Florence
A surname that can come from the place-name Florence or from a Latin personal name meaning “flourishing, prosperous.”
The #3,865 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 33,643 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Historical surname writers gave two main explanations for Florence. One treats it as a habitational name from the city of Florence in Italy. Another derives it from the Latin personal name Florens, meaning “flourishing” or “prosperous,” a form also used as a given name in medieval records. The surname may therefore have arisen independently in more than one way.
History
19th-century sources note Florence as a surname in England and also as an old personal name in medieval records. That makes it possible that some bearers descend from a place-name, while others descend from an early given name or nickname. In Ireland, however, Florence can also reflect the Anglicized form of the Gaelic surname Finghin in some cases, so the name is not always from the same origin everywhere.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Early English records show Florence used as a male forename in the 13th and 14th centuries, long before it became widely familiar as a woman’s name.
From the historical record
“My name is Ap Ryce, Ap Davy, Ap I' load- FLORENCE. The capital of Tuscany. It is sometimes written Florance. See also Finghin. FLOUNDERS. Perhaps a corruption of Flanders. FLOWER. The London Directory ex- hibits more than a quarter of a hundred of traders bearing this beautiful surname, wliich proljably had its…”
— Patronymica Britannica: a dictionary of the family names of the United Kingdom