For a long time, certain male first names seemed condemned to family albums rather than announcements. According to INSEE, one of them peaked at 11,255 births in France in 1920, before falling to 167 babies in 2009. Since the start of the 2020s, statistics from the National Directory for the Identification of Natural Persons (RNIPP) nevertheless show a tremor: 390 newborns carried it in 2025.
This first name is
first name Henria great classic that has discreetly returned to the call lists without becoming dominant again. INSEE ranks it among the timeless first namesthese old first names that never really disappear. With his very French air, his royal history inherited from Haimric then Heinrich and his image as a “rare classic”, Henri appeals to a new generation of parents.
Insee figures for the return of the first name Henri
The INSEE curves, established from the RNIPP for the period 1900-2025, summarize this yo-yo. The first name Henri reached a peak in 1920 with 11,255 births, remained very widespread until around 1950, then declined over several decades until its low point in 2009. Since then, the slope has slowly reversed: around 320 births in 2020, then 390 in
2025figures rounded to the multiple of 5 like all figures published.
Since the start of the 20th century, 405,331 boys have been given the first name Henri in France according to INSEE. Between 1946 and 2025, the first name file lists 69,063 births, including 69,027 boys and 36 girls. In 2025, Henri is around 150th place among male first names: a modest rank, but which reflects a real awakening in a landscape where the number of different first names increased from 8,007 to 65,940 between 1946 and 2025.
Why the first name Henri appeals again to young parents
Meaning also weighs in the balance. Of Germanic origin, Henri comes from the root Haimric, formed from “heim” for house and “ric” for power, which translates as “master of the house” or “head of the household”. Between reassuring stability and soft sound, the first name speaks to parents who are looking for a solid reference without falling into a first name that is too strict or too original.
At the same time, Henri maintains an assumed retro flavor. According to the INSEE first name file, the average age of people named Henri has now reached 98 years, which often refers to great-grandfathers. Paris has 5,417 births of Henri, ahead of the overseas departments, Nord or Pas-de-Calais. In urban areas like Paris or Hauts-de-Seine, this old but chic side is visibly popular.
Origin, celebration and variations of the first name Henri
Henri’s journey does not stop at the French borders. From Germanic Heinrich to Henry in English, Enrico in Italian, Enrique in Spanish or Henrik in Scandinavia, the same root crosses Europe. In France, the reference remains Saint Henri, celebrated on July 13 in the Catholic calendar.
To update the
first name Henrisome parents opt for Henry with a more international passport, or for compounds like Jean-Henri and Pierre-Henri. Whatever the format chosen, the INSEE files show that Henri has established itself permanently in the category of classics which return without becoming omnipresent again.