Frank (given name)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Frank
GenderMale
Origin
Language(s)Old High German
Meaningfrom the name of the Franks
Other names
Related namesFrancis, François, Francisco, Franklin, Franco, Frans, Franz

Frank /fræŋk/ is a masculine given name.

Ultimately from the Germanic tribal name of the Franks, in the early medieval Frankish Empire, the status of being "a Frank" became synonymous with that of a free man; hence also the English adjective frank (Middle English, from Old French franc, 12th century).

Use as a given name seems to arise already in the Carolingian period; the Old High German form Francho, Franko is on record from the 8th century.[1] While Frank is a given name in its own right, in fact reflecting the Old Frankish form *Frank, the given name in the United States arose again in the 20th century as a short form of Francis (which is itself a shortening of Franciscus, i.e. "the Frenchman", in reference to Saint Francis of Assisi), as popularized by Frank Sinatra (born Francis Albert Sinatra, 1915–1998).[citation needed]

People with the given name[]

In arts[]

Also see Frank in fictional characters

In architecture[]

In comics[]

In film and television[]

  • Frank Borzage (1894–1962), American film director and actor
  • Frank Caliendo (born 1974), American comedy actor, impressionist and comedian, host of the television show Frank TV
  • Frank Capra (1897–1991), American film director
  • Frank Delfino (1911-1997), American actor
  • Frank Elstner (born 1942), German television presenter
  • Franky G (born 1965), American film and television actor
  • Frank Gorshin (1933–2005), American actor and comedian from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • Frank Marshall (producer) (born 1946) American film producer
  • Frank Morgan (1890-1949), American character actor
  • Frank Muller (1951–2008), Dutch audio book narrator and actor
  • Frank Oz (born 1944), American actor and puppeteer
  • Frank Somerville (born 1958), news anchor
  • Frank M. Thomas (1889–1989), American actor
  • Frank Twomey, the man from children's television programme Bosco
  • Frank Vincent (1937-2017), American actor
  • Frank Welker (born 1946), American voice actor

In literature[]

In music[]

  • Frank Bello (born 1965), American bassist of thrash metal band Anthrax
  • Frank Black (born 1965), American musician
  • Frank Farian (born 1941), German songwriter and producer
  • Frank Gambale (born 1958), Australian jazz fusion guitarist
  • Frank Iero (born 1981), rhythm guitarist for the band My Chemical Romance and lead singer for the band Leathermouth
  • Frank Klepacki (born 1974), American video game music composer best known for his work on the Command & Conquer series
  • Frank Marino (born 1954), Canadian guitarist and hard rock band leader
  • Frank Marshall (pianist) (1883–1959), Spanish pianist and pedagogue
  • Frank Ocean (born 1987), American musician
  • Frank Sinatra (1915–1998), American singer and actor
  • Frank Slay (1930–2017), American songwriter, record producer
  • Frank Turner (born 1981), British folk/punk singer songwriter
  • Frank Edwin Wright III (known as Tre Cool, born 1972), drummer of the band Green Day
  • Frank Zander (born 1942), German singer and actor
  • Frank Zappa (1940–1993), American musician and composer

In radio[]

In sports[]

Other[]

See also[]

  • Franc (disambiguation)
  • Frances (disambiguation)
  • Francis (disambiguation)
  • Franck (disambiguation)
  • Frankie (disambiguation)
  • Franks (disambiguation)

References[]

  1. ^ Ernst Förstemann, Altdeutsches Namenbuch (1856), 413.
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