Francis

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 14 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Francis is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• French given name991K records spelled Francis5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Philippines

  Also written Françis

• Spanish given name515K records spelled Francis48 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Venezuela, Philippines, Peru

  Also written Francís, Fräncïs, Fráncis, Françis, Frâncïs

• a separate given name209K records spelled Francis5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, United Kingdom, Canada

  Also written Fräncis, Françis, Frâncis

• Hindi given name118K records spelled Francis10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, United Kingdom, Nigeria

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Fräncîs, Frâncis, Françis, Fráncis

• German given name47K records spelled Francis8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Germany, Austria, United Kingdom

  Also written Françis, Fräncis, Fraencis, Fräńćïš, Fráncis

127 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Francis is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, From Italian Francesco, ‘Frenchman’; name of St Francis of Assisi.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In French, From Latin Franciscus, ‘Frankish; from France’.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In French, Forme internationale de François, du latin Franciscus « franc, libre ».

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In Swedish, Francis och Frances är engelska former av latinets Franciscus (→ Frans). Stavningen Francis är vanligare till män, medan Frances är vanligare till kvinnor.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In French, Origine latine, « Franc ».

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Richard Francis Burtonb. 1821GBBritish explorer, army officer, writer and scholar (1821–1890)
• Francis Galtonb. 1822GBBritish eugenist, polymath, and behavioural geneticist (1822–1911)
• Francis William Astonb. 1877GBBritish chemist (1877-1945)
• Louis Mountbattenb. 1900GBnot in their usual nameBritish statesman and naval officer (1900-1979)
• Charles Francis Richterb. 1900USAmerican seismologist
• Francis Crickb. 1916GBBritish molecular biologist, biophysicist, neuroscientist; co-discoverer of the structure of DNA
• Robert F. Kennedyb. 1925USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician and lawyer (1925–1968)
• Francis Laib. 1932FRAcademy Award-winning French composer
• Bill Nighyb. 1949GBnot in their usual nameBritish actor (born 1949)
• Francis Fukuyamab. 1952USAmerican political scientist, political economist, and author

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 2,157 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Francis?

We estimate roughly 306 thousand people bear Francis (counting its spellings and scripts) across 12 countries in our records.

In which country does Francis have the most bearers?

Francis is most frequently recorded in the United Kingdom, where it is most often spelled francis.

Where is Francis most common?

Measured as a share of residents rather than as a count, Francis is densest in France — about 1 in 408 people — even though United Kingdom holds more of our records for it.

How common is Francis compared with other names?

In the United Kingdom, Francis is the 173rd most common given name of 369,273 given names recorded there.

Is Francis a male or female name?

Francis is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Francis mean?

Recorded meaning: From the personal name Francis, from Old French and ultimately Latin Franciscus, literally “Frenchman”.