French Middle Names: The Deuxième Prénom Tradition

Look up French president Emmanuel Macron's full legal name and you'll find three first names, not one: Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron. Only the first ever makes headlines or gets used when anyone actually addresses him -- so where did the other two come from, and is he stuck with them forever?

If you've ever looked closely at a French friend's ID card, signed a French rental contract, or filled out paperwork at a French préfecture, you've probably noticed the same small surprise: a field labeled Prénom(s), plural, sometimes listing two or three names where you only expected one. French middle names -- more precisely, the deuxième prénom -- work nothing like the quiet middle initial tucked into an American driver's license. Understanding how they actually function will save you real confusion the first time you fill out a French form, meet someone whose name runs longer than you expected, or try to work out which of a French friend's several prénoms is the one you should actually use.

Le Prénom Usuel vs. Le Deuxième Prénom

French civil law lets parents register several first names on a child's birth certificate -- there's no fixed cap, though most families stop at two or three. Of that full list, one is treated as the prénom usuel (the everyday, "usual" first name) -- the one that appears on a name tag, gets called out in a classroom, and shows up first in casual conversation. The rest are the deuxièmes prénoms (second/additional first names): real, legal, permanently on file, and almost never spoken out loud.

Key Phrases

• le prénom usuel (luh pray-noh moo-zwehl) -- the everyday first name, the one actually used
• le deuxième prénom (luh duh-zyem pray-noh) -- the second/middle first name
• les prénoms (lay pray-noh) -- the first names (plural, as it appears on official forms)
• l'acte de naissance (lakt duh nay-sahns) -- the birth certificate

[AUDIO: le prénom usuel] [AUDIO: le deuxième prénom] [AUDIO: l'acte de naissance]

Crucially, the prénom usuel doesn't have to be the first name listed. Parents can designate which registered prénom is meant for daily use -- so a child registered as "Marie Camille Jeanne" might go by Camille her whole life, with Marie and Jeanne sitting quietly on every document she ever signs.

Where the Extra Names Actually Come From

Deuxièmes prénoms are rarely random. French families have long used them to quietly honor people the prénom usuel doesn't have room for: a grandmother, a godmother, a family friend, or -- especially in Catholic families -- a saint tied to the date of birth or baptism. Before France's 1993 naming-freedom law, at least one prénom often carried that saint connection almost by custom, even once it stopped being a strict legal requirement.

Ask a French grandparent why a grandchild's paperwork includes a name nobody in the family actually uses, and you'll often get a small story in return -- "c'est le prénom de sa marraine" (it's her godmother's name) or "c'est en l'honneur de mon père" (it's in honor of my father). The deuxième prénom is where French families tuck away the names that matter emotionally but didn't win the daily-use vote.

Se Prénommer vs. S'appeler: Naming Yourself in French

Talking about any of this out loud means picking the right reflexive verb, and French actually offers two options that aren't quite interchangeable.

Grammar Note

S'appeler (to be called/named) covers a person's full name, first and last together -- it's the everyday, general-purpose verb. Se prénommer (to be named, specifically by first name) is narrower and more formal, used when the first name specifically is the point. Both conjugate the same reflexive way.

• je m'appelle / je me prénomme
• tu t'appelles / tu te prénommes
• il/elle s'appelle / il/elle se prénomme
• nous nous appelons / nous nous prénommons
• vous vous appelez / vous vous prénommez
• ils/elles s'appellent / ils/elles se prénomment
• Common mistake: using se prénommer for a full name, e.g. "je me prénomme Dupont" -- Dupont is a nom de famille (last name), not a prénom, so that sentence is simply wrong.
• Common mistake: forgetting the reflexive pronoun entirely and saying "j'appelle Camille" -- that actually means "I'm calling Camille" (as in, phoning her), not "my name is Camille."

Key Phrases

• s'appeler (sah-play) -- to be called/named (full name)
• se prénommer (suh pray-noh-may) -- to be named (first name specifically)
• le nom de famille (luh nohn duh fah-meey) -- the last name/surname

[AUDIO: s'appeler] [AUDIO: se prénommer] [AUDIO: le nom de famille]

Not the Same as an American Middle Name

It's tempting to translate deuxième prénom as "middle name" and assume it behaves the same way, but the two customs actually pull in different directions. Americans routinely use a middle initial on checks, monograms, and formal signatures -- it's a small, functional part of everyday identity. A French deuxième prénom, by contrast, mostly sleeps on official paperwork. Outside a government office or a notary's desk, most French people couldn't tell you their own best friend's second prénom.

Former president Nicolas Sarkozy's full legal name makes the point well: Nicolas Paul Stéphane Sarközy de Nagy-Bocsa -- three prénoms and a Hungarian noble particule (the de that shows up in names like de Gaulle), none of which the public ever used in daily speech. Don't confuse this with France's hyphenated compound first names either, like Jean-Pierre or Anne-Marie -- those two names are spoken together as a single unit every time, while a deuxième prénom is specifically the one that almost never gets said at all.

Reading and Filling Out a French Name Field

Picture yourself at a French préfecture window, renewing a residency card, or signing a lease with a landlord who's handed you a form headed Nom, Prénom(s).

• Step 1: Write your legal last name under Nom -- exactly as it appears on your passport.
• Step 2: Under Prénom(s), list every first name from your passport in order, not just the one you go by.
• Step 3: If asked "Quel est votre prénom usuel ?" (What's your usual first name?), give the one you actually go by day to day -- it doesn't have to be the first one on the list.
• Step 4: If a French acquaintance's documents show a name you've never heard them use, don't assume a mistake -- you've just met their deuxième prénom.

Practice Exercises

• Fill in the blank: The first name a French person actually goes by day to day is called le prénom ___.
• Translate into French, using se prénommer: "My name is Camille." (first name only)
• Multiple choice: Which reflexive verb covers a person's full name, first and last? (a) se prénommer (b) s'appeler (c) se nommer
• True or false: A French birth certificate can only ever list one prénom.
• Fill in the blank: On official French documents, a person's last name is called le nom de ___.
• Translate into French: "It's in honor of my father." (deuxième prénom context)

Answer Key

• usuel.
• Je me prénomme Camille.
• (b) s'appeler -- se prénommer is specifically for the first name alone.
• False -- French law allows multiple prénoms on one birth certificate, with one designated as the prénom usuel.
• famille.
• C'est en l'honneur de mon père.

The Names France Keeps Quietly on File

• French birth certificates can list several prénoms, but only one -- the prénom usuel -- is meant for everyday use, and it doesn't have to be the first one on the list.
• Se prénommer (named by first name) and s'appeler (named in full) are both reflexive verbs, but they're not interchangeable -- mixing them up is an easy, common mistake.
• A French deuxième prénom mostly lives on official paperwork, unlike an American middle name, and it's a different tradition entirely from hyphenated compound names like Jean-Pierre.

Next time you spot an extra name tucked into a French friend's ID or a form marked Prénom(s), you'll know exactly what you're looking at instead of assuming a typo. Head over to Passage's guide to Common French First Names to build out your vocabulary further, or try a round of Vocabulary exercises to practice s'appeler and se prénommer until the difference feels automatic.