If you are familiar with the origin of this term, please add it to the page per etymology instructions.
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.
Bearers of the name resident in Ireland descended from early emigrants from Ireland, who then in the course of time, returned to the land of their forefathers. The first recorded spelling of the family name is shown to be that of Richard Ireis of Shropshire, in the pipe rolls of that English county in the year 1169. Throughout the centuries, surnames in every country have continued to develop often leading to astonishing variants of the original spelling.