The baby name Frances feels like a charming antique with a lady-like, refined vibe.
Thanks to Kim for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
BREAD AND JAM
One famous Frances comes to mind: the badger of Russell and Lillian Hoban’s series of children’s books. She’s strong-willed and imaginative, and her family is close-knit and loving. The stories have been favorites since they were first published in the 1960s. (Bread and Jam for Frances is one of the titles.)
Fun fact: in the first draft of the stories, Frances was a vole.
The Jim Henson Company adapted the books for a PBS Kids series in 2008, but it ran for only a few episodes.
Still, Frances – and her baby sister Gloria – remain storybook staples for many children.
FRANCISCUS
But ages before the little badger appeared on bookshelves, this name belonged to a saint – one of the most renowned of the Middle Ages.
Born Giovanni, his merchant father was traveling in France during his birth. Accordingly, the nickname Francesco – meaning Frankish or Frenchman – stuck.
It seems he wasn’t the very first Francis. The future saint was born in 1181; while the name doesn’t appear throughout Europe until the 1300s or so, a few appear prior to Francis’ birth.
No question, though, that Giovanni-turned-Francesco gets credit for the popularity of Francis. He renounced his family’s wealth, devoted himself to the poor, and founded a religious order at Assisi that continues more than eight centuries later.
The baby name Frances tends to be the feminine form in English. But standardized spellings are relatively novel. It’s not until the sixteenth century that Frances regularly appears in use in England.
International forms of the name abound. There’s the Spanish Francisca, identical to the Late Latin form of the name. The Italian Francesca enjoyed some popularity in the 1980s, and again early in the 2000s, but it never quite caught on.
BY THE NUMBERS
But the baby name Frances has had a good run. It ranked in the US Top Ten for girls in much of the 1910s and 20s. It remained a Top 100 favorite through 1955.
When the Hobans named their badger, quite a few young girls might have had the name.
And yet, the name fell steadily beginning in the middle of the twentieth century. By 2007, it hit a low of #828.
FAMOUS FRANCES
Famous and accomplished women named Frances abound.
Let’s start with the British aristocracy. No shortage of woman answered to the classic name, including Frances Newton, Baroness Cobham, known as one of Queen Elizabeth I’s closest friends. There’s also Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond, one of the Restoration era’s most noted beauties. She served as the model for Britannia in the 1600s; her image appeared on British coinage into the 1970s.
Lady Diana Frances Spencer became an international celebrity when she married Prince Charles in 1981. The former Princess of Wales remains beloved, more than twenty years after her tragic death.
In American history, nineteenth century activist educator Frances Willard makes it a suffragette name.
Frances Perkins served as Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the first woman to hold a US Cabinet position and a key part of Roosevelt’s New Deal policies.
They continue over the ages. Author Frances Hodgson Burnett penned classics like The Secret Garden early in the 1900s. A century later, Frances McDormand became a celebrated actor in movies like 1996’s Fargo and 2017’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
FRANKIE and FRANNY
The baby name Frances comes with a complement of sparky nicknames. There’s boyish Frankie and retro Franny, probably the two most commonly heard. Francie, too, works.
Former favorite Fanny, however, is probably best left in the past.
There’s also another Frances you might overlook: Frances Houseman, better known as Baby in the 1987 coming-of-age movie Dirty Dancing.
REVIVAL
Celebrities have embraced Frances for ages. Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love’s daughter Frances Bean is all grown up. Amanda Peet and Brooke Shields have daughters by the name.
Then came 2012, and Greta Gerwig’s successful indie flick Frances Ha. That year, the name rose slightly.
In 2014, Jimmy Fallon named his second daughter Frances Cole. They call her Franny. She’s been in the spotlight on his late night talk show many times since.
As of 2018, the baby name Frances reached #445. That’s still a ways from the name’s former Top Ten status. But it signals that the revival of Frances is well underway.
If you’re crushed that Eleanor and Charlotte are such chart-toppers, the equally classic Frances might be a logical substitute.
What do you think of the baby name Frances? Do you prefer Frances or Francesca?
First published on September 2, 2008, this post was revised substantially and re-published on August 6, 2020.
Two contenders for my girls list are India and Oona. I’d love to read about them!
Girl names:
Simone
Celeste
Corinne
Maxine
I grew up with a Xiomara
Alright, a few girls that entertain me, Hope I haven’t missed them already!
Josephine
Elspeth
Dorothy/Dorothea
Edith
Florence/Flora
Cecily (This one might have been covered already)
Jemima
Mathilda/Matilda
Pomeline ( A French little Apple!)
Martha
Pandora (My MIL!)
Philippa
Roxana (not Roxanne!)
Lilac
and finally
Margaret, Marguerite &/or my lovely medieval Margery
Anything? 😉
I have an offbeat suggestion for a girls’ name: Alwilda. This was the middle name of one of my great-great aunts, born in 1884 to an Illinois wagonmaker’s family with otherwise ordinary names like Elizabeth and Howard. I’ve always wondered how they happened on that name.
We have a relative by the name of Awilda, sort of close. She is a Latino – Dominican Republic.
I always wondered where that came from, I wonder if it’s related to Alwilda…
Btw, my great grandmother was Frances and I got her as a middle name. Kids in school smeared it on me constantly, what is the deal?
But my GG was a fabulous and wonderful lady and I’m proud to have it.
Wish granted – Linus is already on the calendar for 9/7!
I need to sit down and review my calendar later this week, but I’ll put Cornelius in there when I do, promise. Personally, I’m a huge fan of Cordelia, but Cornelius has an interesting vibe, too – and fits so well with Julius, Marius and the other -us names that I’ve covered. (My baby brother has dibs on Leonidas, nn Leo.)
Funny, Laney, I have my share of Cenzos and Cescas in my Italian family and until you mentioned it, I’d never thought about how to *spell* it.
I do think Frances is daring these days – but I’m hearing more and more of Alice and definitely lots of Beatrice, so I think she might be due for a revival.
And I’d overlooked Francie – that’s a sweet nickname for a ladylike Frances who wouldn’t quite be comfortable as a Frannie.
As for Fanny? I had a Great Aunt who answered to the nn – though her full name was Philomena. She was lovely, but I suppose I’m particularly disinclined to entertain it, as her name made me snicker through many a childhood family event.
Going back to NotD, any one have a few good ideas for girls? For the first time ever, I seem to be pulling WAY ahead on boys’ names and I like to fill the calendar evenly. (Neurotic, I know – but there it is.)
Hey DH… Consider your request for Cornelius seconded! I really like him but with Cosmo & Clarence already in my top 2, Cornelius ends up in a secondary spot. I’m beginning to feel the C overload! (What s it about C’s that I like this time around?
I’d also like to make yet another request, if possible, Linus? I’m starting to really warm up to him, being the former Pope name (like my other boys) and the first name of my other half’s personal hero: Linus Torvalds. I also like the Peanuts assocation, my brother was affectionately Linus for his blanket toting ways as a toddler (as I was Lucy, the bossy older sister) Thanks Mom for that! 🙂 I’d love to see what other assocations you can dig up, Verity (if you’ve got the time, I mean)! I searched but can’t find him here.
I have to say Frances is a pretty name but I do find it a bit old and dated. I’d love to see it on a child, but I just wouldn’t use it myself. I prefer Francesca instead, and I do have to say I love Francis on a boy!
Oh, speaking of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, would you be interested in doing a name of the day on Cornelius? That was Francie’s brother in the book and he went by nickname Neely.
You left out my favorite Frances nickname—-Francie, worn by my favorite literary Frances Nolan nn Francie in A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.
For me, Frances has a few great nicknames but not enough wow or femininity for me. I could see using in the middle slot if it were a family name but this one is still a bit too musty for me.
Hah! Frances was my Mother! 😀 She was actually born Francesca (in a Polish/Russian family, no less!) and anglicised it to Frances by high school, figuring it would be easier to live with. Not really. I recall many telephone conversations with her saying “‘es’, not ‘is’ ‘es’ is for girls”! Drove her bananas. Frances (Mom) & Francis(Uncle) are both family names for me, hence her being in the middle (Eulalie Frances Madelief). I’m still looking for someplace to use Francis in the middle for a boy.
Yes, I know the spellings were interchangable for centuries but honestly? “es” for girls, “is” for boys is what my brain, and eyes, prefer. No, insist on!
Both boy & girl variants are smart, happy and really lovely. Frankie only appeals on a little boy, Frank (ala Ol’ Blue eyes) on a /teen/man. Francie for the girls.. or do I dare? Fannie sounds so flapper-ish cool to me and makes me think of Fannie May candy and Fannie Mae, the Federal lending insitution. I am firmly in the “fannie is not your tush” camp!
France Bean surprised and enchanted me, and raised both Kurt & Courtney a notch in my estimation. And if anyone ever called a Frances of mine “baby” I’d strangle them.
I thoroughly adore Frances (and Francis). 😀
I love the Fannie/Fanny nickname as well! There are so many admirable women in history called Fanny and yes, it really is flapperish cool. 🙂