Francena
A feminine name of French origin meaning "free" or "Frenchwoman".
Name Census estimates that about 246 living Americans carry the first name Francena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Francena today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Francena births was 1948 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Francena. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Francena is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Francenas were born before 1963.
People living today
246
~ 1 in 1,393,310 Americans
Peak year
1948
23 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1976 SSA rank
#7,550
Tracked since 1912
Census
Francena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 352 people with the first name Francena, which placed it at #26,438 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#26,438
National first-name rank
People counted
352
352 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
68.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Francena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Francena is Black at 68.8%. The next largest groups are White (22.7%) and Hispanic (3.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Francena described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Francena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American68.8% · 242
- White22.7% · 80
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 12
- Two or more races3.4% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 1
Popularity
Francena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Francena from the 1910s through to the 1970s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 151 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Francena by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Francena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Francenas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Francena
The name Francena has its origins in the Late Latin language, derived from the name Francisca, which was a feminine form of the masculine name Franciscus. Franciscus itself was derived from the Latin adjective "Francus," meaning "Frankish" or "French."
The earliest recorded use of the name Francena dates back to the 12th century, and it was particularly popular in medieval France and Italy. The name was likely adopted as a way to honor St. Francis of Assisi, the renowned Italian friar and preacher who lived from 1181 to 1226.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Francena was Francena de Foix, a French noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was a member of the prestigious House of Foix and played a significant role in the political affairs of the region during that time.
Another notable figure bearing the name Francena was Francena Sternberg, an Italian painter and engraver who lived from 1677 to 1749. She was known for her religious paintings and her work as an engraver, and her art can be found in various churches and museums throughout Italy.
In the 19th century, Francena Frisbie (1825-1901) was an American educator and writer. She was a pioneer in the field of women's education and founded several schools for girls in Connecticut.
Francena Arnold (1838-1914) was an American poet and writer from New York. She published several volumes of poetry, including "The Drift of Song" and "Sea-Drift and Other Poems," and her work often explored themes of nature and spirituality.
Francena Noel (1909-1990) was a Canadian writer and journalist known for her work in promoting Canadian literature. She was a founding member of the Writers' Union of Canada and played a pivotal role in advocating for the rights of Canadian authors.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who bore the name Francena, which has its roots in the Late Latin language and has been associated with various artistic, literary, and educational pursuits over the centuries.
People
Francena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Francena as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Francena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Francena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 246 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Francena going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,393,310 US residents.
Is Francena a common name?
We classify Francena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 623 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Francena most popular?
The single biggest year for Francena was 1948, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Francena is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Francena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 352 people with the name Francena, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,438 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Francena in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Francena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Francena appears almost entirely female. Of the 349 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Francena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Francena is Black at 68.8%. The next largest groups are White (22.7%) and Hispanic (3.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Francena most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Francena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.8% (242 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Francena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Francena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Francena in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Francena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Francena in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Francena can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How common is the name Francena?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.