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Abstract The estimation of sea levels corresponding to high return periods is crucial for coastal planning and for the design of coastal defenses. This paper deals with the use of historical observations, that is, events that occurred before the beginning of the systematic tide gauge recordings, to improve the estimation of design sea levels. Most of the recent publications dealing with statistical analyses applied to sea levels suggest that astronomical high tide levels and skew surges should be analyzed and modeled separately. Historical samples generally consist of observed record sea levels. Some extreme historical skew surges can easily remain unnoticed if they occur at low or moderate astronomical high tides and do not generate extreme sea levels. The exhaustiveness of historical skew surge series, which is an essential criterion for an unbiased statistical inference, can therefore not be guaranteed. This study proposes a model combining, in a single Bayesian inference procedure, information of two different natures for the calibration of the statistical distribution of skew surges: measured skew surges for the systematic period and extreme sea levels for the historical period. A data‐based comparison of the proposed model with previously published approaches is presented based on a large number of Monte Carlo simulations. The proposed model is applied to four locations on the French Atlantic and Channel coasts. Results indicate that the proposed model is more reliable and accurate than previously proposed methods that aim at the integration of historical records in coastal sea level or surge statistical analyses. , Plain Language Summary Coastal facilities must be designed as to be protected from extreme sea levels. Sea levels at high tide are the combination of astronomical high tides, which can be predicted, and skew surges. The estimation of the statistical distribution of skew surges is usually based on the skew surges measured by tide gauges and can be improved with the use of historical information, observations that occurred before the beginning of the tide gauge recordings. Extreme skew surges combined with low or moderate astronomical high tides would not necessarily generate extreme sea levels, and consequently some extreme historical skew surges could be missed. The exhaustiveness of historical information is an essential criterion for an unbiased estimation, but it cannot be guaranteed in the case of historical skew surges. The present study proposes to combine skew surges for the recent period and extreme sea levels for the historical period. The proposed model is compared to previously published approaches and appears to be more reliable and accurate. The proposed model is applied to four case studies on the French Atlantic and Channel coasts. , Key Points The exhaustiveness of historical sea record information is demonstrated based on French Atlantic coast data A comparative analysis of approaches to integrate historical information is carried out The efficiency of a new method for the combination of systematic skew surges and historical records is verified