Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is

Francis Francis may refer to: People *Pope Francis, the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State and Bishop of Rome *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters *Francis (surname) Places * Rural M ...

. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the Franks who were named for the francisca, the axe they used in battle. https://nameberry.com/babyname/frances Notable people and characters with the name include:

People

* Frances, Countess of Périgord (died 1481) * Frances (musician) (born 1993), British singer and songwriter *

Frances Estill Beauchamp Frances Estill Beauchamp (, Estill; June 27, 1860 – April 11, 1923) was an American temperance activist, social reformer, and lecturer. In 1886, Beauchamp took active responsibilities of leadership in the Woman's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU ...

(1860-1923), American temperance activist, social reformer, lecturer * Frances Burke, Countess of Clanricarde (1567–1633), English noblewoman and Irish countess * Frances E. Burns (1866-1937), American social leader and business executive * Frances Carr, Countess of Somerset (1590–1632), central figure in a famous scandal and murder * Frances Lewis Brackett Damon (1857–1939), American poet, writer *

Frances Davidson, Viscountess Davidson Frances Joan Davidson, Viscountess Davidson, Baroness Northchurch, (née Dickinson; 29 May 1894 – 25 November 1985), styled Lady Davidson between 1935 and 1937 and as Viscountess Davidson between 1937 and 1985, was a British Conservative Party ...

(1894–1985), British politician and Member of Parliament * Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk (1517–1559), granddaughter of Henry VII of England and mother of Queen Jane Grey * Frances Haugen, American data engineer and scientist, product manager, and whistleblower *

Frances Hyde, Countess of Clarendon Frances Hyde, Countess of Clarendon (25 August 1617 (baptised) – 8 August 1667), born Frances Aylesbury, was an English peeress. As the mother of Anne Hyde, she was mother-in-law to James II and VII, the deposed king of England, Scotland, and I ...

(c. 1617–1667), mother-in-law of King James II of England and maternal grandmother of Mary II and Queen Anne *

Frances Newton, Lady Cobham Frances Newton, Baroness Cobham (1539 – 17 October 1592) was an English aristocratic woman who served Queen Elizabeth I of England as a Lady of the Bedchamber, and was one of her closest female friends. She was the second wife of William Brook ...

(1539–1592), one of the closest friends of Queen Elizabeth I of England * Frances Radclyffe, Countess of Sussex (1531–1589), Lady of the Bedchamber to Queen Elizabeth I * Frances Seymour, Duchess of Somerset (1599–1674), English noblewoman * Frances Stewart, Duchess of Richmond, as known as 'La Belle Stuart', the face of Britannia * 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), a leader and hostess of society *

Frances Atkins Frances Atkins is a British chef. When she won a Michelin star at the Yorke Arms in 2003, she was the first female British chef to win a star. Career Frances Venning was born in Maidstone, Kent, but grew up in Ilkley, West Yorkshire. Her father ...

, British chef *

Frances Barkman Frances Barkman (March 1885 - 28 September 1946) was a Jewish Australian schoolteacher and community worker. Born in Kiev, in the Russian Empire, she emigrated to Australia in 1891, with her parents, who were fleeing the pogroms. She was raise ...

(1885–1946), Russian-born Australian schoolteacher and Jewish community worker * Frances Catherine Barnard (1796–1869), English author * Frances Elizabeth Barrow (1822–1894), American children's writer * Frances Black (born 1960), Irish singer * Frances Manwaring Caulkins (1795–1869), American historian, genealogist, author * Frances Bean Cobain (born 1992), American artist, daughter of Nirvana frontman Kurt Cobain and singer Courtney Love * Frances Augusta Hemingway Conant (1842–1903), American journalist, editor, businesswoman * Frances Conroy, American actress * Frances Cornford (1886–1960), English poet * Frances Dickinson (1856–1945), American physician, clubwoman * Frances Dodge (1914–1971), American internationally known horsewoman * Frances Scott Fitzgerald (1921–1986), American journalist * Frances Burney (1752–1840), English novelist, diarist and playwright * Frances Hodgson Burnett (1849–1924), English playwright and author *

Frances Farmer Frances Elena Farmer (September 19, 1913August 1, 1970) was an American actress and television hostess. She appeared in over a dozen feature films over the course of her career, though she garnered notoriety for sensationalized accounts of her l ...

, American actress * Frances Fisher, American actress * Frances FitzGerald (journalist) (born 1940), American journalist and author * Frances Fitzgerald (politician) (born 1950), Irish Fine Gael politician *

Frances Forbes-Robertson Frances Forbes-Robertson (after marriage, Frances Harrod; 1866 – 23 May 1956) was a British artist, novelist, and actor. Among her publications can be counted ''The Devil's Pronoun'' (1894), ''Odd Stories'' (1897), ''The Potentate'' (1898), ''M ...

(1866–1956), British novelist *

Frances X. Frei Frances Frei is a Professor of Technology and Operations Management and the course lead for first-year diversity and inclusion studies at Harvard Business School. Her research investigates how leaders create the conditions for organizations and ind ...

, American academic and businesswoman *

Frances Elizabeth Fryatt Frances Elizabeth Fryatt ( pen name, F. E. Fryatt) was an American author and specialist in household applied arts. She served as editor-in-chief of '' The Lady's World'' after its establishment in 1886, and was twice elected president of the Ladi ...

, American author, editor, specialist in household applied arts *

Frances Nimmo Greene Frances Nimmo Greene (April 5, 1867 – December 9, 1937) was an American educator and author of novels, children's literature, and plays. She was the author of: ''King Arthur and his court'', 1901, stories of chivalry for children; ''With spur ...

(1867-1937), American educator and author * Frances Irene Burge Griswold (1826–1900), American poet, author *

Frances Ridley Havergal Frances Ridley Havergal (14 December 1836 – 3 June 1879) was an English religious poet and hymnwriter. ''Take My Life and Let it Be'' and ''Thy Life for Me'' (also known as ''I Gave My Life for Thee'') are two of her best known hymns. She also ...

(1836–1879), English hymnwriter, religious poet *

Frances C. Jenkins Frances C. Jenkins (, Wiles; April 13, 1826 – December 14, 1915) was an American evangelist, Quaker minister, and social reformer, involved in the temperance and suffrage movements of the day. While in Illinois, she served as a vice-president of ...

(1826-1915), American evangelist, Quaker minister, and social reformer * Frances Benjamin Johnston (1864–1952), American photographer and photojournalist *

Frances Môn Jones Frances Môn Jones (20 October 1919 – 8 September 2000) was a Welsh harpist and teacher who won three harp competitions and one solo soprano contest at the National Eisteddfod of Wales from 1937 to 1949. She began playing the organ at age 14 b ...

(1919–2000), Welsh harpist and teacher *

Frances Kirwan Dame Frances Clare Kirwan, (born 21 August 1959) is a British mathematician, currently Savilian Professor of Geometry at the University of Oxford. Her fields of specialisation are algebraic and symplectic geometry. Education Kirwan was educ ...

(born 1959), British mathematician * 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 Frances Elizabeth Lupton (née Greenhow; 20 July 1821 – 9 March 1892) was an Englishwoman of the Victorian era who worked to open up educational opportunities for women. She married into the politically active Lupton family of Leeds, where sh ...

(1821–1892), English reformer for female education * Frances MacDonald (1873–1921), Scottish artist *

Frances Harrison Marr Fannie H. Marr (July 2, 1835 – October 18, 1918), born Frances Harrison Marr, was an American author and poet. At an early age, she contributed poems to newspapers and magazines. Many of her fugitive verses were incorporated in ''Local and Nati ...

(1835–1918), American poet * Frances McDormand (born 1957), American actress * Frances McKee (born 1966), Scottish musician, guitarist for Scottish indie band The Vaselines *

Frances Gertrude McGill Frances Gertrude McGill (November 18, 1882 – January 21, 1959) was a Canadian forensic pathologist, criminologist, bacteriologist, allergologist and allergist. Nicknamed "the Sherlock Holmes of Saskatchewan" for her deductive skills and pu ...

(1882–1959), pioneering Canadian forensic pathologist and criminologist * Frances Laughton Mace (1836–1899), American poet *

Frances Margaret Milne Frances Margaret Milne ( pen name, Margaret Frances; June 30, 1846 – April 1910) was an Irish-born American author and librarian of the long nineteenth century. Her works included, ''For to-day : poems'' (1893); ''A cottage gray and other poems' ...

(1846–?), Irish-born American writer and librarian *

Frances Nelson Frances "Fanny" Nelson, Viscountess Nelson ( Frances Herbert Woolward, formerly Nisbet; (1758 4 May 1831), is best known as the wife of Horatio Nelson, the British naval officer who won several victories over the French during the French Rev ...

(1761–1831), wife of Admiral Horatio Nelson *

Frances Osborne Frances Victoria Osborne (''née'' Howell; born 18 February 1969) is an English author. She has written two biographies and one novel. She is the estranged wife of George Osborne, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer. Osborne's first biograph ...

(born 1969), British author *

Frances Perkins Frances Perkins (born Fannie Coralie Perkins; April 10, 1880 – May 14, 1965) was an American workers-rights advocate who served as the 4th United States secretary of labor from 1933 to 1945, the longest serving in that position. A member of th ...

(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 Christine Frances Quinlan (born May 7, 1986) is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and visual artist best known for fronting Philadelphia indie rock band Hop Along. They have painted all the band's album art. Career Early life Quinlan ...

, American musician * Frances of Rome (1384–1440), Italian saint, mystic, organizer of charitable services and Benedictine oblate who founded a religious community of oblates *

Frances Rutherford Frances Rutherford (29 April 1912 – 22 November 2006) was a New Zealand artist and occupational therapist. Early life A daughter of Alethea Mary Robinson and her husband Charles William Rutherford, a cousin of nuclear physicist Ernest Ruthe ...

(1912–2006), New Zealand artist and occupational therapist *

Frances Schreuder Frances is a French and English given name of Latin origin. In Latin the meaning of the name Frances is 'from France' or 'free one.' The male version of the name in English is Francis. The original Franciscus, meaning "Frenchman", comes from the F ...

(1938–2004), American murderer in the Franklin Bradshaw murder. * Frances Alice Shepherd, Canadian academic *

Frances Lee Strong Frances Lee Strong ( Myers; May 29, 1934 – April 24, 2020), better known by her stage name Grandma Lee, was an American stand-up comedian who was a talent show contestant on '' America's Got Talent'' in 2009. She began performing when sh ...

or Grandma Lee (1934–2020), American comedian * Frances T. Sullivan, New York State assemblywoman 1991–2002 * Frances Shand Kydd (1936–2004), British viscountess, mother of Diana, Princess of Wales * Frances Sweeney (1908–1944), American journalist and anti-fascist activist * 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 Trollope (1779–1863), English novelist and writer, mother of novelist and writer Anthony Trollope *

Frances Eleanor Trollope Frances Eleanor Trollope (née Ternan; 1 August 1835 – 14 August 1913) was an English novelist. She was best known for her biography on her mother-in-law, Frances Milton Trollope, who was famous for her book, '' Domestic Manners of the Americ ...

(1835–1913), sister of Ellen Ternan (Charles Dickens' mistress) and sister-in-law of Anthony Trollope * Frances Willard (1839–1898), American educator, temperance reformer and women's suffragist * Frances Yip, Hong Kong singer * Frances (Fanny) Brawne (1800–1865), fiancée of Romantic poet John Keats * Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850–1917), Italian-American Roman Catholic nun and saint

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

{{Authority control Feminine given names French feminine given names English feminine given names

People

Fictional characters

See also

References