City of Love & City of Light: Paris Nicknames Explained
Last Updated on 4th March 2024 by Sophie Nadeau
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If you’re visiting Paris in the near future, then you’ve probably come across a few different names used for the French Capital. In this article we’re going to answer ‘why is Paris called the City of Love?’ ‘why is Paris called the City of Light’ and delve into other popular Paris nicknames.
Contents
What are the nicknames for Paris?
Paris has more than just one nickname and has been known as many nicknames over the centuries. I will detail why each nickname came to be below. However, if you’re short on time, then here are some of the most popular (and most recognisable):
- Paris
- Lutèce
- City of Light
- City of Love
- Paname (only really used by Parisians)
- Pantruche
- Le 75
What does each Paris nickname mean?
Paris
Okay, this isn’t exactly a nickname, but it’s interesting to discover how Paris got its name! The name actually derives from the word ‘Parisii’ which was the name of a Gallic tribe who lived in the area from the Iron Age up until the Roman period. It’s unclear as to what the word means but one leading theory suggests that the word ‘Parisii’ comes from a Celtic word-root ‘pario,’ meaning ‘cauldron’.
Lutèce
Lutèce is the French word for Lutetia, which is what the Romans called Paris. Back then, areas such as Le Marais weren’t even inhabited and the city as we know it today certainly didn’t exist and was largely limited to Île de la Cité and the Latin Quarter. If you’re curious to learn more, check out our guide to Roman Paris.
City of Light
One of the most common nicknames for Paris is the City of Light, which is known as La ville lumière in French. No one is quite sure how this name came to be, but there are a few theories. The most popular one is that it’s so-called because Paris was the first city in Europe to get gas street lighting.
This was much brighter than previous illumination methods, making Paris quite literally the ‘brightest’ city in Europe. Another leading theory is that the name stems from the fact that, during the Age of Enlightenment between 1715 (the year in which Louis XIV died) and 1789 (the beginning of the French Revolution), Paris was known for its many philosophers, thought-leaders, and technological developments.
City of Love
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly how Paris got to be known as ‘the City of Love’ but the most popular theory is that Paris is known as the City of Love thanks to its romantic ambiance.
Couples often choose to get engaged or even honeymoon in the French capital. The nickname likely came about by the end of the 19th-century, when many painters of the Romantic era depicted Paris in their works.
This was the period of La Belle Époque and was a great time for worldwide perceptions of the city when Impressionism was born and Paris held World Fairs where great marvels such as the Eiffel Tower were unveiled for the world to see.
At this time, Paris was under the Third Empire and it was during this time that the Paris we all know (and love) today truly developed. This was a time when England was under Victorian rule and feelings, erotic love, and the like were staunchly oppressed by society. France was seen as more liberal and had a greater cultural tolerance for love, leading to the idea that Paris was a city for romance.
Some of the other reasons many people believe Paris came to be know as the City of Love are as follows:
- A fantastic art and music scene
- Gorgeous architecture (the Haussmannian overhaul during the middle of the 19th-century gave Paris the cohesive aesthetics that everyone knows today)
- World-famous gardens (each garden in Paris has been meticulously designed and maintained)
- Delectable food and wine scene (France may well have the most famous wines in the world)
- Café culture (coffee shops spilling out onto terraces littering the streets only adds to the ambiance of Paris)
Paname
This is one of those nicknames that only locals really use and is a good way of distinguishing the people who were raised in the city (or the suburbs) as opposed to people who didn’t grow up there! Essentially, when the Panama Canal was being built, people who were working on the canal came back wearing Panama hats and the name kind of just stuck!
Pantruche
This is an older nickname for Paris and tends to be one that the older generation would use. It’s definitely less popular than some of the other Paris nicknames on this list but has been picking up in popularity in recent years.
In actuality, the name Pantruche came about as a nickname for ‘Pantin’ which is the name of a town just outside of Paris. As time went on, the nickname became conflated with the wider city of Paris itself and has now kind of just stuck. There’s even a bistro by the name ‘Le Pantruche’ in the 9th arrondissement.
Le 75
This is probably the most obvious nickname as ‘le 75’ stems from the fact that it’s the postcode for Paris! All postcodes in Paris follow the formula 75000 so the 1st arrondissement would be 75001 whereas the 20th arrondissement would be 75020.
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