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Florence

Gender: F Popularity: this week. Origin of Florence: Latin Meaning of Florence: "flourishing, prosperous"
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Florence, which has been neglected for decades, has a lot going for it, both for its floral feel and as a place name connection to the lovely Italian city (after which Florence Nightingale was named--it was her birthplace), and the association to the place seems to be helping Florence stir back to style life, along with cousin Flora.

The hot group Florence + the Machine, headlined by red-haired Florence Welch, has also helped to rejuvenate its image.

Florence was most popular in the US at the turn of the last century and in the early decades of the twentieth: it was in the Top 10 from 1886 to 1906 but hasn't been in the Top 1000 since 1981. It is a stylish name in the UK, now at Number 54.

Florence has a diverse mixture of namesakes and references--a character in Dickens's Dombey & Sons, a US First Lady (Harding), one of the Supremes, the Brady Bunch's Henderson, track and field star Florence Griffith Joyner and several TV characters.

Florence has some particularly lively nicknames--Flo, Flossie and Florrie.

Famous People Named Florence

Florence Henderson, American actress and singer
Florence Griffith-Joyner, American athlete in track & field
Florence Ballard, American singer of The Supremes
Florence Mary Leontine Welch, English lead singer of Florence + the Machine
Florence Foster Jenkins, American soprano
Florence Nightingale, pioneering nurse
Florence Kelley, American social reformist and feminist
Florence King, American author
Florence Sabin, American medical scientist
Florence Harding, wife of US president Warren G. Harding
Florence Reed, American actress
Florence Rose Endellion Cameron (b. 2010), Daughter of British Prime Minister David Cameron
Florence Elsie Outhwaite (b. 2008), daughter of Tamzin Outhwaite and Tom Ellis
Sage Florence Galafassi (b. 2008), daughter of Toni Collette
Percy Florence, son of Percy Bysshe Shelley and Mary Shelley

Pop Culture References for the Name Florence

Florence Johnston, character in The Jeffersons TV series
Florence Jean Castleberry, in the film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore
Florence+The Machine-band
Florence Reece, Union activist for the United Mine Workers in Harlan,KY in the 1930s. Wrote the song, "Which side are you on?"

Flo, Florance, Florella, Florentina, Florentine, Florentyna, Florian, Florice, Florie, Florina, Florinda, Florine, Floris, Florrance, Florrie, Florry, Florynce, Floss, Flossey, Flossie, Flossy

Florence's International Variations

Florentia (German) Blathnaid (Irish) Fiorentina, Fiorenza (Italian) Floriana, Florinia, Florencita, Florencia (Spanish)

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