Francis: Name Meaning, Origin, Popularity, & Inspiration

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Francis

Francis is Old French and means "Free," an androgynous name, though Frances is generally used for girls and Francis for boys.

+ 2% this year Masculine Rare Updated: August 7, 2024 Updated: August 7, 2024 Table of contents

Boy name origins & meanings

• Old French : Free; an androgynous name, though Frances is generally used for girls and Francis for boys

Boy name variations

Franco France Franciskus Francys Frannie Franny Franscis Fransis Franus Frencis

How Popular Is The Name Francis

Family name origins & meanings

• English : from the personal name Francis (Old French form Franceis, Latin Franciscus, Italian Francisco). This was originally an ethnic name meaning ‘Frank’ and hence ‘Frenchman’. The personal name owed much of its popularity during the Middle Ages to the fame of St. Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), whose baptismal name was actually Giovanni but who was nicknamed Francisco because his father was absent in France at the time of his birth. As an American family name this has absorbed cognates from several other European languages (for forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988).
• Jewish (American) : an Americanization of one or more like-sounding Jewish surnames, or an adoption of the non-Jewish surname.

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