In the past few weeks, you’ve seen our predictions for the rising names in the US, and Eleanor Nickerson’s forecast of what will be 2013’s most popular in the UK; today we look to France’s upcoming stars.

　　To check out the latest trends in French baby names, we turn once again to our go-to expert, Stéphanie Rapoport__, creator of the popular site meilleursprénoms.com and author of L’Officiel des Prénoms .  For anyone conversant in French, the site is filled with interesting lists, charts and analysis on French baby names

　　. But for those whose high school French is as shaky as mine, we asked Stéphanie to give us a recap en anglais.

　　When it comes to trends, one outstanding factor is that French baby names have never been shorter in length than they are today.  In 2013, I see few names having more than five letters and a profusion of names containing only three, such as Léa and Léo, Zoé and Tom.

　　Sounds are another major component of French naming style. Girl’s names ending in “a,” not surprisingly, dominate the scene, with nine of them holding the top twenty ranks. More interestingly, the “éo” sound is bouncing back for boys, thanks to Léo and the newcomer Timéo.

　　Baby names from the nineteenth century (Emma, Louise, Rose, Zoé, Louis, Jules, Léo) are riding a wave as they are internationally, and Old Testament names are on the rise, especially for the boys (Adam is new in France, Aaron, now in the Top 50, was unheard of before 2000, and both are rising fast. Nathan and Raphaël are relatively new and already in the Top 10.

　　Here now is our projection of what to expect in the Top 20 for 2013:

　　1. Emma

　　1. Nathan

　　2. Lola

　　2. Lucas

　　3. Chloé

　　3. Léo

　　4. Inès

　　4. Enzo

　　5. Léa

　　5. Louis

　　6. Jade

　　6. Gabriel

　　7. Manon

　　7. Jules

　　8. Louise

　　8. Timéo

　　9. Zoé

　　9. Hugo

　　10. Lilou

　　10. Arthur

　　11. Léna

　　11. Ethan

　　12. Sarah

　　12. Raphaël

　　13. Camille

　　13. Maël

　　14. Maëlys

　　14. Tom

　　15. Lina

　　15. Noah

　　16. Éva

　　16. Mathis

　　17. Louna

　　17. Théo

　　18. Clara

　　18. Adam

　　19. Alice

　　19. Nolan

　　20. Romane

　　20. Clément