Frances
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Latin, masculine equivalent Francis. From Old French Franceise, feminine form of Franceis, from Late Latin Franciscus (“Frankish”). Doublet of Francesca and Francisca.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Frances (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Frances has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2021. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | – |
| 2005 | 2 |
| 2006 | – |
| 2007 | 4 |
| 2008 | – |
| 2009 | 4 |
| 2010 | 2 |
| 2011 | 2 |
| 2012 | 3 |
| 2013 | 5 |
| 2014 | 4 |
| 2015 | 16 |
| 2016 | 19 |
| 2017 | 23 |
| 2018 | 18 |
| 2019 | 20 |
| 2020 | 21 |
| 2021 | 27 |
| 2022 | 27 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 85 |
| 2000 | 84 |
| 2001 | 87 |
| 2002 | 85 |
| 2003 | 86 |
| 2004 | 87 |
| 2005 | 87 |
| 2006 | 88 |
| 2007 | 90 |
| 2008 | 92 |
| 2009 | 94 |
| 2010 | 92 |
| 2011 | 96 |
| 2012 | 100 |
| 2013 | 107 |
| 2014 | 109 |
| 2015 | 123 |
| 2016 | 144 |
| 2017 | 164 |
| 2018 | 184 |
| 2019 | 209 |
| 2020 | 230 |
Frances in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Frances.Hi! My name is Frances.
- Frances bor i Göteborg och pluggar till sjuksköterska.Frances lives in Gothenburg and is training to be a nurse.
- Frances har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Frances has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Frances mamma är lärare.Frances's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Frances mamma is Frances's mum. Because Frances already ends in s, nothing is added.
More names
Questions about Frances
How do you pronounce Frances in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Frances in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Frances mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from Latin, masculine equivalent Francis. From Old French Franceise, feminine form of Franceis, from Late Latin Franciscus (“Frankish”). Doublet of Francesca and Francisca.
How popular is Frances in Sweden?
27 babies were named Frances in 2022. In 2020, 230 people in Sweden had Frances as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2021 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.