Frances

French and English given name of Latin origin

Frances is an English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.'^{[citation needed]} The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the Franks who were named for the francisca, the axe they used in battle. ^[1]

Notable people and characters with the name include:

People known as Frances

Frances, Countess of Périgord (died 1481)
Frances of Rome (1384–1440), Italian saint, mystic, organizer of charitable services and Benedictine oblate who founded a religious community of oblates
Frances (musician) (born 1993), British singer and songwriter

People with the given name

Frances Abington (1737–1815), English actress
Frances Alda (1879–1952), New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic lyric soprano
Frances Allitsen (1848–1912), English composer
Frances Allen (1932–2020), American computer scientist and pioneer in the field of optimizing compilers
Frances Arnold (born 1956), American chemical engineer and Nobel Laureate
Dame Frances Ashcroft (born 1952), British ion channel physiologist
Frances Atkins, British chef
Frances Barkman (1885–1946), Russian-born Australian schoolteacher and Jewish community worker
Frances Aviva Blane, British abstract painter
Frances Catherine Barnard (1796–1869), English author
Frances Elizabeth Barrow (1822–1894), American children's writer
Frances Bavier (1902–1989), American stage and television actress
Frances Estill Beauchamp (1860–1923), American temperance activist, social reformer, lecturer
Frances Bergen (1922–2006), American actress and fashion model
Frances Black (born 1960), Irish singer
Frances (Fanny) Brawne (1800–1865), fiancée of Romantic poet John Keats
Frances Brody, English novelist and playwright
Frances Brooke (1724–1789), English novelist, essayist, playwright and translator
Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924), English playwright and author
Frances Burney (1752–1840), English novelist, diarist and playwright
Frances E. Burns (1866–1937), American social leader and business executive
Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850–1917), Italian-American Roman Catholic nun and saint
Frances Boyd Calhoun (1867–1909), American author
Frances Manwaring Caulkins (1795–1869), American historian, genealogist, author
Frances Burke, Countess of Clanricarde (1567–1633), English noblewoman and Irish countess
Frances Hyde, Countess of Clarendon (c. 1617–1667), mother-in-law of King James II of England and maternal grandmother of Mary II and Queen Anne
Frances Cavenaugh, American politician
Frances Bean Cobain (born 1992), American artist, daughter of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and singer Courtney Love
Frances Newton, Lady Cobham (1539–1592), one of the closest friends of Queen Elizabeth I of England
Frances Augusta Hemingway Conant (1842–1903), American journalist, editor, businesswoman
Frances Conroy, American actress
Frances Cornford (1886–1960), English poet
Frances Lewis Brackett Damon (1857–1939), American poet, writer
Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson (1894–1985), British politician and Member of Parliament
Frances Dickinson (1856–1945), American physician, clubwoman
Frances Dodge (1914–1971), American internationally known horsewoman
Frances Ekstam (1914–2005), American founder of the physical therapy program at Indiana University School of Medicine
Frances Adler Elkins (1888–1953), interior designer
Frances Farmer, American actress
Frances Fisher, American actress
Frances Scott Fitzgerald (1921–1986), American journalist
Frances FitzGerald (journalist) (born 1940), American journalist and author
Frances Fitzgerald (politician) (born 1950), Irish Fine Gael politician
Frances Forbes-Robertson (1866–1956), British novelist
Frances X. Frei, American academic and businesswoman
Frances Elizabeth Fryatt, American author, editor, specialist in household applied arts
Frances Nimmo Greene (1867–1937), American educator and author
Frances Irene Burge Griswold (1826–1900), American poet, author
Frances Haugen, American data engineer and scientist, product manager, and whistleblower
Frances Ridley Havergal (1836–1879), English hymnwriter, religious poet
Frances Holk-Jones, member of the Alabama House of Representatives
Frances Anne Hopkins (1838–1919), British painter
Frances C. Jenkins (1826–1915), American evangelist, Quaker minister, and social reformer
Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864–1952), American photographer and photojournalist
Frances Môn Jones (1919–2000), Welsh harpist and teacher
Frances Kirwan (born 1959), British mathematician
Frances Shand Kydd (1936–2004), British viscountess, mother of Diana, Princess of Wales
Frances Latham (1610–1677), colonial woman in Rhode Island known as "the Mother of Governors" for having 10 governors among her direct descendants
Frances Lupton (1821–1892), English reformer for female education
Frances MacDonald (1873–1921), Scottish artist
Frances Laughton Mace (1836–1899), American poet
Frances Harrison Marr (1835–1918), American poet
Frances McDormand (born 1957), American actress
Frances Gertrude McGill (1882–1959), pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist and criminologist
Frances McKee (born 1966), Scottish musician, guitarist for Scottish indie band The Vaselines
Frances Margaret Milne (1846–?), Irish-born American writer and librarian
Frances Nelson (1761–1831), wife of Admiral Horatio Nelson
Frances Osborne (born 1969), British author
Frances Perkins (1880–1965), the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position, and the first woman appointed to the U.S. Cabinet
Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston (1864–1947), wife of US President Grover Cleveland
Frances Quinlan, American musician
Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond, as known as 'La Belle Stuart', the face of Britannia
Frances Rutherford (1912–2006), New Zealand artist and occupational therapist
Frances Schreuder (1938–2004), American murderer in the Franklin Bradshaw murder
Frances Alice Shepherd, Canadian academic
Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset (1590–1632), central figure in a famous scandal and murder
Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (1599–1674), English noblewoman
Frances Lee Strong or Grandma Lee (1934–2020), American comedian
Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk (1517–1559), granddaughter of Henry VII of England and mother of Queen Jane Grey
Frances T. Sullivan, New York State assemblywoman 1991–2002
Frances Radclyffe, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I
Frances Sweeney (1908–1944), American journalist and anti-fascist activist
Frances L. Swift (1837–1916), American church and temperance leader
Francie Swift, born Frances Swift, American actress
Frances Tiafoe, (male) American tennis player
Frances Christine Fisher Tiernan (1846–1920), American novelist and author under the pen name Christian Reid
Frances E. Townsley (1850–1909), American Baptist minister
Frances Trollope (1779–1863), English novelist and writer, mother of novelist and writer Anthony Trollope
Frances Eleanor Trollope (1835–1913), sister of Ellen Ternan (Charles Dickens' mistress) and sister-in-law of Anthony Trollope
Frances Talbot, Countess of Tyrconnell (c. 1647–1730), English courtier and Irish countess
Frances Vane, Viscountess Vane (1715–1788), British memoirist known for her highly public adulterous relationships
Frances Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave (1821–1879), British heiress and society hostess
Frances Willard (1839–1898), American educator, temperance reformer and women's suffragist
Frances Williams (disambiguation), multiple people
Frances Yip, Hong Kong singer

Fictional characters

Frances, the title character in the children's book series by Russell Hoban
Frances Earnshaw, from the novel Wuthering Heights
Frances "Baby" Houseman (portrayed by Jennifer Grey), from the movie Dirty Dancing
Frances, in the anime Sonic X
Frances "Franny" Glass, from Franny and Zooey
Mary Frances "Francie" Nolan, from A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
Frances Stevens, played by Grace Kelly in Hitchcock's To Catch a Thief
Frances Ha, the title character, played by Greta Gerwig, in the 2012 American black and white comedy-drama film, Frances Ha
Frances "Frankie" Heck, played by Patricia Heaton on the ABC sitcom The Middle
Frances the Firefly, the protagonist in a fire safety public information film

References

^ "Frances – Baby Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity".

Name list

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