Each member of the class has been allocated the name of a famous French explorer.

Initially, the fourth ship in the class was to have been named Le Kerguelen, after explorer and naval officer Yves-Joseph de Kerguelen-Trémarec.

[1] However, before entering service she was renamed Le Dumont-d'Urville, after Jules Dumont d'Urville, another explorer and naval officer.

She was then transferred to the builder's Søviknes facility in Ålesund, Norway, for final outfitting.

[3][4] Le Dumont-d'Urville was delivered to Ponant in Norway on 14 June 2019, and was due to begin her maiden voyage on 7 August 2019.