Franz

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St. Francis of Assisi

Franz is a male given name and short form of Franziskus , rarely also a pet form for the female first name Franziska , as well as family name .

Origin and meaning

Franz is basically derived from Old High German with the meaning free, bold , but this root is only contained indirectly. It is true that the single Germanic form of the name frank (o) in the sense of "the free" or "the Franke" from the tribe of the Franks can be found in the early days . The form fell into oblivion with the separation into a West and East Franconian Empire (the forerunners of France and the German-speaking countries). But when the father of St. Francis of Assisi was on a trading trip in France, his wife gave birth to him in Italy a son, to whom, although he was baptized in the name of Giovanni (German: Johannes), on his return the Italian nickname Francesco (German: 'Französchen'), and from the second half of the 13th century, the franc spread as a derivative of the Latinized Franciscus in the environment of the Franciscans and their founder Francis of Assisi. The name was widely used in Austria and Bavaria from the second half of the 18th century under the two emperors Franz I and in particular Franz II as a gesture of solidarity in the confrontation with Napoleon . In Austria the name remained one of the most popular given names through Franz Joseph I until well into the 20th century.

"Franz" came up in Germany during the First World War as a nickname for the observers and navigators in the airplane. Even today, a common phrase for 'lose your bearings ' is lost.

The term Franzmann - used (not necessarily disrespectfully) for "French" - is in particular a term that has been used in the language of soldiers at least since 1870/71. In French, "France" is phonetically similar to Franz, hence the term Franzmann or Franzose.

variants

In the following in sequence to the long form; ending –kus to be omitted ; for short form without -iskus ; pure stem syllable Fran- ; and other diminutive forms.

For the variants of the omitted middle syllable -zis- ("[t] s / sch") see Frank .

Male

Female

Short forms, partly unisex:

family name

besides Franz (family name) and the above-mentioned forms, for example:

Name and memorial days

Well-known namesake

Rulers and princes

First name

Fictitious namesake

Other terms

  • The storm Franz saw on the night of 11 January 12, 2007 in Europe for wind speeds up to 180 kilometers per hour and caused numerous damages. At least seven people fell victim to the hurricane.
  • Numerous churches are named after Franz or Franziskus, see also Franziskuskirche .

Web links

Wiktionary: Franz  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Konrad Kunze : dtv-Atlas onenology. dtv 2004, ISBN 3-423-03266-9 , p. 43
  2. ↑ dtv-Atlas , p. 47