Franklin

Where Franklin comes from

From Middle English frankelein (“freeholder”), see franklin. The place names are mostly named after American statesman Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790).
— Wiktionary's entry for Franklin
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1804
    Franklin Pierce born
    president of the United States from 1853 to 1857
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #112 among boys — 120 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1882
    Franklin Delano Roosevelt born
    president of the United States from 1933 to 1945
  4. 1933
    Peak, #33
    5,363 babies named Franklin — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1935
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #71.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname, partly in honor of Benjamin Franklin.
Namesakes
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt · president of the United States from 1933 to 1945, 1882–1945
  • Franklin Pierce · president of the United States from 1853 to 1857, 1804–1869
  • Franklin J. Schaffner · American film director, 1921–1989
  • Franklin Chang-Díaz · Costa Rican-American astronaut and physicist, born 1950

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.