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Capucine
How to Pronounce Capucine
Pronounced ka-poo-SEEN /kapuˈsiːn/Low
Meaning: Capucine is a French flower name, taken directly from capucine, the French word for the nasturtium. The flower's name traces to the Capuchin friars, whose pointed hoods (French capuche) the blossom's spurred shape was thought to resemble. So the name carries a bright, peppery-garden image with a quiet echo of the hooded monk's cloak.Medium
Popularity in the U.S. · SSA data
U.S. births per year (Social Security Administration, 1880–present). Pink marker = peak year.
SSA data updated May 2026. How we source & verify this data.
History & Origin
Capucine is a French garden name, the everyday French word for the nasturtium, a climbing plant with vivid orange and red blooms. The flower took its name from the Capuchin friars because its spurred shape recalled their pointed hood. In the United States the name barely registered except through the actress Capucine, born Germaine Lefebvre, a fixture of nineteen-sixties cinema.
Capucine was never an American staple, given to only about fourteen girls a year around its 1965 peak, riding the actress's visibility. A girl named Capucine then is in her late fifties today. In France the flower name has more standing; in the States it remains an elegant rarity.
Variations
Nicknames
Famous Bearers
- ★Capucine (1928-1990)French fashion model and actress, born Germaine Lefebvre, known for The Pink Panther and Whats New Pussycat
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Frequently Asked
What does the name Capucine mean?
It is a French girl's name from capucine, the French word for the nasturtium flower, itself named for the hooded Capuchin friars.
How do you pronounce Capucine?
It is said ka-poo-SEEN /kapuˈsiːn/ - three syllables, stress on the last.
Is Capucine a boy or girl name?
Capucine is used as a girl's name.
How popular is Capucine?
It was always rare in the United States, given to only about fourteen girls a year around its peak in the mid-nineteen-sixties.