Frances
Meaning of Frances
Frances salsas out of ancient Rome, spun from the Latin “Franciscus,” meaning “free one,” and she still twirls with liberty in her skirts today; say it FRAN-sis, and it snaps like castanets. This vintage belle once crossed the Channel with medieval monks, picked up polish in France, and later rode the Mayflower breeze to America, leaving footprints beside saints (hello, St. Frances Cabrini), First Ladies (Mrs. Cleveland), and silver-screen rebels (Frances McDormand). She carries pet-name maracas—Frankie, Franny, Fran—that shake with spunky rhythm, yet the full form stays graceful as a flamenco fan. Parents love that mix: old-soul roots, modern kick, and a meaning that shouts “freedom” louder than a plaza full of fireworks. No wonder her chart line keeps looping back up like a lively fiesta banner catching the wind.
Pronunciation
American English
- Pronunced as FRAN-sis (/ˈfrænsɪs/)
British English
- Pronunced as FRAN-sis (/ˈfransɪs/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
Notable People Named Frances
| American tennis player Frances Tiafoe Jr. reached world number 10 on June 19, 2023, becoming the first Sierra Leonean American man in the ATP top ten. |
| Frances Ellen Watkins Harper was a pioneering African American abolitionist, suffragist, poet, and educator, among the first Black women published in the United States starting in 1845. |
| Frances Perkins was the first woman in a US cabinet and the longest serving Secretary of Labor, a New Deal leader under FDR who championed workers and immigrant rights. |
| Frances Hodgson Burnett - Frances Eliza Hodgson Burnett was a British American novelist and playwright best known for Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden. |
| Frances Xavier Cabrini, known as Mother Cabrini, was an Italian American religious sister and the first American canonized as a saint by the Vatican. |
| Frances Louise McDormand is an acclaimed American actress and producer who has achieved the Triple Crown of Acting, earned many other major awards, and starred in indie films that have grossed over 2.2 billion dollars worldwide. |
| Frances Oldham Kelsey - Frances Kelsey was a Canadian American pharmacologist and FDA reviewer who kept thalidomide off the US market over safety concerns, helping prevent birth defects and earning a top civilian honor from President John F Kennedy in 1962. |
| Frances Bean Cobain is an American visual artist and model who, as the only child of Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love, controls the publicity rights to the name and image of her father. |
| Frances Langford was an American singer and actress popular in the golden age of radio who worked in film and television for more than two decades. |
| Frances Auretta Victor was an American historian and novelist best known for her works on the American West, especially Oregon history. |
| Frances Elizabeth Allen was an American computer scientist who pioneered optimizing compilers, became the first woman IBM Fellow and the first woman to win the Turing Award, and made landmark advances in program optimization and parallelization during a long career at IBM. |
| Frances Adler Elkins was a leading 20th century interior designer, hailed as Californias first great decorator for blending historic style with modernist flair, and the sister of architect David Adler. |
| Frances Conroy is an American retired actress best known for Ruth Fisher in Six Feet Under, earning a Golden Globe, three Screen Actors Guild Awards, and four Emmy nominations, and for multiple roles in American Horror Story with further Emmy recognition. |
| Frances Lander Spain was a pioneering childrens librarian and educator who in 1960 became the first childrens librarian to serve as president of the American Library Association and was later named among the 100 most important library leaders of the 20th century. |
| Mary Frances Sissy Farenthold was an American politician, lawyer, activist, and educator who ran for Texas governor in 1972 and 1974, finished second for the 1972 Democratic vice presidential nomination, and served as the first chair of the National Womens Political Caucus in 1973. |
