Franz
Masculine · “Frenchman”
Franz is German for Francis, and German shortened it thoroughly: Franciscus lost three syllables and gained a hard consonant cluster at the end. It was one of the ordinary names of the Habsburg lands, and it reached America with the German migrations of the nineteenth century.
How old is the name Franz?
Franz first appears in US birth records in 1889 — 136 years ago. The typical Franz alive today was born around 1965, making them about 60 years old. About 2,000 people named Franz are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Franz most popular?
Franz peaked in 1889, reaching #789 nationally. Today it ranks #5399, 4,610 places below that high. See the whole 1889 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Franciscus to Franz
The story of Franz
Francis of Assisi made the name European, and the Habsburgs made it Austrian: Franz I was the last Holy Roman Emperor, Franz Joseph reigned for sixty-eight years, and Franz Ferdinand's assassination at Sarajevo in 1914 began the First World War. That made Franz an ordinary name across Austria, Bavaria, Bohemia and Hungary, and German and Austrian immigrants brought it to America in quantity through the nineteenth century. The American peak in 1889 sits at the height of that migration. It declined sharply during and after the two world wars, in the same movement that retired Adolph, Fritz and Otto from American use.
Meaning
Frenchman
From Latin Franciscus, a Frenchman, from the Franks, whose tribal name is generally connected to a word meaning free — the same root behind English frank. Francis of Assisi carried it as a nickname before it was a name. German shortened Franciscus to Franz; the reading belongs to the full name and the shortening adds nothing.
How the name formed
- Franciscus
- Franz
Related forms: Franz · Francesco · François · Francisco · Ferenc · František
Pronouncing Franz
FRAHNTS
One syllable. The German a is open, and the z is a ts sound, not an English z; American speakers frequently say FRANZ with an English z, which is the main difference between the two.
Nicknames for Franz
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1889
- Most boys named
- 196360 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #789reached in 1889
- Change vs 2023
- +54.5%17 in 2025, from 11
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Franz in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Franz in German — same name
- Francesco in Italian — related form
- François in French — related form
- Francisco in Spanish — related form
- Ferenc in Hungarian — related form
- František in Czech — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Franzs among us
people named Franz are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 100,475 born in 2025 was named Franz
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Franz sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Franz beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Franz in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One syllable and five letters, about as compact as a European name gets.
- Frank is available instantly as an English form.
- It carries a large and well-documented European history.
- The final z is a ts in German and an ordinary z in America.
- It is strongly associated with the Habsburg era and with the two world wars.
- Franz Kafka is the first association for a great many readers.
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Franz
Masculine · #5399 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Franzs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,000 people named Franz are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Franz in 2025?
- Franz ranks #5399 among US boy names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Franz?
- About 1 in every 100,475 US boys born in 2025 was named Franz — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Franz with classmates?
- Franz will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Franz
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Frazier#5399 · Demetrio#5399 · Rolan#5399 · Rayvon#5399 · Riddick#5399 · Laramie#5399 · Vishnu#5399 · Soloman#5399
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Franz? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Franz and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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