girls' name ★ peaked 1918

Frances

Meaning Frankish Gender Girl · 1% boys Rank 2025 #318 Trend ↑ Rising 21%

From Old French Franceise, feminine form of Franceis, from Late Latin Franciscus (“Frankish”).

Rank 2025
#318
among girls · ↑57 vs 2024
Babies in 2025
966
named Frances · +15% vs 2024
How common
1 in 1,674
girls born in 2025
Peak year
1918
16,229 babies
All-time total
600,721
#44 all-time among girls
First recorded
1880
in Social Security records

Frances popularity over time

600,721 babies have been named Frances since 1880, according to official Social Security records. Switch measure to see births per year or the yearly rank.

Measure
Births per 1,000 babies of that sex, comparable across eras
3.757.511.251518801900192019401960198020002020GirlsBoys
GirlsBoys

By decade. Change compares yearly averages, so the current partial decade is on equal footing. Best rank is the name's best yearly rank within the decade.

Decade Girls Boys Total Per year Change Best rank
1880s 9,182 139 9,321 932 – #30
1890s 18,090 155 18,245 1,825 +96% #22
1900s 28,499 222 28,721 2,872 +57% #12
1910s 105,599 724 106,323 10,632 +270% #8
1920s 140,391 1,107 141,498 14,150 +33% #9
1930s 92,117 925 93,042 9,304 -34% #16
1940s 85,448 505 85,953 8,595 -8% #28
1950s 51,200 404 51,604 5,160 -40% #51
1960s 25,001 268 25,269 2,527 -51% #127
1970s 11,337 174 11,511 1,151 -54% #199
1980s 8,490 166 8,656 866 -25% #267
1990s 6,068 111 6,179 618 -29% #351
2000s 3,959 53 4,012 401 -35% #572
2010s 5,467 37 5,504 550 +37% #437
2020s (to 2025) 4,849 34 4,883 814 +48% #318

Where Frances is heading

A five-year projection from the recent trend in births per 1,000 girls (damped so it flattens over time), converted to babies at today's birth totals. The implied rank places that projection in the 2025 field. A projection, not a promise: real trends bend.

Year Projected babies Per 1,000 girls Implied rank
2026 993 0.62 #307
2027 1,021 0.64 #300
2028 1,046 0.65 #293
2029 1,068 0.66 #288
2030 1,087 0.68 #284

Where Frances is most popular

Girls named Frances per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021–2025. National average: 0.506 per 1,000. Strongest in District of Columbia, Vermont, and Maine.

Vs national average
well below below near national above well above no data

All 50 states and DC, sorted by rate. Counts are girls named Frances born 2021–2025; the per-1,000 rate makes states of different sizes comparable, and the last column shows each state against the national average.

State Girls 2021–2025 Per 1,000 vs national
District of Columbia 44 3.71 +634%
Vermont 13 2.68 +430%
Maine 35 2.26 +347%
Oregon 95 1.46 +188%
Alabama 132 1.41 +178%
Minnesota 127 1.18 +133%
Nebraska 41 1.14 +125%
Washington 141 0.976 +93%
South Carolina 85 0.946 +87%
Colorado 101 0.905 +79%
Missouri 107 0.888 +75%
Massachusetts 106 0.877 +73%
Michigan 150 0.824 +63%
Illinois 188 0.821 +62%
Kansas 47 0.815 +61%
Montana 11 0.813 +61%
Rhode Island 10 0.799 +58%
Wisconsin 81 0.786 +55%
Louisiana 66 0.754 +49%
North Carolina 170 0.747 +48%
Georgia 163 0.717 +42%
Iowa 40 0.685 +35%
Arkansas 36 0.681 +35%
Tennessee 105 0.663 +31%
Virginia 110 0.645 +28%
Kentucky 54 0.631 +25%
New York 250 0.631 +25%
New Hampshire 11 0.596 +18%
Ohio 139 0.586 +16%
Alaska 5 0.581 +15%
Mississippi 27 0.577 +14%
Maryland 60 0.566 +12%
Pennsylvania 125 0.529 ≈ national
Indiana 73 0.520 ≈ national
Utah 42 0.505 ≈ national
Connecticut 29 0.498 ≈ national
Oklahoma 36 0.489 ≈ national
California 409 0.487 ≈ national
New Jersey 69 0.382 -24%
North Dakota 5 0.380 -25%
Arizona 52 0.371 -27%
Texas 270 0.336 -34%
Idaho 9 0.269 -47%
Florida 106 0.248 -51%
Delaware – – –
Hawaii – – –
New Mexico – – –
Nevada – – –
South Dakota – – –
West Virginia – – –
Wyoming – – –

State counts come from the Social Security Administration's state files, which omit any state-year with fewer than five babies of a name, so small states can undercount slightly.

The story of Frances

Frances is moderately common for girls in the United States, ranked #318 in 2025 with 960 babies given the name. It is currently rising compared with a decade ago.

Since 1880, 600,721 American babies have been named Frances. Its peak came in 1918, when 16,229 newborns received the name, the signature sound of the 1910s.

The chart above shows the full history: the popularity view (births per 1,000 babies) is the honest comparison across generations, since total US births have changed enormously since 1880. Switch to the rank view to see where Frances stood among all girls' names in any year, or use the compare tool to plot it against other names.

How old are people named Frances?

The median living Frances is about 74 years old; half are between 60 and 82. An estimated 189 thousand people named Frances are alive in the United States today.

median 74 020406080100

Estimated from births per year and Social Security period life tables; an approximation of the living age distribution, by age in years.

Frances year by year

Every year since 2001, and five-year steps back to 1880. Rank is within each sex.

Year Girls Girls rank Boys Boys rank
2025 960 #318 6 #11,112
2024 829 #375 9 #8,547
2023 760 #405 – –
2022 755 #419 – –
2021 801 #393 9 #8,388
2020 744 #418 10 #7,700
2019 718 #438 5 #12,775
2018 723 #442 – –
2017 730 #437 5 #12,900
2016 721 #447 5 #12,843
2015 614 #513 6 #11,132
2014 484 #603 – –
2013 409 #690 6 #11,182
2012 364 #763 5 #12,878
2011 348 #782 – –
2010 356 #769 5 #12,892
2009 355 #797 – –
2008 368 #794 7 #10,220
2007 347 #828 5 #12,969
2006 360 #763 6 #11,087
2005 355 #753 – –
2004 427 #641 8 #8,387
2003 449 #607 7 #8,969
2002 415 #617 8 #7,890
2001 429 #590 6 #9,667
2000 454 #572 6 #9,484
1995 571 #450 10 #5,635
1990 759 #351 12 #4,492
1985 834 #295 15 #3,122
1980 938 #267 12 #3,482
1975 1,029 #234 14 #2,799
1970 1,627 #199 18 #2,154
1965 2,262 #163 24 #1,605
1960 3,590 #127 30 #1,467
1955 4,641 #96 55 #1,017
1950 6,975 #51 37 #1,192
1945 7,940 #34 38 #1,045
1940 8,621 #28 60 #805
1935 8,770 #19 92 #608
1930 10,644 #16 127 #530
1925 13,824 #11 114 #588
1920 15,883 #9 108 #605
1915 12,786 #9 91 #601
1910 4,448 #11 38 #448
1905 2,887 #16 23 #469
1900 2,495 #26 19 #563
1895 1,833 #29 16 #513
1890 1,416 #33 12 #578
1885 844 #46 12 #559
1880 605 #42 16 #449

Famous people named Frances

The most globally famous bearers of the name, ranked by fame across Wikipedia editions (Pantheon project, MIT).

  1. 1 Frances McDormand Frances McDormand American actor and producer (born 1957) Contemporary
  2. 2 Frances Fisher Frances Fisher American actress (born 1952) Contemporary
  3. 3 Frances de la Tour Frances de la Tour English actress (born 1944) Contemporary
  4. 4 Frances O'Connor Frances O'Connor Australian actress (born 1967) Contemporary
  5. 5 Frances Farmer Frances Farmer American actress (1913–1970) Contemporary
  6. 6 Frances Conroy Frances Conroy American actress b. 1953 · Contemporary
  7. 7 Frances Shand Kydd Frances Shand Kydd Mother of Diana, Princess of Wales (1936–2004) Contemporary
  8. 8 Frances Sternhagen Frances Sternhagen American actress (1930–2023) Contemporary
  9. 9 Frances Cleveland Frances Cleveland First Lady of the United States (1886–1889; 1893–1897) 1864–1947 · 19th century
  10. 10 Frances Bavier Frances Bavier American actress (1902–1989) Contemporary
  11. 11 Frances Perkins Frances Perkins American workers' rights advocate (1880–1965) 19th century
  12. 12 Frances Xavier Cabrini Frances Xavier Cabrini Italian-American religious sister (1850–1917) 19th century
  13. 13 Frances Bay Frances Bay American actress (1919–2011) Contemporary
  14. 14 Frances Hodgson Burnett Frances Hodgson Burnett British-American novelist (1849–1924) 19th century
  15. 15 Frances Dee Frances Dee American actress (1909–2004) Contemporary
  16. 16 Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk English noblewoman (1517–1559) 16th century
  17. 17 Frances Oldham Kelsey Frances Oldham Kelsey Canadian-American physician and pharmacologist (1914–2015) Contemporary
  18. 18 Frances Arnold Frances Arnold American chemist and academic (born 1956) Contemporary
  19. 19 Frances Burney Frances Burney English novelist, diarist and playwright (1752–1840) 18th century
  20. 20 Frances Langford Frances Langford American singer, entertainer and actress (1913–2005) Contemporary

Portraits from Wikipedia (Wikimedia Commons).

Frequently asked questions

Quick answers about Frances, drawn from the same Social Security data as the charts above.

How old is the average Frances?

The median living Frances is about 74 years old. Half of all living Francess are between 60 and 82 years old.

How many people named Frances are alive today?

An estimated 189 thousand people named Frances are alive in the United States, based on 600,721 recorded births and Social Security life tables.

What does the name Frances mean?

From Old French Franceise, feminine form of Franceis, from Late Latin Franciscus (“Frankish”).

How popular is the name Frances in 2025?

Frances ranked #318 among girls' names in the United States in 2025, with 960 babies given the name, according to Social Security Administration data.

How many people are named Frances?

600,721 babies have been named Frances in the United States since 1880, based on Social Security card applications.

When was the name Frances most popular?

Frances peaked in 1918, when 16,229 newborns received the name.

Is Frances a boy or girl name?

Frances is overwhelmingly a girl's name: 99% of babies with the name.

Is the name Frances rising or falling?

Frances is on the rise, noticeably more popular now than a decade ago.

Will Frances become more popular?

Frances is trending upward. If the recent trend holds, we project roughly 1,087 girls named Frances in 2030, which would rank around #284. Forecasts assume the current trend continues and become less certain further out.

Who are famous people named Frances?

Well-known people named Frances include Frances McDormand (actor), Frances Fisher (actor), Frances de la Tour (actor).

Names like Frances

Names that sound and feel close to Frances: shared sounds, similar era, similar popularity. Each links to its full history.

Compare Frances with similar names → More names starting with F →