The Meaning Behind the Names of Paris’s 20 Arrondissements

Paris has twenty arrondissements. Most visitors know the numbers. Very few know what the numbers replaced.
Before 1860, there was no 18th arrondissement. There was Montmartre, an independent commune with its own mayor, its own quarrymen, its own identity. Before the 11th, there was Popincourt, a name that had endured since the medieval period. Before the 13th, the Bièvre river ran openly through a district of tanners, dyers and leather workers, carrying the colour of whatever trade had used it last.
Napoleon III and Baron Haussmann changed all of that. In a single administrative act, they absorbed the surrounding communes into Paris, redrew the map, and numbered the new arrondissements in the outward spiral we recognise today. The old names did not disappear entirely. They receded into street names, market names and the stubborn local vocabularies of people who remembered what stood there before the city grew outward.
To understand the names of Paris’s arrondissements is to read the city in layers, through its medieval borders, its royal estates, its religious institutions and its industrial past. It is to discover that Paris was not always Paris. And that in many places, it still isn’t.
Map of Paris showing the city’s 20 arrondissements

1st arrondissement — Louvre

2nd arrondissement — Bourse

Louvre

Named after the Palais du Louvre, the medieval fortress turned royal residence and now the world’s most visited museum.
Despite the constant flow of tourists, the 1st has a real neighborhood life: local cafés, small shops, quiet courtyards.
It’s one of my favorite arrondissements because it balances global prestige with an unexpectedly intimate daily rhythm.
Walking here means walking through the origins of Paris as a capital, and through a district that still feels like a village.

Bourse

Named after the Paris Stock Exchange, housed in the Palais Brongniart.
Historically shaped by finance, printing houses, and early capitalism, the 2nd also has a softer side.
Its covered passages, small theaters, and narrow streets give it a slightly retro, 19th‑century atmosphere.
A district where commerce, craftsmanship, and nostalgia coexist.

Place Colette near the Palais-Royal in Paris
Passage des Panoramas, one of Paris’s historic covered passages

3rd arrondissement — Temple

4th arrondissement — Hôtel de Ville

Temple

A reference to the Knights Templar, whose fortified enclosure once dominated the area.
Today, the 3rd is both historic and creative: hôtels particuliers, museums, archives, galleries, and studios.
It’s a district where medieval traces meet contemporary design — a place where the past and present genuinely speak to each other. One of the most vibrant districts in Paris.

Hôtel de Ville

Named after the City Hall, seat of municipal power since the Middle Ages.
The 4th is the heart of the Marais, with timeless streets, courtyards, and façades that seem to have escaped the centuries.
Jewish heritage, LGBTQ+ culture, and historical architecture form a unique, layered identity.
An arrondissement that feels truly timeless.

Marché des Enfants Rouges, rue de Bretagne, Paris
Hôtel de Ville of Paris

5th arrondissement — Panthéon

6th arrondissement — Luxembourg

Panthéon

Named after the Panthéon, a monument of national memory.
The 5th is one of the oldest parts of Paris: Roman arenas (Arènes de Lutèce), medieval colleges, the Sorbonne, and the whole tradition of the Latin Quarter.
A district that is at once historic, scholarly, and eternally youthful, shaped by students and centuries of intellectual life.
A Paris that never goes out of style.

Luxembourg

Named after the Luxembourg Palace and Gardens, commissioned by Marie de Médicis in the early seventeenth century.
The 6th blends aristocratic heritage, literary cafés, galleries, and quiet residential streets.
It embodies an elegant, cultivated Left Bank atmosphere — refined but never static.
A district where history and daily life merge naturally.

The Panthéon in Paris
The Luxembourg Garden in Paris

7th arrondissement — Palais Bourbon

8th arrondissement — Élysée

Palais Bourbon

Named after the Palais Bourbon, home of the National Assembly.
The 7th is an arrondissement of power: ministries, embassies, institutions, and monumental perspectives.
But it is also home to major museums and calm residential streets.
A Paris that is both official and deeply lived‑in.

Élysée

Named after the Palais de l’Élysée, residence of the French President.
The 8th combines political prestige, luxury, and grand boulevards.
Champs‑Élysées, Madeleine, Parc Monceau — a mix of monumental avenues and high-society Paris.
A district shaped by ceremony, commerce, and spectacle.

The Palais Bourbon in Paris, home of the French National Assembly
The Élysée Palace in Paris

9th arrondissement — Opéra

10th arrondissement — Entrepôt

Opéra

Named after the Opéra Garnier, a masterpiece of 19th‑century architecture.
The 9th is an arrondissement of theaters, grands magasins, and lively boulevards.
It retains a very Parisian energy: cultural, bustling, and architecturally expressive.
A district where Haussmann’s vision is still fully visible.

Entrepôt

The name also recalls the former Saint-Laurent parish, once enclosed by walls.
The 10th is shaped by movement: two major train stations, migrations, and constant flows.
Around the Canal Saint‑Martin, the atmosphere becomes softer, almost village‑like.
A district where Paris’s popular history remains very present.

Place Saint-Georges, Paris
The Canal Saint-Martin in Paris

11th arrondissement — Popincourt

12th arrondissement — Reuilly

Popincourt

Named after the medieval seigneurie de Popincourt, later absorbed by Paris.
The 11th is an arrondissement of artisans, workshops, revolutions, and nightlife.
Dense, lively, and creative, it has kept its working‑class energy.
A district where the social heart of Paris still beats strongly.

Reuilly

Named after the ancient village of Reuilly, once covered in vineyards.
The 12th is an arrondissement of gateways — Gare de Lyon, the Bois de Vincennes and major transport infrastructure.
But it also offers parks, green corridors, and quiet residential streets.
A more open, airy Paris, oriented toward the east.

The Bataclan concert hall in the 11th arrondissement of Paris
The Arches de Daumesnil in the 12th arrondissement of Paris

13th arrondissement — Gobelins

14th arrondissement — Observatoire

Gobelins

Named after the Gobelins tapestry manufactory, one of the enduring symbols of French craftsmanship.
The 13th is an arrondissement of industry, innovation, and transformation.
From the Butte‑aux‑Cailles to the Bibliothèque François‑Mitterrand, it embodies a Paris in constant reinvention.
A true urban laboratory.

Observatoire

Named after the Paris Observatory, one of Europe’s oldest observatories.
The 14th blends science, hospitals, artist studios, and the legacy of Montparnasse.
It retains a quiet, slightly bohemian atmosphere.
A structured yet creative Paris.

A street scene in Butte aux Cailles, 13th arrondissement of Paris
The Maison-atelier of Amédée Ozenfant in Paris

15th arrondissement — Vaugirard

16th arrondissement — Passy

Vaugirard

Named after the medieval village of Vaugirard, traditionally associated with the meaning “the valley of Girard”.
The 15th is residential, spacious, and dotted with workshops, parks, and calm streets.
It still carries something of the village it once was.
A district where people live more than they visit.

Passy

Named after the former village of Passy, known for its springs and villas.
The 16th is an arrondissement of embassies, museums, and leafy avenues.
Elegant, quiet, and green, with spectacular views over the Seine and the Eiffel Tower.
A sophisticated, spacious Paris.

Pont de Bir-Hakeim over the Seine in Paris
The Jardin du Ranelagh in Paris

17th arrondissement — Batignolles-Monceau

18th arrondissement — Butte-Montmartre

Batignolles

Named after the villages of Batignolles and Monceau, annexed in 1860.
The 17th is a district of contrasts: bourgeois near Parc Monceau, more creative and village‑like around Batignolles.
It reflects the layers of Haussmann’s expansion.
A place where old and new coexist naturally.

Montmartre

The name is often interpreted as “mount of martyrs”, although its precise origin remains debated.
The 18th is a district of slopes, stairways, popular culture, and artistic legends.
Montmartre remains a world apart — almost autonomous, shaped by its topography.
A Paris where landscape and culture are inseparable.

Parc Monceau in Paris
A Parisian street in the Montmartre district

19th arrondissement — Buttes-Chaumont

20th arrondissement — Ménilmontant

Buttes-Chaumont

Named after the Buttes‑Chaumont hills, once shaped by quarries and, historically, sites of execution.
The 19th is a district of dramatic parks, canals, and 19th‑ and 20th‑century urban experiments.
A more open, raw, and diverse Paris.
A territory shaped by its geography.

Ménilmontant

The name is often associated with the idea of a house on the hill.
The 20th is popular, creative, musical, and still marked by its village past.
Sloping streets, workshops, cafés, cemeteries — a deeply human Paris.
A district where the spirit of the faubourgs is still alive.

The Temple de la Sibylle in Parc des Buttes-Chaumont, Paris
La Villa de l’Ermitage in Paris

What These Names Reveal, and What I Can Help You Discover

Understanding the names of Paris’s arrondissements is only the beginning.
Each one hides layers of stories: lost villages, vanished borders, old trades, political shifts, and architectural clues.
During my walks, I explore these details in context, in the streets, along the river, on the hills, and in the places where Paris still carries the memory of what came before.

If you are curious to go further, our private Paris tours explore these histories where they matter most: on foot, in the streets, in front of the places that shaped them.