# Frances (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/frances/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Latin |
| Meaning | “frankish” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɹænsɪz/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Fanny, Franz, Fay, Fannie |
| Variant spellings | France, Francis |
| US babies named this | 600,721 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 5,024 / 595,697 (99% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 3,529, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Old French Franceise, feminine form of Franceis, from Late Latin Franciscus (“Frankish”). Doublet of Francesca and Francisca.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 348 | 782 |
| 2012 | 364 | 763 |
| 2013 | 409 | 690 |
| 2014 | 484 | 603 |
| 2015 | 614 | 513 |
| 2016 | 721 | 447 |
| 2017 | 730 | 437 |
| 2018 | 723 | 442 |
| 2019 | 718 | 438 |
| 2020 | 744 | 418 |
| 2021 | 801 | 393 |
| 2022 | 755 | 419 |
| 2023 | 760 | 405 |
| 2024 | 829 | 375 |
| 2025 | 960 | 318 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 8 | 8,387 |
| 2006 | 6 | 11,087 |
| 2007 | 5 | 12,969 |
| 2008 | 7 | 10,220 |
| 2010 | 5 | 12,892 |
| 2012 | 5 | 12,878 |
| 2013 | 6 | 11,182 |
| 2015 | 6 | 11,132 |
| 2016 | 5 | 12,843 |
| 2017 | 5 | 12,900 |
| 2019 | 5 | 12,775 |
| 2020 | 10 | 7,700 |
| 2021 | 9 | 8,388 |
| 2024 | 9 | 8,547 |
| 2025 | 6 | 11,112 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 75 | 552 |
| 2012 | 89 | 493 |
| 2013 | 90 | 466 |
| 2014 | 84 | 503 |
| 2015 | 94 | 461 |
| 2016 | 119 | 382 |
| 2017 | 118 | 383 |
| 2018 | 111 | 400 |
| 2019 | 110 | 392 |
| 2020 | 126 | 352 |
| 2021 | 100 | 438 |
| 2022 | 100 | 424 |
| 2023 | 95 | 429 |
| 2024 | 101 | 425 |
| 2025 | 112 | 379 |

## In other languages

- Bulgarian: Фра́нсис, Франци́ска, Франче́ска
- Catalan: Francesca
- Chinese: 弗朗西絲 /弗朗西丝
- Czech: Františka
- Danish: Francisca
- Dutch: Fransje
- Esperanto: Franciska
- French: Françoise
- German: Franziska
- Hungarian: Franciska
- Irish: Proinséas
- Italian: Francesca
- Japanese: フランシス
- Polish: Franciszka
- Portuguese: Francisca
- Russian: Фра́нсис, Фра́нсес, Фрэ́нсис, Франци́ска
- Slovak: Františka
- Spanish: Francisca

## People named Frances

- Frances McDormand, American actress
- Frances Hodgson Burnett, English-American playwright and author (1849–1924)
- Frances Marion, American journalist, author, film director and screenwriter (1888-1973)
- Frances Allen, American computer scientist (1932–2020)
- Frances Cleveland, First Lady of the United States from 1886 to 1889 and 1893 to 1897
- Frances Conroy, American actress
- Frances Fisher, American actress (born 1952)
- Frances Farmer, American actress (1913–1970)
- Frances Oldham Kelsey, Canadian-American physician and pharmacologist (1914–2015)
- Frances Willard, American temperance activist and suffragist (1839–1898)
- Frances Tiafoe, American tennis player
- Frances Sternhagen, American actress (1930–2023)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.