Franciscus is a Latin given name, originally an epithet meaning "the
Frank, the
Frenchman".
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.[1]
After the canonization of
Saint Francis of Assisi in 1228, the custom of naming children after saints led to the popularization 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 FrenchFranceis, whence English
Francis),
Franz (German, whence Hungarian
Ferenc, Scandinavian and Dutch
Frans); besides Frans, the Latin form remains commonly given in
Dutch.
Franciscus may serve as the latinization of any of these given names; conversely, Francis may serve as the anglicization of anyone called Franciscus.
People called Franciscus include:
As a chosen name
Pope Franciscus (papal name chosen in 2013 by Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born 1936)
^Chesterton, Gilbert Keith (1924). "St. Francis of Assisi" (14 ed.). Garden City, New York: Image Books. p. 158.
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name or the same
family name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.
Franciscus is a Latin given name, originally an epithet meaning "the
Frank, the
Frenchman".
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.[1]
After the canonization of
Saint Francis of Assisi in 1228, the custom of naming children after saints led to the popularization 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 FrenchFranceis, whence English
Francis),
Franz (German, whence Hungarian
Ferenc, Scandinavian and Dutch
Frans); besides Frans, the Latin form remains commonly given in
Dutch.
Franciscus may serve as the latinization of any of these given names; conversely, Francis may serve as the anglicization of anyone called Franciscus.
People called Franciscus include:
As a chosen name
Pope Franciscus (papal name chosen in 2013 by Jorge Mario Bergoglio, born 1936)
^Chesterton, Gilbert Keith (1924). "St. Francis of Assisi" (14 ed.). Garden City, New York: Image Books. p. 158.
Name list
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name or the same
family name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.