# Francesca (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/francesca/  
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 | Italian |
| Meaning | “frances”, “francis”, “france”, “-ish” |
| Pronunciation | /fɹænˈsɛskə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | Cesca |
| Variant spellings | Franchesca |
| US babies named this | 35,364 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 33 / 35,331 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 19,186, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Italian Francesca (“Frances”), the feminine form of Francesco (“Francis”), from Late Latin Franciscus, from Francia (“France”) + -iscus (“-ish”). Doublet of Frances 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 | 594 | 498 |
| 2012 | 635 | 483 |
| 2013 | 721 | 422 |
| 2014 | 753 | 425 |
| 2015 | 744 | 429 |
| 2016 | 767 | 425 |
| 2017 | 740 | 432 |
| 2018 | 674 | 467 |
| 2019 | 641 | 489 |
| 2020 | 679 | 455 |
| 2021 | 742 | 424 |
| 2022 | 812 | 387 |
| 2023 | 822 | 374 |
| 2024 | 976 | 315 |
| 2025 | 984 | 307 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 6 | 5,588 |
| 1984 | 7 | 5,153 |
| 1985 | 6 | 6,036 |
| 1988 | 6 | 6,690 |
| 1989 | 8 | 5,826 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 602 | 99 |
| 2012 | 622 | 90 |
| 2013 | 679 | 81 |
| 2014 | 646 | 87 |
| 2015 | 661 | 83 |
| 2016 | 611 | 88 |
| 2017 | 600 | 89 |
| 2018 | 567 | 93 |
| 2019 | 491 | 106 |
| 2020 | 459 | 112 |
| 2021 | 466 | 110 |
| 2022 | 441 | 118 |
| 2023 | 419 | 117 |
| 2024 | 455 | 102 |
| 2025 | 434 | 107 |

## People named Francesca

- Francesca Woodman, American photographer (1958 - 1981)
- Francesca Annis, English actress
- Francesca Capaldi, American actress
- Francesca Archibugi, film director (born 1960)
- Francesca Eastwood, American actress
- Francesca Le, American pornographic actress and director
- Francesca Bonnemaison i Farriols, Educator, writer and feminist
- Francesca Hilton, American actress (1947–2015)
- Francesca Jones, British tennis player
- Maria Francesca Rossetti, English author (1827–1876)
- Francesca Lia Block, American children's writer
- Francesca Simon, British author

## 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.