Search
Search
Advanced Search
Menu

  1. Home
  2. Baby Boy Names

Gender: Male Meaning of Franklin: "free landholder" Origin of Franklin: English Franklin's Popularity in 2018: #435

Franklin Origin and Meaning

The name Franklin is a boy's name of English origin meaning "free landholder".

A doubly Presidential name, via Pierce and Roosevelt, Franklin was given an initial boost via the fame of Benjamin Franklin. It also has a literary tie to the main character of the Wilkie Collins classic The Moonstone.

Franklin was a Top 100 name at the peak of the FDR period. But will Franklin get a boost from the pro-Fran-name feeling evidenced since the ascension of Pope Francis? Time will tell.

16 names similar to Franklin

These 16 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Franklin. If you didn't find an alternative name that you like better than Franklin, try our name generator. It allows you to go beyond the similarities of a name, which can provide a lot of inspiration!

Find other names based on Franklin using our baby name generator.

Lists containing Franklin

Franklin in Blog Posts

Popularity

Rank in US: #435
- this week

Famous People Named Franklin

Login or Register to Contribute
Franklin Pierce, 14th U.S. president
Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 31st U.S. president
(William) Franklin Graham III, American evangelist; son of preacher William Franklin "Billy" Graham
Franklin Nathaniel "Frankie" Jonas, American actor and singer, younger brother of The Jonas Brothers
Franklin James Shaffner, American film director
Franklin Pangborn, American character actor
Franklin Wayne Sinatra, son of singer Frank Sinatra
John Franklin Enders, winner of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
Benjamin Franklin, a founding father of the United States
Aretha Franklin, American R&B singer
Franklin (b. 2019), son of Kaitlin Doubleday

Pop Culture References for the name Franklin

Login or Register to Contribute
Dr. Franklin Storm, character in Marvel Universe
Franklin Benjamin Richards, character in Marvel Universe
Franklin "Foggy" Nelson, character in Marvel Universe
Franklin the Turtle, children's book and TV series
Franklin Armstrong, character in the Peanuts series by Charles Schultz
Franklin Aloysius Mumford, character on TV's "My Wife and Kids"
Franklin Blake, character in "The Moonstone" by Wilkie Collins
Franklin John "Frank" Rock aka Sgt. Rock, character in DC comics
Franklin Clay, character in DC comics
Franklin Clinton, character in video game "Grand Theft Auto 5"
Franklin Plaskett, character in film "We Need to Talk About Kevin"
Franklin Mott, vampire on TV's "True Blood"

Nicknames & Variations for Franklin

Frank, Francklin, Franklinn, Franklyn, Franklynn, Francklyn

Comments

TechnoKitten Says:

2018-12-23T13:12:57

This sounds very masculine to me.I don't think it'll work out for a girl.Kaylon's right,use Frances.

ElsaAnne Says:

2018-07-08T15:48:25

I don't know of Franklin Pierce, and forgot about Roosevelt - I'm not American, so these connotations wouldn't jump to my mind. It's disappointing to hear that you would value a name more highly than a person's character, and that you would let that cloud your judgement. I guess we shall have to agree to disagree, but I appreciate that we can all have differing opinions!

Kaylon O. Centres Says:

2018-07-01T22:52:26

Franklin is strongly in the masculine territory. It conjures up names like Franklin Pierce, and Franklin Roosevelt. Nothing about the name is feminine at all. In aiming to name a girl, Frances, Francesca are pretty and even Frankie Lynn, perhaps. If I had an applicant named Franklin come for an interview, I'd think she were male. before meeting her. Seeing she was female would be a bit off-putting and probably cause me to consider her a bit less.

ElsaAnne Says:

2018-06-28T11:03:14

I do actually also prefer Frances to Franklin for a girl as well. However, I stand by my original comment that I could see this working for a little girl, purely because of the -Lin ending, and the nicknames Fran & Frankie.

Kaylon O. Centres Says:

2018-06-16T00:00:36

Franklin would be really ugly on a girl. Frances is so much prettier, feminine and beautiful.

LV51sfan91 Says:

2016-10-19T06:32:41

Great boy name!

ElsaAnne Says:

2016-03-31T12:13:49

I think this could work really well as a girl's name.

Sjkopsa Says:

2016-02-18T01:00:19

Finn is so popular now though. Cute idea,but I am sure by the time I have kids Finn will be the next Noah.

abliss Says:

2016-02-17T05:36:41

I like the idea of nn Finn for Franklin

Sjkopsa Says:

2015-09-17T16:05:56

I like Franklin but the nick name Frank ruins it for me.

letitsnow Says:

2015-08-29T19:48:46

It's a classic name with a strong masculine feel. Everyone is familiar with the name but it isn't used much anymore so hopefully it won't become too popular again like it was in the 1930's. We plan to use it if we have a boy. It is also is in our family history.

jasminegarden Says:

2015-07-07T16:44:50

I really like this name :)