The first name Manon is a French variant of Mary, and is also celebrated on August 15, as the mother of Jesus. If in the past this name was associated with prostitutes and popularized by the famous novel Manon Lescaut, today it is very popular, mainly in modest circles.
Origin and etymology of the name Manon
It was Abbé Prévost who featured the first name, thanks to his novel Histoire du chevalier des Grieux and Manon Lescaut, published in 1731. It met with great success, was adapted several times for the stage of the opera - from Manon by Massenet, in 1884, to Manon Lescaut by Puccini, in 1893 -, and for the cinema with a modern adaptation by Henri-Georges Clouzot (Manon, 1949). The first name also appears in a text by Saint-Exupéry, Manon danseuse (1925).
Use and popularity of the first name Manon
Manon was well distributed from the 18th century. and has been around ever since. However, the first name only really started to spread at the end of the 1980s, in the wake of Marion and after the release of Claude Berri's film (1986, Manon des sources), based on the novel by Marcel Pagnol. Manon first had success in southern France; it quickly spread throughout the territory and is one of the first female given names in use since 1995. In Quebec, the craze for the first name began earlier than in France and it was widely used as early as 1960. Manon Roland, more often called Madame Roland, played an important role during the French Revolution. Manon Cormier, pseudonym of Madeleine Cormier (1896-1945), was one of the figures of the French resistance.
To go further
- 2000 first names and their history, by Omer Englebert. Albin Michel, 2015.
- The Book of my first name - Manon. First, 2017.