Origin and popularity of the name FRANC

Origin

Franc : 1: French and Catalan: from the ancient Germanic personal name Franko in origin an ethnic name for a Frank which also came to be used as an adjective meaning ‘free open-hearted generous’ (Old French franc ‘free’ i.e. not a serf or slave); see Frank 2. Compare French Franck 2.2: Polish Czech and Slovak: from a Slavicized form of the German personal name Franz.3: Slovenian and Croatian: from a vernacular form of the personal names Slovenian Frančišek Croatian Francisko (from Latin Franciscus; see Francis) derived from or influenced by German Franz. Compare Frantz 2 and Franck 4.

Francavilla : Italian (southern): habitational name from any of various places called with this word (from franc ‘free (of taxes)’ + villa ‘place settlement’) for example Francavilla Marittima (Cosenza) Francavilla Angitola (Vibo Valentia) Francavilla al Mare (Chieti) Francavilla d'Ete (Ascoli) Francavilla in Sinni (Potenza) Francavilla di Sicilia (Messina Sicily). Cognates of the placename occur widely across Europe for example Villefranche Vilafranca.

Francoeur : French:: 1: soldier's name from franc coeur ‘sincere heart’.2: habitational name from (Le) Francoeur the name of several places in various parts of France e.g. in Yonne. This surname is very rare in France. Compare Hart 6.

Francom : English (of Norman origin): status name from the Anglo-Norman French feudal term franchomme ‘free man’ (see Free) composed of the elements franc fraunc ‘free’ + homme ‘man’ (from Latin homo). The spelling has been altered as the result of folk etymological association with the common English placename endings -combe and -ham. See Frank 2.

Frank : 1: German Dutch Scandinavian Slovenian Croatian Czech Slovak Polish Hungarian and Jewish (Ashkenazic): ethnic or habitational name for someone from Franconia (German Franken) a region of southwestern Germany so called from its early settlement by the Franks an ancient Germanic people who inhabited the lands around the River Rhine in Roman times. In the 6th–9th centuries under leaders such as Clovis I (c. 466–511) and Charlemagne (742–814) the Franks established a substantial empire in western Europe from which the country of France takes its name.2: English (of Norman origin) Dutch and German: from the personal name Frank (Norman French Franco ancient Germanic Franko) in origin an ethnic name for a Frank or from German Franke ‘Frank(ish) Franconian’ (compare 1 above). This also came to be used as an adjective meaning ‘free open-hearted generous’ (Middle English and Old French franc ‘free’ i.e. not a serf or slave) deriving from the fact that in Frankish Gaul only people of Frankish race enjoyed the status of fully free men. As a surname of German origin it is also found (in both possible meanings; see 1 above) in France (Alsace and Lorraine). Compare Franc and Franck.

Frankham : from Old French franc fraunc ‘free’ and homme ‘man’ equivalent to Freeman.

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Last name frequency

Geographic distribution of the 139,780 individuals with the name FRANC on Geneanet.

This last name in the family trees

See below the Geneanet members' family trees which contain the last name FRANC