# Francis (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/francis/  
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 | boys |
| Origin | Latin |
| Meaning | “frankish (man)”, “a frank”, “frankland” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈfɹænsɪs/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | Frank, Fran |
| Variant spellings | France, Frances |
| US babies named this | 320,322 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 290,490 / 29,832 (9% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 6,123, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin Franciscus (“Frankish (man); a Frank”), from Francia (“Frankland”)). Doublet of Francisco and Franz.

## 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 | 52 | 3,187 |
| 2012 | 44 | 3,604 |
| 2013 | 58 | 2,918 |
| 2014 | 64 | 2,723 |
| 2015 | 64 | 2,754 |
| 2016 | 81 | 2,328 |
| 2017 | 78 | 2,343 |
| 2018 | 75 | 2,409 |
| 2019 | 90 | 2,095 |
| 2020 | 78 | 2,291 |
| 2021 | 88 | 2,139 |
| 2022 | 69 | 2,565 |
| 2023 | 98 | 2,004 |
| 2024 | 92 | 2,085 |
| 2025 | 122 | 1,685 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 387 | 617 |
| 2012 | 430 | 593 |
| 2013 | 539 | 505 |
| 2014 | 593 | 480 |
| 2015 | 622 | 481 |
| 2016 | 638 | 482 |
| 2017 | 662 | 458 |
| 2018 | 610 | 480 |
| 2019 | 605 | 484 |
| 2020 | 616 | 482 |
| 2021 | 637 | 467 |
| 2022 | 664 | 462 |
| 2023 | 677 | 456 |
| 2024 | 695 | 450 |
| 2025 | 769 | 420 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 4 | 3,970 |
| 2006 | 3 | 5,061 |
| 2009 | 3 | 5,556 |
| 2012 | 4 | 4,838 |
| 2013 | 4 | 4,739 |
| 2016 | 7 | 3,214 |
| 2017 | 10 | 2,502 |
| 2018 | 7 | 3,178 |
| 2019 | 4 | 4,686 |
| 2020 | 10 | 2,449 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4,634 |
| 2022 | 10 | 2,488 |
| 2023 | 15 | 1,863 |
| 2024 | 10 | 2,574 |
| 2025 | 13 | 2,138 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 153 | 291 |
| 2012 | 188 | 256 |
| 2013 | 210 | 241 |
| 2014 | 255 | 223 |
| 2015 | 237 | 235 |
| 2016 | 259 | 216 |
| 2017 | 233 | 232 |
| 2018 | 217 | 238 |
| 2019 | 264 | 196 |
| 2020 | 238 | 216 |
| 2021 | 246 | 215 |
| 2022 | 244 | 208 |
| 2023 | 212 | 231 |
| 2024 | 257 | 193 |
| 2025 | 262 | 193 |

## In other languages

- Arabic: فَرَنْسِيس
- Armenian: Ֆրանցիսկոս
- Bulgarian: Франци́ск
- Catalan: Francesc
- Chinese: 弗朗西斯
- Czech: František
- Danish: Frans
- Dutch: Frans, Francis, Franciscus
- Esperanto: Francisko
- Finnish: Frans, Franciscus
- French: François, Francis
- German: Franz, Franziskus
- Greek: Φραγκίσκος
- Hungarian: Ferenc
- Icelandic: Frans
- Indonesian: Fransiskus
- Irish: Proinsias
- Italian: Francesco
- Japanese: フランシス, フランソワ
- Latin: Franciscus

## People named Francis

- Francis Bacon, English philosopher and statesman (1561–1626)
- Francis Drake, English sailor and privateer (c. 1540 – 1596)
- Francis Ford Coppola, American filmmaker (born 1939)
- Francis Crick, British molecular biologist, biophysicist, neuroscientist; co-discoverer of the structure 
- Francis Fukuyama, American political scientist, political economist, and author
- Francis William Aston, British chemist (1877-1945)
- Francis Galton, British eugenist, polymath, and behavioural geneticist (1822–1911)
- Richard Francis Burton, British explorer, army officer, writer and scholar (1821–1890)
- Nevill Francis Mott, English physicist, Nobel prize winner
- Charles Francis Richter, American seismologist
- Francis Poulenc, French composer and pianist (1899–1963)
- Francis Peyton Rous, American scientist (1879-1970)

## 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.