Franklin is an English surname that comes from the Middle English frankeleyn and means "free landholder" or "freeman", a landowner who was not of noble birth. In the United States it honors Benjamin Franklin and President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and the name has a gentle, old-fashioned feel today. Franklin has stayed in the US top 1000 throughout this century and climbed from number 448 in 2000 to number 359 in 2025, its best rank so far.