Bourguignat, Locard, Servain, and others of the French Nouvelle École of the late 18th century introduced a number of subgeneric names for the freshwater mussel (Bivalvia: Unionoida) species of western Europe. Based largely upon latinizations of species-group names, most of these generic names end in the characteristic suffix -iana. For the most part, these taxa have not been regarded as valid and, in fact, they have been largely ignored since the early 20th century. However, most of these genus-group level names are available and need to be accounted for as the malacological community moves forward to update the taxonomy of the European fauna. A survey of the relevant primary and secondary literature revealed 131 available -iana generic nomina, only three of which are currently regarded as valid. The type species of each is reported (or designated) herein, and these are used to place the subgenera into the current European system of genera: Unio, Anodonta, Pseudanodonta, Potomida, and Margaritifera.