Francis

What Francis means

Means “Frankish (man); a Frank”

Borrowed from Medieval Latin Franciscus (“Frankish (man); a Frank”), from Francia (“Frankland”)).

Source: Wiktionary, “Francis” (revision 94539390), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Francis?

US: Rising: up from #481 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #235 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1915, when 5,594 boys got the name (#29 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 2,221 baby boys in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 1,038 baby boys in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,637 baby boys in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in RI (2.24 per 1,000 boys), HI (2.06 per 1,000 boys), DC (1.98 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed boys born in each state.

US vs UK

Francis is #420 in the US and #193 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (boys). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 86.3% of US babies named Francis were boys.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Frances6 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Francis

Boys

• Lionel#659“lion”^*
• Leon#138“lion”^*
• Theodore#4Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #99 in 2015, #4 in 2025
• Lawrence#518Editor’s note Down from #499 in 2015 to #518 in 2025 in the US
• Felix#175“happy, lucky”^*
• Augustine#545Same root as Austin, meaning “majestic”^*

For a sister

• Regina#395“queen”^*
• Alma#449“nourishing, kind”^*
• Sylvia#300“forest”^*
• Octavia#308“the eighth”^*
• Marcella#948Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1922, with 1,537 babies; 272 in 2025
• Loretta#606Diminutive of Laura, meaning “laurel tree”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Latin, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Francis’s. Rank is US 2025.