Francesco is the Italian form of Francis, from the Latin Franciscus, which means "Frenchman" or "free man". The name's fame comes from Saint Francis of Assisi, born Giovanni and nicknamed Francesco by his father, and more recently from Pope Francis. In the United States Francesco stood right on the edge of the top 1000 at number 999 in 2000 and has held between number 1240 and 1570 since, ranking number 1329 in 2025.