Francesco
A masculine given name of Italian origin meaning "free man" or "Frenchman".
Name Census estimates that about 7,360 living Americans carry the first name Francesco. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Francesco today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Francesco births was 2006 (166 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Francesco. 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.
People living today
7.4K
~ 1 in 46,570 Americans
Peak year
2006
166 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,241
Tracked since 1906
Popularity
Francesco: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Francesco from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,478 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Francesco remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Francesco 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 Francesco during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Francescos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, California recorded the most babies named Francesco, while Rhode Island, North Carolina, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 363 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Francesco
Francesco is an Italian masculine given name derived from the Latin name Franciscus, which itself originated from the Late Latin adjective franciscus meaning "Frankish" or "French." The name gained significant popularity in Italy during the Middle Ages, primarily due to the influence of St. Francis of Assisi, the revered Italian Catholic friar and preacher who lived from 1181 to 1226.
The name Francesco has its roots in the Germanic tribe known as the Franks, who played a crucial role in the formation of medieval France and the Carolingian Empire. As the Franks gained prominence, their name became associated with the term "frank" or "free," which may have contributed to the development of the given name Franciscus.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Francesco can be found in the life of St. Francis of Assisi, who was born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone but later took the name Francesco as a symbol of his devotion to living a life of poverty and simplicity. His teachings and the founding of the Franciscan Order greatly popularized the name throughout Italy and beyond.
Notable historical figures who bore the name Francesco include Francesco Petrarca (1304-1374), an Italian scholar, poet, and one of the initiators of the Renaissance in Italy. Another prominent figure was Francesco Sforza (1401-1466), an Italian condottiero who became the Duke of Milan and founded the Sforza dynasty.
In the realm of art, Francesco Primaticcio (1504-1570) was an Italian painter and architect who worked extensively in France during the Renaissance period. Francesco Guicciardini (1483-1540) was an Italian historian and statesman who served as the governor of several Papal territories.
The name Francesco also gained significance in the field of science with individuals like Francesco Redi (1626-1697), an Italian physician and poet who made important contributions to the field of parasitology, and Francesco Bianchini (1662-1729), an Italian philosopher, scientist, and historian who made significant advancements in the study of astronomy and geography.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Francesco
People
Francesco + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Francesco 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
Francesco: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Francesco?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,360 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Francesco 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 46,570 US residents.
Is Francesco a common name?
We classify Francesco as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,299 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Francesco most popular?
The single biggest year for Francesco was 2006, when 166 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Francesco is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Francesco a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Francesco in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.