Frances
Top 1000
About Frances
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.
Pronounced FRAN-sis.
As of October 2026, Frances ranked #318 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #8 in 1918, Nameberry popularity #194.
Editor's take: The name Frances is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "from France; free man".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #603 | 484 | 270.9 |
| 2015 | #513 | 613 | 343.4 |
| 2016 | #447 | 721 | 406.9 |
| 2017 | #437 | 730 | 422.8 |
| 2018 | #442 | 723 | 425 |
| 2019 | #438 | 718 | 427.8 |
| 2020 | #418 | 744 | 460.2 |
| 2021 | #392 | 801 | 488.2 |
| 2022 | #419 | 755 | 460.3 |
| 2023 | #405 | 760 | 473.6 |
| 2024 | #379 | 821 | 506.7 |
| 2025 | #318 | 960 | 597.3 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Frances.
- Harriet
- Edith
- Ruth
- Dorothy
- Louise
- Agnes
- Winifred
- Louisa
- Greta
- Beatrice
- Philippa
- Henrietta
- Maude
- Dorothea
- Ida
- Martha
- Florence
- Ramona
- Esther
- Betty
Frances on lists
Famous Francess
- 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