it out loud, in public, at volume. You will shout this name across a park at 7am, and say it to a vet receptionist while filling in a form. Anything you’d rather not explain to a stranger is the wrong name.

Check what your dog already answers to. A dog from a rescue or a breeder often arrives with a name they know, and after a rehoming, one familiar thing is worth keeping. If you do want to change it, pair the old name with the new for a couple of weeks and pay well for the new one. Our rescue guide covers the rest of the settling-in period.

Where people find names

The breed’s history. French names suit the breed, though the history is not quite what the name suggests. The ancestors were small bulldogs kept by lace workers in Nottingham, who took them to Normandy when the lace trade moved; the dogs were developed into the breed there, and American fanciers later standardized the bat ears (AKC). So Louis, Gigi, Coco, Amelie, Pierre, Fleur, Margaux and Colette all fit the dog, if not strictly the history.

Their coat. Brindle, fawn, cream and pied give you Latte, Toffee, Olive, Tiger and Sugar. Our colors guide covers which coats are actually which.

Food. The single most popular category for this breed, and it does suit them: Peanut, Mochi, Pickle, Waffle, Nugget, Truffles, Taco, Dijon, Brie.

Their size or their opinion of themselves. Tank, Moose, Bear, Duke, Hercules, Thor, Titus and Czar all get used on dogs under 28 pounds, which is most of the joke.

Characters and people you like. Gatsby, Arya, Katniss, Hermione, Bowie, Elvis, Kerouac, Yoda, Simba, Nala.

900+ French Bulldog names, A to Z

  • A: Abilene, Ace, Addy, Adeline, Aerin, Aidan, Aideen, Aiken, Aileen, Aindrea, Ainsly, Airell, Aislin, Aisling, Alabama, Alayna, Albany, Alcott, Alexander, Alia, Alice, Aline, Allie, Alma, Alvin, Amaryllis, Amelia, Amelie, Ames, Amis, Amory, Anais, Anderson, Andre, Annie, Aoife, Aphra, Apolline, Apollo, Arabella, Aramis, Archer, Ardal, Ardara, Aria, Ariel, Arlo, Artan, Arthur, Arvada, Arwen, Arya, Ashling, Asia, Athens, Atticus, Auden, August, Auric, Aurora, Austen, Auster, Aveline, Aven, Azusa

  • B: Bailey, Baldwin, Bambi, Banagher, Bandit, Barley, Barnaby, Barry, Basil, Bathsheba, Batman, Baxter, Bear, Beatrice, Beatrix, Beaux, Beckett, Becks, Behan, Bell, Bella, Berwyn, Bindi, Blaine, Blue, Bolt, Bowie, Brea, Breeda, Brendan, Brendon, Brennan, Brett, Brian, Briana, Briar, Brick, Bridget, Bridgit, Bridie, Brie, Briley, Briony, Bristol, Brody, Brogan, Brom, Bronte, Bruce, Bruno, Brutus, Bryant, Bryna, Bubba, Buddy, Bunny, Burger, Buster, Byatt, Byron

  • C: Caelan, Cain, Cait, Caitlyn, Cali, Callahan, Callen, Camille, Capucine, Carey, Cargan, Carlin, Carlow, Carmel, Carole, Carr, Carrigan, Carson, Carver, Casey, Cash, Cashel, Cashew, Cassidy, Catalina, Cathleen, Cato, Catriona, Cavan, Caviar, Cayleen, Ceara, Celeste, ChaCha, Champ, Chance, Chandler, Chanel, Charity, Charles, Charlie, Charlotte, Charmain, Chase, Cheese, Cheever, Chester, Chevonne, Chi, Chia, Chicago, Chico, Chloe, Christophe, Cian, Cianna, Ciar, Ciara, Cillian, Cinderella, Clancy, Clarice, Clarissa, Clea, Clelia, Clem, Clemence, Clive, Coco, Cody, Colette, Colt, Conan, Conley, Connell, Conner, Connery, Connor, Conrad, Conway, Cookie, Cooper, Copper, Coralie, Cordelia, Corey, Corinne, Cormac, Corrigan, Cosette, Costa, Crane, Crepe, Cressida, Crow, Cullen, Cunningham, Curran, Curry, Czar

  • D: Dahlia, Daire, Daisy, Dakota, Dallas, Damian, Dani, Daniel, Daniella, Dante, Daphne, Darcy, Darl, Darra, Darren, Dash, David, Davie, Declan, Deirdra, Deirdre, Delma, Delphine, Dempsey, Denver, Dermot, Derry, Desdemona, Desi, Desmond, Devan, Devlin, Dexter, Diesel, Dijon, Dixie, Dixon, Doherty, Dolan, Domenica, Don, Donahue, Donnan, Donnelly, Donovan, Donut, Dooley, Dora, Doreen, Dorian, Downey, Doyle, Duane, Dublin, Duff, Duffy, Dugan, Duke, Dunstan, Dutch, Dylan

  • E: Echo, Eden, Edith, Edmund, Edward, Eileen, Einstein, Eire, Eleonore, Elish, Ellery, Ellis, Ellison, Elodie, Eloise, Elsa, Elvis, Emerson, Emile, Emily, Emma, Emmanuelle, Emperor, Enid, Ennis, Enya, Erin, Esmee, Estella, Ethan, Ethel, Eudora, Eugenie, Eureka, Evangeline, Everett

  • F: Fallon, Fancy, Fanta, Faolan, Farrell, Faunia, Faylinn, Fearghus, Feather, Fez, Fiana, Fifi, Fig, Fiji, Fineen, Finn, Finna, Finnegan, Finnian, Finola, Fiona, Fitzgerald, Fitzwilliam, Flan, Flannery, Flash, Fleur, Flint, Florian, Flynn, Forster, Frankie, Franny, Frost, Fuji

  • G: Gabby, Gabin, Gallagher, Galvin, Gandalf, Gannon, Garcia, Gargoyle, Garvey, Gaston, Gatsby, Genevieve, George, Ghost, Gide, Gigi, Gilmore, Gilroy, Gimli, Ginevra, Giselle, Gizmo, Gracie, Grady, Grits, Guinevere, Guitar, Gunner, Gus, GusGus, Guy

  • H: Hadley, Hamlett, Hana, Harley, Harper, Harriet, Harry, Hart, Harte, Harvey, Haus, Haydee, Hazel, Heathcliff, Heaven, Hector, Heihei, Helene, Hemingway, Hennessy, Henri, Henry, Hercules, Heremon, Hermione, Holden, Homer, Huckleberry, Hudson, Hugo, Hunter, Huxley

  • I: Iago, Ian, Iana, Iggy, Ike, Ila, India, Indie, Isadora, Isla, Iva, Ivy, Izzy

  • J: Jack, Jack-Jack, Jackie, Jacko, Jackson, Jacob, Jacques, Jacy, Jake, James, Jane, Japhy, Jarrell, Jarvis, Jasper, Java, Jax, Jayce, Jelly Bean, Jenks, Jenny, Jerzy, Jet, Jo, Jocko, John, JoJo, Jolene, Jolyon, Joseph, Jovi, Jude, Juliet, Juno, Jupiter

  • K: Kai, Kairo, Kaiser, Kale, Kali, Kane, Kash, Kashi, Kassidy, Kathleen, Katniss, Kato, Kava, Keagan, Keaira, Keegan, Keelan, Keeley, Keelin, Keenan, Keeran, Keeva, Kegan, Keiko, Keir, Keira, Keiran, Kella, Kellan, Kellen, Kelly, Kellyn, Kelsea, Kenadie, Kennan, Kennedy, Keno, Kent, Kerouac, Kerra, Kerri, Kerry, Kesey, Kevin, Kevine, Kian, Kiandra, Kieara, Kieran, Kieve, Kiki, Kiley, Killian, King, Kinley, Kinsey, Kiva, Kiwi, Kobe, Kody, Koko, Kokomo, Kya, Kyle, Kyra

  • L: Lacy, Laird, Lalita, Langston, Latte, Laurent, Lavinia, Lee, Legolas, Lemuel, Lennon, Leo, Leopold, Lex, Lexi, Liam, Lightning, Lilac, Lilya, Lionel, Loch, Lochlyn, Logan, Loki, Lola, Lolita, London, Lou, Louie, Louis, Louisa, Lowell, Luc, Luca, Lucie, Lucky, Lucy, Luke, Lulu, Luna, Lux, Lyra

  • M: Mac, Macon, Macy, Madden, Madeleine, Madigan, Mael, Maeve, Magee, Magnus, Mahon, Maili, Maire, Mairead, Maisie, Maki, Malone, Malta, Marcel, Margaux, Marigold, Marin, Marissa, Marius, Marley, Marlin, Marvin, Mason, Mathis, Matilda, Maui, Maura, Maureen, Maurice, Mave, Max, Maxwell, Maya, McKenna, McKinley, Mel, Melva, Mercy, Merida, Miach, Michael, Mickey, Mila, Milan, Millay, Millie, Milo, Mingus, Mini, Minnie, Minty, Mirabelle, Misha, Moana, Mochi, Molly, Monroe, Monty, Moose, Morey, Morna, Morrigan, Morrison, Moss, Moxy, Mulan, Munro, Muriel, Murphy, Murron, Myla, Myrna

  • N: Nala, Naomi, Napoleon, Nash, Neal, Ned, Neely, Neil, Nemo, Nenna, Neptune, Neruda, Nevaeh, Nevan, Neve, Nevin, Nevina, Newton, Niall, Nico, Ninetta, Nirvana, Noah, Noel, Nola, Nolan, Noland, Nolen, Nora, Noreen, Norman, Norris, Nuala, Nugget

  • O: Oakley, Oana, Oatie, Obi-Wan, Oceane, Odie, Oki, Olaf, Olive, Oliver, Olivia, Ollie, Opal, Oran, Oreo, Orion, Orlando, Ormond, Oscar, Otis, Otto, Owen, Ozzie

  • P: Paco, Paddy, Pamela, Pansy, Paris, Parker, Pascal, Paz, Peach, Peanut, Pebbles, Penny, Perry, Petal, Peter, Peyton, Philippe, Phineas, Phoenix, Pickle, Pierre, Piglet, Pilot, Pip, Pippi, Pippin, Pixie, Plato, Plum, Pluto, Poe, Poochie, Pooh Bear, Portia, Potato, Precious, Prince, Princess, Princeton, Psalm, Pumpkin

  • Q: Quade, Quin, Quinlan, Quintan

  • R: Rain, Raja, Raleigh, Rambo, Ramona, Raphael, Raya, Reagan, Redmond, Reece, Reggie, Remy, Renny, Rex, Rhett, Rhys, Rian, Richard, Ricky, Rihanna, Riley, Ring, Rio, Robert, Rocco, Rocky, Romain, Romeo, Ronald, Ronan, Rory, Roscoe, Rosie, Rowen, Roxy, Rudy, Rue, Rufus, Ruger, Rusty, Ryan, Ryder, Rylee, Rylie

  • S: Sabor, Sadie, Sage, Sai, Sailor, Saint, Sam, Sammy, Samson, Sandy, Sansa, Santiago, Sasha, Sawyer, Scarlett, Scooter, Scout, Sebastian, Serge, Sethe, Shadow, Shakespeare, Shane, Shannan, Shannon, Shaw, Shay, Shea, Sheba, Sheila, Shelby, Silas, Sile, Simba, Sisco, Skye, Sloan, Snow, Sophie, Sparky, Spike, Sriracha, Stella, Stitch, Sugar, Sullivan, Sunny, Swan, Sweeney, Sylvia, Sylvie

  • T: Taco, TacoLu, Taft, Taki, Tank, Tara, Taro, Tavis, Taylor, Teagan, Teddy, Tequila, Tessa, Tex, Thanos, Thelma, Thisbe, Thomas, Thor, Thunder, Tia, Tiana, Tiger, TigerLili, Tigger, Tilly, Timber, Timothy, Tiny, Titania, Tito, Titus, Toby, Todd, Toffee, Tootsie, Topaz, Torin, Toto, Tristan, Trixie, Troy, Truffles, Truman, Tucker, Tulip, Tully, Twain, Tweety, Twiggy, Twilight, Twinkie, Twix, Twyla, Tycoon, Tyra, Tyrone, Tyson

  • U: Ulysses, Una, Utah

  • V: Vader, Valentino, Vanilla, Velma, Velvet, Venice, Vera, Victoria, Vida, Vino, Viola, Violet, Viper, Virginia, Vivi, Vivian, Volt

  • W: Waffle, Walker, Waverly, Wesley, West, Whiskey, Wilbur, Willa, William, Willow, Winston, Winter, Wolf, Woody

  • X: Xander, Xantos, Xara, Xaro, Xavier, Xena

  • Y: Jedi, Yancey, Yara, Yeats, Yoda, Yogi, Yoko, York, Yoshi, Yves

  • Z: Zac, Zadie, Zane, Zara, Zazu, Zeki, Zelda, Zena, Zeus, Ziggy, Zipper, Zoe, Zoey, Zola, Zora, Zorro, Zulu

A last thought

Try the shortlist out loud for a day before committing. Names that look lovely written down turn out to be unsayable when you’re carrying shopping and the dog is heading for the road, and the one that survives that test is usually the right one.