Francis Family History

English: from the Old French personal name Franceis modern French François from Latin Franciscus originally ‘Frank’ though later used to denote a Frenchman. The personal name owed much of its popularity during the Middle Ages to the fame of Saint Francis of Assisi (1181–1226) whose baptismal name was actually Giovanni but who was nicknamed Francisco because his father was absent in France at the time of his birth.

In North America the English form of the surname has absorbed cognates from other languages e.g. Italian Francesco and Polish Czech Slovak Slovenian and Croatian Franc and also their derivatives e.g. Croatian Francišković (see Francisco).

English: ethnic name from the Old French adjective Franceis ‘French’ (see 1 above). Americanized form of one or more similar (like-sounding) Jewish surnames or an adoption of the non-Jewish surname.