Sixteen popes have had French ancestry, all in the second half of the medieval era. The seven popes of the Avignon papacy were French (numbers 10-16 below in bold). French is the most-common non-Italian papal ancestry.
- Pope Silvester II, 999-1003: Gerbert of Aurillac.
- Pope Stephen X, 1057-1058: Frederick of Lorraine.
- Pope Nicholas II, 1058-1061: Gerard of Burgundy.
- Bl. Pope Urban II, 1088-1099: Otho of Lagery (or Otto or Odo).
- Pope Callistus II, 1119-1124: Guido of Vienne.
- Pope Urban IV, 1261-1264: Jacques Pantaléon.
- Pope Clement IV, 1265-1268: Guy Foulques.
- Bl. Pope Innocent V, 1276: Pierre de Tarentaise.
- Pope Martin IV, 1281-1285: Simon de Brie.
- Pope Clement V, 1305-1314: Bertrand de Got.
- Pope John XXII, 1316-1334: Jacques d'Euse.
- Pope Benedict XII, 1334-1342: Jacques Fournier.
- Pope Clement VI, 1342-1352: Pierre Roger.
- Pope Innocent VI, 1352-1362: Stephen Aubert.
- Bl. Pope Urban V, 1362-1370: Guillaume de Grimoard.
- Pope Gregory XI, 1370-1378: Pierre Roger de Beaufort.