How to Say My Name Is in French

The default answer is je m'appelle X - literally "I call myself X." S'appeler is a reflexive verb, which is why the m' is doing the work that English does with a possessive ("my name") instead of a reflexive pronoun. There are two other ways to say it, three ways to ask it back, and one cultural trap that catches English speakers in roughly the first week of every trip to France: the tu/vous decision. This article covers the three forms, the two register-question forms, the enchante reciprocation, and the small surname and writing conventions that round out the introduction.

The three ways to say it

French gives you three options for "my name is," and they are not interchangeable.

Je m'appelle X. The textbook default and the right answer in nearly every spoken context. Neutral register, works with tu and vous, works in shops, at parties, on the phone, in a job interview. If you are unsure which to use, use this one.

Je suis X. Also normal but slightly clipped. "Je suis Marie" lands closer to the English "I'm Marie" than "my name is Marie." It is common in casual contexts, at gatherings where everyone is going round the room, and on the phone after the other person has picked up. Slightly more confident, slightly less formal.

Mon nom est X. Rare in spoken French and reads as formal or written. You will see it on forms, in introductions in business correspondence, and occasionally in news interviews. Saying it out loud in a normal conversation sounds stiff. Avoid it unless you are deliberately matching a formal written register.

Asking the other person's name: the tu/vous trap

This is where English speakers get into trouble. French has two forms for "you," and the choice between them is not optional politeness, it is structural.

Comment vous appelez-vous? Formal. Use it with strangers, in shops, in restaurants, with anyone older than you, with anyone in a service role, and in any business or professional context. This is the safe default with anyone you do not already know.

Comment tu t'appelles? Informal. Use it with friends, peers, children, family, and anyone with whom you have already established the tu register.

The mistake English speakers consistently make is defaulting to tu because it feels friendlier. In France it does not read as friendly, it reads as presumptuous, especially in service interactions. The shopkeeper, the waiter, the receptionist, the taxi driver, all of them expect vous from a stranger. Tu from a stranger reads as either childish or rude depending on the room. The vous is not formality for its own sake; it is the language doing the work of marking that you do not yet know each other.

The shift from vous to tu in France is called tutoyer and is usually invited explicitly: "on peut se tutoyer?" In Quebec the transition happens faster, but in France vous can persist for years even between colleagues.

The contracted question form

There are three ways to ask "what is your name?" in the informal register, and they belong to different registers within the informal.

Comment t'appelles-tu? The textbook inverted form. Grammatically immaculate, slightly formal-feeling, common in written French and in classroom French. In real spoken French it is rare.

Comment tu t'appelles? The contracted version. Drops the inversion, keeps the question word at the front. This is the most common spoken form and the one you will actually hear from native speakers.

Tu t'appelles comment? The fully casual version with the question word at the end. Common between younger speakers, in genuinely casual contexts, and in chatty spoken French. The shift of comment to the end is a register marker: more casual, more conversational, closer to how French is actually spoken among friends.

The textbook teaches the inverted form. France speaks the other two.

The enchante reciprocation

When someone introduces themselves, the standard response is enchante (if you are male) or enchantee (if you are female), often followed by your own name.

• "Je m'appelle Marie." / "Enchante, Michael."
• "Bonjour, je suis Marc." / "Enchantee, Sophie."

The formal extended version is enchante de faire votre connaissance, literally "delighted to make your acquaintance." It lands closer to the English "pleased to meet you" than the bare enchante does, and it is normal in business and formal social contexts.

To English ears, enchante sounds overstated. "Delighted" is the kind of word you would reserve for meeting someone you genuinely admire. In French it is just the standard reciprocation, and skipping it is the foreign-learner tell. The English habit of saying "nice to meet you" and then waiting for the other person to repeat their name is the signature of someone who has not yet internalised the introduction protocol. The French habit of saying enchante and repeating the name back in the same breath is both the polite move and the better memory aid.

French name conventions

The prenom-nom (first name-surname) order matches English. Marie Dupont is Marie first, Dupont second, same as Mary Smith.

A few conventions worth knowing:

• The de particle. Family names with de or de la (de Villiers, de la Tour, de Gaulle) historically marked aristocratic or noble origin. The particle is still used but is no longer a reliable status marker; it is simply part of the surname.
• Regional surnames. Brittany surnames frequently end in -ec, -an, or -ic (Le Bihan, Tregouet, Kerouac). Provencal surnames often have Italian or Occitan roots and distinctive endings.
• Double-barrelled surnames. More common in France than in the UK, often joined with a hyphen (Dupont-Moreau). French law allows children to inherit both parents' surnames, so double-barrelled names are increasingly common in younger generations.

When you meet someone for the first time, French speakers typically introduce themselves by first name only in casual contexts and by full name in formal or business contexts.

In writing (email, CV, LinkedIn)

Je m'appelle is too conversational for a CV. CVs use the name as the page header at the top of the document and do not include an "I am" sentence. The CV identifies you; the cover letter introduces you.

In a cover letter or formal email, the natural opener is:

• Bonjour, je suis Michael de company. Formal, identifies you and your affiliation.
• Bonjour, je m'appelle Michael. Slightly less formal, used when there is no company affiliation to mention.
• Madame, Monsieur, as the salutation if you do not know who you are writing to, followed by your introduction in the first paragraph.

Sign off with Cordialement for standard professional, Bien cordialement for slightly warmer, or Salutations distinguees for very formal correspondence. LinkedIn messages can use the lighter Bonjour, je m'appelle X because the platform is implicitly informal.

Common mistakes

A few errors that recur in English-speaker French:

• Je suis appele. Wrong. This is passive and reads as "I am called" in a passive sense, like a name being announced. The reflexive je m'appelle is the right structure.
• Mon nom est. Not wrong, just wrong register for conversation. Reads as stiff or translated.
• Forgetting the gender agreement. Enchantee with the extra e for women; enchante without it for men. Native speakers notice immediately.
• Defaulting to tu in a shop. Reads as presumptuous. Use vous with anyone in a service role until invited to switch.
• Anglicising the pronunciation of your own name. A small kindness: pronounce your name with the French phonetic system if possible. "Michael" becomes mee-shel; "Sarah" becomes sa-ra. Not always necessary, but appreciated.

Cross-references

• The how to say hello in French article covers the greeting that precedes every introduction.
• The how to say good morning in French article covers the time-of-day register that pairs with bonjour.
• The French for adult learners pillar covers the wider French learning approach.
• The top 100 French verbs article includes s'appeler in the high-frequency reflexive verbs that any beginner should know cold.