First found in the Domesday Book; bearers of the name Fronk were granted lands in Shropshire, Yorkshire, Norfolk, and Surrey. The name appears with some frequency in various counties between the 11th and 14th centuries; early bearers of the name include Ricardus filius Franke, who was living in London in 1188, and Ricardus Franc, who was listed in the Curia Regis Rolls of Essex in 1201.

At this time, the shores of the New World beckoned many English families that felt that the social climate in England was oppressive and lacked opportunity for change. Thousands left England at great expense in ships that were overcrowded and full of disease. A great portion of these settlers never survived the journey and even a greater number arrived sick, starving, and without a penny. The survivors, however, were often greeted with greater opportunity than they could have experienced back home. These English settlers made significant contributions to those colonies that would eventually become the United States and Canada. An examination of early immigration records and passenger ship lists revealed that people bearing the name Fronk arrived in North America very early: Daniel Frank, who immigrated to Virginia in 1622; as did Catherine Frank in 1695; Thomas Frink, who settled in New England in 1699; John Frank, who purchased land in Philadelphia in 1731.

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