French and English given name of Latin origin
For other uses, see Frances (disambiguation).
Frances is: an English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the: meaning of theββname Frances is 'from France'/'free one.' 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.
Notable people and characters with the name include:
People known as Francesβ»
- Frances, Countess of PΓ©rigord (died 1481)
- Frances of Rome (1384β1440), 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 nameβ»
- Frances Abington (1737β1815), English actress
- Frances Alda (1879β1952), New Zealand-born, Australian-raised operatic lyric soprano
- Frances Allitsen (1848β1912), English composer
- Frances Allen (1932β2020), 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 (1885β1946), Russian-born Australian schoolteacher and Jewish community worker
- Frances Aviva Blane, British abstract painter
- Frances Catherine Barnard (1796β1869), English author
- Frances Elizabeth Barrow (1822β1894), American children's writer
- Frances Bavier (1902β1989), American stage and television actress
- Frances Estill Beauchamp (1860β1923), American temperance activist, "social reformer," lecturer
- Frances Bergen (1922β2006), American actress and fashion model
- Frances Black (born 1960), Irish singer
- Frances (Fanny) Brawne (1800β1865), fiancΓ©e of Romantic poet John Keats
- Frances Brody, English novelist and playwright
- Frances Brooke (1724β1789), English novelist, essayist, playwright and translator
- Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849β1924), English playwright and author
- Frances Burney (1752β1840), English novelist, diarist and playwright
- Frances E. Burns (1866β1937), American social leader and business executive
- Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850β1917), Italian-American Roman Catholic nun and saint
- Frances Boyd Calhoun (1867β1909), American author
- Frances Manwaring Caulkins (1795β1869), American historian, genealogist, author
- Frances Burke, Countess of Clanricarde (1567β1633), English noblewoman and Irish countess
- Frances Hyde, Countess of Clarendon (c. 1617β1667), 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 (1539β1592), one of the closest friends of Queen Elizabeth I of England
- Frances Augusta Hemingway Conant (1842β1903), American journalist, editor, businesswoman
- Frances Conroy, American actress
- Frances Cornford (1886β1960), English poet
- Frances Lewis Brackett Damon (1857β1939), American poet, writer
- Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson (1894β1985), British politician and Member of Parliament
- Frances Dickinson (1856β1945), American physician, clubwoman
- Frances Dodge (1914β1971), American internationally known horsewoman
- Frances Ekstam (1914β2005), American founder of the physical therapy program at Indiana University School of Medicine
- Frances Adler Elkins (1888β1953), interior designer
- Frances Farmer, American actress
- Frances Fisher, American actress
- Frances Scott Fitzgerald (1921β1986), American journalist
- Frances FitzGerald (journalist) (born 1940), American journalist and author
- Frances Fitzgerald (politician) (born 1950), Irish Fine Gael politician
- Frances Forbes-Robertson (1866β1956), British novelist
- Frances X. Frei, American academic and businesswoman
- Frances Elizabeth Fryatt, American author, editor, specialist in household applied arts
- Frances Nimmo Greene (1867β1937), American educator and author
- Frances Irene Burge Griswold (1826β1900), American poet, author
- Frances Haugen, American data engineer and "scientist," product manager. And whistleblower
- Frances Ridley Havergal (1836β1879), English hymnwriter, religious poet
- Frances Holk-Jones, member of the Alabama House of Representatives
- Frances Anne Hopkins (1838β1919), British painter
- Frances C. Jenkins (1826β1915), American evangelist, Quaker minister, and social reformer
- Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864β1952), American photographer and photojournalist
- Frances MΓ΄n Jones (1919β2000), Welsh harpist and teacher
- Frances Kirwan (born 1959), British mathematician
- Frances Shand Kydd (1936β2004), British viscountess, mother of Diana, Princess of Wales
- Frances Latham (1610β1677), colonial woman in Rhode Island known as "the Mother of Governors" for having 10 governors among her direct descendants
- Frances Lupton (1821β1892), English reformer for female education
- Frances MacDonald (1873β1921), Scottish artist
- Frances Laughton Mace (1836β1899), American poet
- Frances Harrison Marr (1835β1918), American poet
- Frances McDormand (born 1957), American actress
- Frances Gertrude McGill (1882β1959), pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist and criminologist
- Frances McKee (born 1966), Scottish musician, guitarist for Scottish indie band The Vaselines
- Frances Margaret Milne (1846β?), Irish-born American writer and librarian
- Frances Trego Montgomery (1858 β 1925), American children's book writer
- Frances Nelson (1761β1831), wife of Admiral Horatio Nelson
- Frances Osborne (born 1969), British author
- Frances Perkins (1880β1965), the U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1933ββto 1945, the longest serving in that position, and the first woman appointedββto the U.S. Cabinet
- Frances Folsom Cleveland Preston (1864β1947), 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 (1912β2006), New Zealand artist and occupational therapist
- Frances Schreuder (1938β2004), American murderer in the Franklin Bradshaw murder
- Frances Alice Shepherd, Canadian academic
- Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset (1590β1632), central figure in a famous scandal and murder
- Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (1599β1674), English noblewoman
- Frances Lee Strong or Grandma Lee (1934β2020), American comedian
- Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk (1517β1559), granddaughter of Henry VII of England and mother of Queen Jane Grey
- Frances T. Sullivan, New York State assemblywoman 1991β2002
- Frances Radclyffe, Countess of Sussex (1531β1589), Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I
- Frances Sweeney (1908β1944), American journalist and anti-fascist activist
- Frances L. Swift (1837β1916), American church and temperance leader
- Francie Swift, born Frances Swift, American actress
- Frances Tiafoe, (male) American tennis player
- Frances Christine Fisher Tiernan (1846β1920), American novelist and author under the pen name Christian Reid
- Frances E. Townsley (1850β1909), American Baptist minister
- Frances Trollope (1779β1863), English novelist and writer, mother of novelist and writer Anthony Trollope
- Frances Eleanor Trollope (1835β1913), sister of Ellen Ternan (Charles Dickens' mistress) and sister-in-law of Anthony Trollope
- Frances Talbot, Countess of Tyrconnell (c. 1647β1730), English courtier and Irish countess
- Frances Vane, Viscountess Vane (1715β1788), British memoirist known for her highly public adulterous relationships
- Frances Waldegrave, Countess Waldegrave (1821β1879), British heiress and society hostess
- Frances Willard (1839β1898), American educator, temperance reformer and women's suffragist
- Frances Williams (disambiguation), multiple people
- Frances Yip, Hong Kong singer
Fictional charactersβ»
- 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
See alsoβ»
Referencesβ»
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Name list
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