How to say it
FRANK · lin
/ˈfræŋk.lɪn/
Masculine
Franklin
Free landholder
What it means
From the medieval English franklin, a 'freeman' who held his own land without being noble.
Franklin comes from the medieval term franklin, a free landholder who owned property but stood outside the nobility, rooted in the word 'frank,' meaning free. As a first name it honors Benjamin Franklin, and later Franklin D. Roosevelt, lending it a statesmanlike weight. It reads dignified and distinctly American, and it gives the warm shorts Frank and Frankie.
Popularity over time
peaked at #33 in 1933, currently #359 in 2025.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, names given to at least 5 babies in a year, 1880–present. See where the names are moving
Heads-up notes
- Nickname
Frank and Frankie come straight out of it.
- Pop culture
Honors Benjamin Franklin and Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Who's worn it
Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.
- Benjamin Franklin American founding father, inventor, and statesman
- Franklin D. Roosevelt 32nd president of the United States
Spelling variants
- Franklyn
- Francklin
Names with the same feeling
See Franklin from another angle
By meaning
By style