Show ContentsFranco History, Family Crest & Coats of Arms

Early Origins of the Franco family

The surname Franco was first found in Rome (Italian: Roma), the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. Little can be said in the space available which would do justice to the history of this beautiful city. From 1000 B.C, its history is a book of life itself. The buildings, culture, arts, cathedrals, churches, museums galleries hold untold treasures unequalled anywhere else in the world.In those ancient times only persons of rank, the podesta, clergy, city officials, army officers, artists, landowners were entered into the records. To be recorded at this time, at the beginning of recorded history, was of itself a great distinction and indicative of noble ancestry.

Early History of the Franco family

This web page shows only a small excerpt of our Franco research. Another 97 words (7 lines of text) covering the years 1690, 1804 and 1820 are included under the topic Early Franco History in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Franco Spelling Variations

Spelling variations of this family name include: Defrancisco, Franaciscis, Franazesi, Franco, Franci, Francia, Francica and many more.

Early Notables of the Franco family

More information is included under the topic Early Franco Notables in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.

Franco World Ranking

In the United States, the name Franco is the 837th most popular surname with an estimated 34,818 people with that name. 1 However, in France, the name Franco is ranked the 880th most popular surname with an estimated 5,823 people with that name. 2 And in South America, the name Franco is the 61st popular surname with an estimated 70 people with that name. 3


Franco migration to the United States +

Some of the first settlers of this family name were:

Franco Settlers in United States in the 16th Century
  • Enrique Franco, who settled in America in 1527
  • Alonso Franco, who sailed to America in 1528
  • García Franco, voyaged to New Spain in 1534
  • Juan Franco, went to Rio de la Plata in 1535
  • Francisco Franco Navarro, traveled to Cartagena in 1535
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)
Franco Settlers in United States in the 19th Century
  • Tomas Franco, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1803 4
  • Simon Bautista Franco, who arrived in Puerto Rico in 1816 4
  • Andres Franco, who landed in Puerto Rico in 1816 4
  • Enrique Franco, who arrived in America in 1827 4
  • Alonso Franco, who landed in America in 1828 4
  • ... (More are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Franco migration to West Indies +

The British first settled the British West Indies around 1604. They made many attempts but failed in some to establish settlements on the Islands including Saint Lucia and Grenada. By 1627 they had managed to establish settlements on St. Kitts (St. Christopher) and Barbados, but by 1641 the Spanish had moved in and destroyed some of these including those at Providence Island. The British continued to expand the settlements including setting the First Federation in the British West Indies by 1674; some of the islands include Barbados, Bermuda, Cayman Island, Turks and Caicos, Jamaica and Belize then known as British Honduras. By the 1960's many of the islands became independent after the West Indies Federation which existed from 1958 to 1962 failed due to internal political conflicts. After this a number of Eastern Caribbean islands formed a free association. 5
Franco Settlers in West Indies in the 16th Century
  • Antonio Franco, who settled in Dominican Republic in 1578
  • Cristobal Franco, who settled in Cuba in 1580
Franco Settlers in West Indies in the 19th Century
  • Juan Franco, who landed in Dominican Republic in 1836 4
  • Rodrigo Franco, who arrived in Dominican Republic in 1836 4

Contemporary Notables of the name Franco (post 1700) +

  • Jean Franco (1924-2022), English-born, American academic and literary critic known for her pioneering work on Latin American literature
  • James Edward Franco (b. 1978), American actor, film director, screenwriter, film producer, author, and painter
  • José Franco Jr., American journalist
  • Vincenzo Franco (1917-2016), Italian Prelate of Roman Catholic Church
  • Wander Samuel Franco Aybar Sr. (b. 2001), nicknamed "El Patron", a Dominican professional baseball shortstop for the Tampa Bay Rays of Major League Baseball (MLB)
  • Antonio Ortega Franco (1941-2022), Mexican Roman Catholic prelate, titular bishop of Lete and as auxiliary bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Mexico City, Mexico, from 2004 to his retirement in 2019
  • Antonio Franco Estadella (1947-2021), Spanish journalist, two-time editor-in-chief of El Periódico de Catalunya, deputy editor of El País and as editor of its Catalan-language edition
  • Fortunato Franco (1937-2021), Indian international footballer who played as a half back
  • Victor Franco (b. 1930), French journalist who was awarded the 1963 Albert Londres Prize
  • Jesús Franco, Spanish film director Jesús Franco
  • ... (Another 8 notables are available in all our PDF Extended History products and printed products wherever possible.)

Triangle Waist Company
  • Miss Jenne Franco (b. 1895), American garment worker who was working at Triangle Waist Company factory at the Asch building in Greenwich Village on the 25th March 1911 when fire broke out; she died in the fire 6


  1. "What are the 5,000 Most Common Last Names in the U.S.?". NameCensus.com, https://namecensus.com/last-names/
  2. http://www.journaldesfemmes.com/nom-de-famille/nom/
  3. "List of most common surnames in South America." Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_common_surnames_in_South_America
  4. Filby, P. William, Meyer, Mary K., Passenger and immigration lists index : a guide to published arrival records of about 500,000 passengers who came to the United States and Canada in the seventeenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries. 1982-1985 Cumulated Supplements in Four Volumes Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., 1985, Print (ISBN 0-8103-1795-8)
  5. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_West_Indies
  6. Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire (retrieved on 3rd August 2021.) Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_Shirtwaist_Factory_fire


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