Frances

Where Frances comes from

From Old French Franceise, feminine form of Franceis, from Late Latin Franciscus (“Frankish”). Doublet of Francesca and Francisca.
— Wiktionary's entry for Frances
  • Latin
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #42 among girls — 605 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1918
    Peak, #8
    16,132 babies named Frances — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1945
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #34.
  4. 1956
    Frances Arnold born
    Nobel prize winning US scientist and engineer
  5. 1957
    Frances McDormand born
    American actress
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Latin, masculine equivalent Francis.
  • A male given name, variant of Francis.
Namesakes
  • Frances McDormand · American actress, born 1957
  • Frances Arnold · Nobel prize winning US scientist and engineer, born 1956
  • Frances Hodgson Burnett · English-American playwright and author, 1849–1924
  • Frances Marion · American journalist, author, film director and screenwriter, 1888–1973
  • Frances Allen · American computer scientist, 1932–2020

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.