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The term Frank in eastern Mediterranean countries was used, in various vernacular forms, to denote the Crusaders and their descendants, and the American surname may also be an Americanized form of such a form.English, Dutch, German, etc.: from the personal name Frank, in origin an ethnic name for a Frank.
This is a surname of Roman-Latin origins. It derives from Franciscus, which was originally both an ethnic name used to describe a Frank, later to be known as a Frenchman, and a personal name of the 5th century a.d., which means a free man.