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Franciscus

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For other uses, see Franciscus (disambiguation).

Franciscus
Gendermasculine
Origin
Word/nameLatin
Other names
Related namesFranziskus, Francis, Francisco, François, Françoise, Franciszek, Francesco, Francesc, Ferenc, Frank, Franco, Franz, Frans, Franklin

Franciscus is a Latin masculine given name, originally an epithet meaning "the Franks". It is also used as a surname. There are many related names.

Etymology and meanings

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The Medieval Latin word Francus or Franciscus, meant "belonging to the people of the Franks", a Germanic people of central Europe.[1] The Franks derived their tribal name from a type of throwing axe that they used as a weapon during the early Middle Ages.[1] The Franks were the only tribe who had rights of free citizens in the Middle Ages, so the term frank came to mean a free, sincere, or true.[1] The word came from the Germanic word frankô (or franka), which referred to a weapon like a javelin or spear. Before this, in Proto-Germanic the word was sahsą, meaning "knife" or "dagger".[1]

Francis of Assisi

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It was applied to Saint Francis of Assisi (1181/82–1226). Francis had been baptized Giovanni (John); his father was Italian and his mother Provençale (at the time not considered French); his father was on business in France when he was born, and when he returned to Assisi, he began to call his son by the nickname Francesco, in the opinion of G. K. Chesterton possibly because out of a general enthusiasm for all things French, or because of his commercial success in France.[2]

After the canonization of Saint Francis of Assisi in 1228, the custom of naming children after saints led to the popularisation of Franciscus as a given name. In the vernaculars of western Europe, the name diversified into the forms Francesco (Italian), Francisco (Spanish and Portuguese), Francesc (Catalan), François (Old French Franceis, whence English Francis), Franz (German, whence Hungarian Ferenc, Scandinavian and Dutch Frans); besides Frans, the Latin form remains commonly given in Dutch.[citation needed]

Modern usage

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Franciscus may serve as the of any of these given names; conversely, Francis may serve as the anglicisation of anyone called Franciscus.[citation needed]

People

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Chosen name

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  • Pope Franciscus (1936-2025, papal name chosen in 2013 by Jorge Mario Bergoglio)

Latinized name

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Given name

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Surname

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d "Francisca". Name Doctor. Retrieved 1 July 2025.
  2. ^ Chesterton, Gilbert Keith (1924). "St. Francis of Assisi" (14 ed.). Garden City, New York: Image Books. p. 158.
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