Francis

Francis meaning

Francis is a Christian and international boy's name of Latin origin.

Frankish, French; from Latin Franciscus, from Francus, of the Franks

Also used to mean: Frenchman, free man

Francis comes from the Latin Franciscus, "Frankish" or "French", formed from Francus. Lewis and Short's Latin dictionary gives Franci as the Franks, a Germanic confederacy on the Rhine, and Francus as belonging to the Franks, the people who later gave their name to France. The name owes its fame to Saint Francis of Assisi (about 1181–1226): baptised Giovanni, he was renamed Francesco by his father, a merchant who had been away in France at the time of his birth. In India the name is tied above all to Saint Francis Xavier, the Jesuit missionary based in Goa in the 1540s, whose remains lie in the Basilica of Bom Jesus. Name lists give "Frenchman" or "free man"; the second is not a sense found in the Latin.

Source: Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary (1879), s.v. Franci · entry Franci · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Lewis & Short, Franci (alatius.com) · Britannica, St. Francis of Assisi · Britannica, Basilica of Bom Jesus

Famous namesakes

• Saint Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscans
• Saint Francis Xavier, Jesuit missionary in Goa

Popularity abroad

• #420 United States, boys 2025 (up 30 from 450 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #193 England and Wales, boys 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Spellings

Francis · Frances

Related names

Also starting with Fra-

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