Franciszek
From the Latin for "free man" or "Frenchman". It sits just outside Poland's hundred most-given boys' names and holds steady there, common enough that you've almost certainly met one.
Franciszek Pronunciation
Franciszek is pronounced frahn-CHEE-shek (/franˈt͡ɕiʂɛk/).
What Franciszek means
Where Franciszek comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Franciszek comes from the Latin Franciscus, which first meant "Frenchman." Only later did the sense of "free man" settle onto it, borrowed from the Franks, whose name came to stand for freedom. So one word came to hold two meanings.
In Poland the name has a long roster of bearers. Fryderyk Franciszek Chopin carried it as his middle name. Its imieniny falls on the fourth of October, the feast of Francis of Assisi, the merchant's son who gave up his coin. On a school register in Kraków a Franciszek rarely stays a Franciszek past the first bell.
The name bends easily into smaller shapes. Franka and Frania do the everyday work, quick to call across a yard. The feminine form is Franciszka, and the same Latin root, travelling into Italian, gives Francesca. All of them trace back to that first blunt meaning: Frenchman, and then free man.
When Franciszek celebrates name day
Franciszek appears 40 times in the Polish name day calendar, 9 of them as a main name, the first on 29 January.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
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in 96 days29 JanuaryFriday in 2027
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in 159 days2 AprilFriday in 2027
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in 198 days11 MayTuesday in 2027
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in 222 days4 JuneFriday in 2027
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in 300 days21 AugustSaturday in 2027
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in 330 days20 SeptemberMonday in 2027
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in 344 days4 OctoberMonday in 2027
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in 350 days10 OctoberSunday in 2027
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in 39 days3 DecemberThursday in 2026
Rarer dates. Only the most complete calendars add this name on these days. Most skip them, so hardly anyone celebrates then.
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in 82 days15 JanuaryFriday in 2027
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in 91 days24 JanuarySunday in 2027
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in 100 days2 FebruaryTuesday in 2027
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in 115 days17 FebruaryWednesday in 2027
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in 116 days18 FebruaryThursday in 2027
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in 118 days20 FebruarySaturday in 2027
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in 128 days2 MarchTuesday in 2027
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in 134 days8 MarchMonday in 2027
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in 153 days27 MarchSaturday in 2027
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in 166 days9 AprilFriday in 2027
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in 193 days6 MayThursday in 2027
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in 211 days24 MayMonday in 2027
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in 221 days3 JuneThursday in 2027
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in 235 days17 JuneThursday in 2027
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in 238 days20 JuneSunday in 2027
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in 262 days14 JulyWednesday in 2027
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in 273 days25 JulySunday in 2027
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in 283 days4 AugustWednesday in 2027
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in 312 days2 SeptemberThursday in 2027
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in 319 days9 SeptemberThursday in 2027
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in 320 days10 SeptemberFriday in 2027
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in 322 days12 SeptemberSunday in 2027
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in 326 days16 SeptemberThursday in 2027
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in 327 days17 SeptemberFriday in 2027
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in 335 days25 SeptemberSaturday in 2027
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in 339 days29 SeptemberWednesday in 2027
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in 340 days30 SeptemberThursday in 2027
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in 4 days29 OctoberThursday in 2026
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in 30 days24 NovemberTuesday in 2026
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in 33 days27 NovemberFriday in 2026
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in 35 days29 NovemberSunday in 2026
How many people are named Franciszek
1 in 154 men in Poland is named Franciszek. 138,517 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #102 among male names.
Franciszek's popularity over time
4,548 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #6 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where parents choose Franciszek
Franciszek is given fairly evenly across Poland, with no strong regional preference. It leans slightly toward Holy Cross (13% above the national average) and is least common in Lubusz (16% below).
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Holy Cross
+13%1 in 47 babies
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Subcarpathian
+7%1 in 50 babies
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Masovian
+6%1 in 51 babies
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Lubusz
−16%1 in 64 babies
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Lower Silesian
−13%1 in 62 babies
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Opole
−6%1 in 57 babies
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Holy Cross+13% 1,172 born1 in 47 babies+13%
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Subcarpathian+7% 2,403 born1 in 50 babies+7%
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Masovian+6% 7,001 born1 in 51 babies+6%
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Greater Poland+6% 4,274 born1 in 50 babies+6%
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Lublin+4% 1,997 born1 in 51 babies+4%
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Łódź+4% 2,469 born1 in 51 babies+4%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+1% 2,056 born1 in 53 babies+1%
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Lesser Poland±0% 4,241 born1 in 54 babies±0%
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Warmian-Masurian±0% 1,335 born1 in 54 babies±0%
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West Pomeranian−5% 1,495 born1 in 56 babies−5%
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Silesian−5% 4,018 born1 in 57 babies−5%
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Opole−6% 810 born1 in 57 babies−6%
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Podlaskie−6% 1,159 born1 in 57 babies−6%
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Pomeranian−6% 2,578 born1 in 57 babies−6%
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Lower Silesian−13% 2,540 born1 in 62 babies−13%
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Lubusz−16% 781 born1 in 64 babies−16%
Franciszek as a middle name
Franciszek is a first name for 138,517 men in Poland and a middle name for another 145,791, a 49/51 split, almost evenly. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 20th, between Antoni (150,754) and Marian (145,747).
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#18 Tadeusz165,202
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#19 Antoni150,754
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#20 Franciszek145,791
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#21 Marian145,747
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#22 Jakub137,852