Frances

English from Latin
"from France; free man"

Frances Origin and Meaning

The name Frances is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "from France; free man".

Frances, a soft and gentle classic last popular a hundred years ago, is trending again. The cool nickname Frankie is one reason for the revival of Frances, adding lightness and sass to a serious name. Frances is the feminine form of Francis, the English variation of the Latin name Franciscus. Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman," was taken from the Germanic tribe the Franks, which got its name from the francisca, the axe they used in battle. Until the seventeenth century, the spellings Frances and Francis were used interchangeably for both sexes.

More recently, Frances started receiving new attention when it was chosen in the early 90s by Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love for their only child. It's been by such stylish parents as Jimmy Fallon and Amanda Peet (who nicknamed her daughter Frankie).

Frances was a favorite of the Tudor aristocracy after being given to Henry VII's granddaughter. St. Frances (Mother) Cabrini was the first American citizen to be canonized.

Some of the best known pop culture bearers of the name were known by diminutives—the Franny of J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey, Francie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Frankie in A Member of the Wedding, Baby in Dirty Dancing, and Gidget in Gidget. Traditional nickname Fran feels a bit bland and Fanny, though possessing some eighteenth century charm, is unusable in Britain and Australia where it is slang for female genitalia.

Frances is the endearing badger in the childhood favorite Bedtime for Frances and other Frances books.

Among well known bearers are Frances Perkins, Secretary of Labor in the Roosevelt era; actresses McDormand, Dee, Farmer, and Fisher; journalist Fitzgerald; and writers Burney and Hodgson Burnett.

Frances was the abandoned first name of Judy Garland, Dinah Shore, and Dale Evans.

Some attractive foreign versions are the increasingly popular Francesca, Francoise, Franca, Fanya, and Francine.

Frances began trending upward before Pope Francis was named in 2013, but that helped propel it up further than this somewhat sedate classic name might have gone on its own.

# 405 in the US

Frances Rank in US Top 1000

# 159 on Nameberry

Frances Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Frances Popularity

Famous People Named Frances

  • Frances Elena Farmer
    American actress
  • Frances Ann O'Connor
    Australian actress
  • Saint Frances of Rome
    Italian mystic and oblate
  • Frances Grey
    Duchess of Suffolk, mother of Lady Jane Grey
  • Frances Newton
    Lady Cobham, Lady of the Bedchamber to England's Queen Elizabeth I
  • Frances Radclyffe
    Countess of Sussex, Lady of the Bedchamber to England's Queen Elizabeth I
  • Frances Custis
    daughter of U.S. First Lady Martha Washington and Daniel Custis
  • Frances Kathleen Oldham Kelsey
    pharmacologist and physician of the FDA who refused to authorize Thalidomide
  • Frances "Fanny" Nelson
    Viscountess Nelson, wife of Admiral Horatio Nelson
  • Frances Elizabeth Cox (1812
    1897), translator of hymn "Jesus Lives!"
  • Frances Ridley Havergal (1836
    1879), hymnist and composer
  • Frances Clara Folsom Cleveland Preston
    U.S. First Lady as wife of President Grover Cleveland
  • Frances Scott "Scottie" Fitzgerald
    American journalist, daughter of novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald
  • Frances Joan Davidson
    Viscountess Davidson , English MP
  • Frances Louise McDormand
    American actress
  • Frances FitzGerald
    American journalist and author
  • Frances Hodgson Burnett
    English children's novelist
  • Frances Elizabeth Caroline Willard
    American suffragist
  • Fannie Coralie "Frances" Perkins
    U.S. Secretary of Labor, first woman cabinet member
  • Frances Ethel Gumm
    birth name of American actress Judy Garland
  • Frances Marie Burke
    Miss America 1940
  • Frances Teresa Stewart
    Duchess of Richmond and Lennox aka La Belle Stuart, model of Britannia
  • Frances Anne Vane
    Viscountess Vane, English memoirist
  • Frances Mayes
    American novelist
  • Frances Hardman Conroy
    American actress
  • Frances Black
    Irish singer
  • Frances Burney
    English novelist
  • Eleanor Frances Callier
    American actress
  • Frances Pen "Frankie" Benioff
    daughter of actress Amanda Peet
  • Frances McKee
    Scottish musician of band The Vaselines
  • Frances Hussey Sternhagan
    American actress
  • Diana Frances Spencer
    Princess of Wales
  • Frances Griffiths
    English photographer of the Cottingley Fairies
  • Frances Yip
    Hong Kong pop singer
  • Frances Clementine Suplee (b. 2006)
    daughter of American actor Ethan Suplee
  • Frances "Frankie" Pen Friedman (b. 2007)
    daughter of American actress Amanda Peet
  • Frances Cole Fallon (b. 2014)
    daughter of comedian Jimmy Fallon
  • Frances Harper Wyle (b. 2015)
    daughter of American actor Noah Wyle
  • Frances Bean Cobain
    daughter of musicians Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love
  • Frances Laiz Setta Schenkkan (b. 2016)
    daughter of Brazilian,American actress Morena Baccarin and American actor Ben McKenzie
  • Frances Afifi (b. 2016)
    daughter of actress Sarah Chalke

Frances in Pop Culture

  • Frances "Frankie
    " character in "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends"
  • Frances
    character in "Sonic X"
  • Frances 'Frankie' Addams
    character in "The Member of the Wedding" by Carson McCullers
  • Francis Bonnefoy
    character in "Hetalia"
  • Frances "Franny" Glass
    character in "Franny and Zooey" by J.D. Salinger
  • Frances Halladay
    character in "Frances Ha"
  • Frances "Frankie" Heck
    character on 'The Middle'
  • Frances Hindley
    character in "Wuthering Heights" by Emily Bronte
  • Frances "Baby" Houseman
    character in "Dirty Dancing"
  • Frances Midford
    character in anime Kuroshitsuji/Black Butler
  • Mary Frances "Francie" Nolan
    character in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
  • Frances "Frankie" Almond Smith
    character in "The Hole" and "After the Hole"
  • Frances "Francie" Stevens
    character in "To Catch A Thief"
  • Frances Waters
    character in the "St Clare" book series by Enid Blyton
  • Bedtime for Frances
    children's book series by Russell Hoban
  • Frances "Frank" Reagan
    character in Blue Bloods
  • Frances "Frankie" Kane aka Magenta
    character in DC Universe
  • Frances
    character in short story "Fostered" by Tina Tirrell
  • Frances "Frankie" Pereira
    character in Blue Valentine