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Which famous people are these Paris streets are named after?

While most people probably have an idea who Place Charles de Gaulle or Place Edith Piaf are named after, there are plenty lesser-known but equally influential figures honoured with Paris streets named after them.

Published: 22 October 2018 14:28 CEST
Updated: 29 February 2024 12:08 CET
Which famous people are these Paris streets are named after?
The square Samuel Paty set opposite the Sorbonne in Paris' Latin Quarter. Photo by GEOFFROY VAN DER HASSELT / AFP

From politicians, to scientists, thinkers, writers and inventors, let The Local shed some light on who some of Paris’ most beaten paths are named after. 

READ ALSO Which French figures have the most streets named after them?

Square Samuel Paty

This is a recent renaming, with Paris one of several towns to honour Paty in this way. Samuel Paty was a teacher of history and geography in a French school who was beheaded by an Islamist terrorist in 2020 after distorted rumours spread online about him showing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed in one of his civics classes, in which he was discussing the issue of free speech.

Rue de Richelieu

Running from the 1st to 2nd arrondissement this street used to be home to coin dealers and currency exchanges. It’s named after Cardinal Richelieu (1585 – 1642) who served as Louis XIII’s chief minister – he’s probably best known to anglophones as the baddie in The Three Musketeers.

Rue Étienne Marcel

Now well-known for its expensive shops, Rue Étienne Marcel, in the 1st and 2nd, got its name from a government official (Étienne Marcel, approx. 1302 – 1358) who negotiated with kings to bring in governmental reforms and increased state powers. 

Rue Réaumur

Nothing to do with rumours or gossip, Rue Réaumur, in the 2nd and 3rd, commemorates scientist René-Antoine Ferchault de Réaumur (1683 – 1757) famous for his studies in geometry, thermometers and insects.

Boulevard Raspail

Connecting the 6th and 14th arrondissements, this grand boulevard honours scientist and socialist politician François-Vincent Raspail (1794 – 1878), who was imprisoned for being president of the human rights society.

While in prison he treated other prisoners for their diseases and became an early advocate of germ theory, promoting antiseptics, sanitation and a healthy diet.

Quai Anatole France

Sandwiched between the Musée d’Orsay and the Seine in the 7th arrondissement, this busy road is named after writer, literary critic and Nobel Prize winner, Anatole France (1844 – 1924).

Boulevard Haussmann

Appropriately there are plenty of examples of classic Parisian Haussmann-style buildings on this long boulevard running between the 8th and 9th arrondissements.

The man behind them Georges-Eugène Haussmann (1809 – 1891) was commissioned by Napoleon III to renovate Paris, the results of which are many of the parks, boulevards and pervasive style of architecture that the city is still known for today. 

Rue la Fayette

Rue la Fayette spans two arrondissements (the 9th and 10th) and commemorates the “hero of two worlds”, French military officer Gilbert du Motier de La Fayette (1757 – 1834) who commanded US troops in the American war of independence and later became a leading figure in the French Revolution. 

He has plenty of streets, schools and even towns named after him in the USA too.

Boulevard Voltaire

Cutting diagonally through the 11th this street name honours outspoken writer François-Marie Arouet, known by his nom de plume Voltaire (1694 – 1778), whose works embody the principles of the French Enlightenment; individual freedom and religious tolerance. 

Rue Vercingétorix

Running almost the full length of the 14th arrondissement, this street is named for an Auvergne folk hero, who united the Gauls to fight against Roman invasion.

When the fight was ultimately unsuccessful, Vercingétorix (approx. 80 BC – approx. 46 BC) handed himself over to the Romans in order to save as many of his men as possible. Despite these impressive achievements, he’s perhaps best known to most French people as a character in the Astérix comic books. 

Quai André Citroën

It might not be the most beautiful of Paris streets but it seems appropriate that the 15th’s Quai André Citroën, named after the vehicle manufacturer (1878 – 1935), is always choc full of cars.

Boulevard Pasteur

Louis Pasteur (1822 – 1895) was a scientist who, along with creating a vaccination for rabies, also pioneered the process of heating foods to eliminate bacteria, otherwise life known as pasteurisation and extend shelf life. He’s one of France’s best-known scientists and the leading research centre the Institut Pasteur is named after him.

Avenue Félix Faure

This calm and quiet street in the 15th gets its name from a former French president Félix Faure  who was in office from 1895 – 1899. 

Unfortunately for him, Faure is perhaps best known for the manner of his death – he died suddenly in the presidential Élysée Palace while engaged in sexual activities in his office with 30-year-old Marguerite Steinheil.

Avenue Victor Hugo

The famous writer Victor Hugo (1802 – 1885) who penned Les Misérables and The Hunchback of Notre-Dame has streets named after him throughout France. In Paris, Avenue Victor Hugo is in the 16th arrondissement.

Avenue Foch

In 1929 the wide avenue between the Bois de Bologne and the Arc du Triomphe in the 16th was renamed after the WWI general and military strategist Ferdinand Foch (1851 – 1929), who died in the same year.

During the WWII occupation of Paris, the Gestapo headquarters were located on the street earning it the nickname “Avenue Boche.”

Quai Louis Blériot

Next to the Seine in the 16th, Quai Louis Blériot is named after an aviator and engineer Louis Blérot (1872 – 1936) who invented the headlamp for cars and made the first airplane flight across the English Channel.

Rue Guy Môquet

Militant communist Guy Môquet (1924 – 1941) became a symbol of the French resistance after he died at the hands of the Nazis. He lived close by to the street now named after him in the 17th. 

Place Jules Joffrin

Jules Joffrin (1846 – 1890) was a radical socialist politician who was exiled in Britain for 11 years before ultimately serving as vice president. Place Jules Joffrin is in the 18th.

Avenue Jean Jaurès

The somewhat unremarkable Avenue Jean Jaurès in the 19th doesn’t give much indication of the high ideals of its namesake. Socialist Jean Jaurès (1859 – 1914) famously opposed French involvement in World War I, and was assassinated for his pacifist views in a café on Rue Montmartre. He has street named for him all over France, especially in his home region of the south-west.

Avenue Gambetta

Léon Gambetta (1838 – 18882) was a politician who was a key figure in the third republic famous for being a great orator and fierce defender of the lower classes. Avenue Gambetta is in the 20th arrondissement of Paris, but he’s another figure who has streets all over France named for him.

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COST OF LIVING

What is considered a good salary in Paris?

The higher-paying jobs are heavily concentrated in the French capital, but set against that is the high cost of living - especially the cost of renting or buying a home. So what is considered a 'high-earner' in Paris?

Published: 25 June 2024 16:51 CEST
What is considered a good salary in Paris?

Centrist Renaissance candidate Sylvain Maillard, running for re-election in France’s snap parliamentary elections, was trying to highlight the high cost of living in the capital in a debate on RMC Radio 

“You have extremely expensive rents [in Paris], between €1,500 and €1,700, and then there are all the charges and taxes to pay,” he said.

But what most people seized on was his comment that anyone earning €4,000 a month after tax would not be considered rich in Paris – he predictably was accused of being out of touch with French people’s lives.

There’s no doubt that €4,000 a month is good salary that most people would be happy with – but how much do you need to earn to be considered ‘rich’ in Paris?

National averages

Earlier this year, the independent Observatoire des Inégalités calculated poverty and wealth levels in France.

READ ALSO How much money do you need to be considered rich in France?

According to its calculations, to be considered ‘rich’ in France, a single person with no dependants needs to earn more than €3,860 per month, after taxes and social charges. Around eight percent of single workers have this sum deposited into their bank balance every month, it said.

A total of 23 percent of workers take home €3,000 or more every month, while the top 10 percent clear €4,170. 

To be in the top one percent of earners in France in 2024, one person must bring in at least €10,000 per month. After taxes and social charges.

The median income – the median is the ‘middle value’ of a range of totals – of tax households in mainland France is €1,923 per month after taxes and social charges, according to INSEE 2021 data, which means that a ‘rich’ person earns about twice as much as a person on the median income, according to the Observatoire.

Paris situation

About 75 percent of people living in Paris earn less than €4,458 per month, according to Insee data – so according to those calculations, 25 percent of Parisians earn the equivalent of the top 10 percent in France. 

But that city-wide average still hides a wide degree of variation. In the sixth arrondissement, the median income is €4,358 per month, after tax. In the seventh, it’s €4,255.  Further out, those bringing home €4,600 a month in the 19th and 20th arrondissements are among the top 10 percent in wealth terms.

But still, the median income in Paris is €2,639, significantly higher than the €1,923 France-wide median.

That would mean – using the Observatoire des Inégalités’ starting point for wealth – that a Paris resident, living on their own, would have to bring home €5,278 per month to be considered ‘rich’. 

France is a heavily centralised country, with many of the highest-paying industries concentrated within the capital, meaning there is much more opportunity to secure a high-wage job if you live in Paris.

Cost of living

Even these figures should all be taken with a pinch of salt because of the relatively high cost of living in the capital, compared to elsewhere in France. Paris is objectively an expensive place to call home.

In 2023, France Stratégie published a report on the disposable income of French households, after housing, food and transport costs were deducted. It found that, on average, people living in the Paris region had more left to spend, due to higher incomes and despite the fact that housing costs more.

It’s the income paradox in action. A person with a take-home salary of €4,000 per month has more money to spend if they live and work outside Paris. But they’re much more likely to earn that much if they live and work in Paris, where it’s not as valuable. 

Someone who earns a ‘rich-level’ salary in Paris might not appear rich – because they live in an expensive area, and a surrounded by very wealthy people in property that’s out of reach all-but the fattest of wallets. But they’re still earning more than twice the median income in France.

And that’s what Sylvain Maillard was getting at, clumsily as he may have expressed it.

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