Given name & surname
Francois
“a man from France; one who is free”
Francois is a variant of Francis. One Latin interpretation is “a man from France; one who is free.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
Francois is a variant of Francis. One Latin interpretation is “a man from France; one who is free.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Francois is a variant of Francis. An origin associated with Francis is Italian.
Explained through its name family
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1912. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Francois through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,823
- 1,818 boys · 5 girls
- Most popular year
- 1992
- 43 babies
- 2025
- 18
- #5,276 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −11%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 18 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 5,276 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 10.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 43 in 1992. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,448 as a first name in 2020; 16,522 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Francois’s family of names
Francois has a related form in Francis. In Afrikaans usage, Francois was borrowed from the French form François. In French usage, Francois has a conventional equivalent in the Russian form Франс.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 3
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Francois, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Malcom is a surname.
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