Introduction: Despite its high burden in terms of morbidity and mortality, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) remains a poorly understood condition. The objective was to assess public awareness of COPD among the French population in 2017. Methods: The 2017 Health Barometer survey was conducted by telephone among a randomly selected sample of people aged 15 to 75 residing in metropolitan France. Individuals who had previously heard of COPD and spontaneously cited smoking as its main risk factor were considered to be aware of COPD. Results: In total, 22.1% of respondents reported having previously heard of COPD, of whom 32.3% (7.1% of the surveyed population) cited smoking as the main cause. These figures were similar regardless of smoking status. The proportion of people aware of COPD was lower among younger individuals, men, and those of lower socioeconomic status. Discussion: It is necessary to improve public awareness of the risks associated with smoking in order to promote the adoption of health-promoting behaviors. Furthermore, improving knowledge about COPD could enable a greater number of people at risk for COPD to benefit from early diagnosis of the disease.