Florence (name)

Infobox Given Name Revised
name = Florence


imagesize=200px
caption=Florence Nightingale inspired use of the name in English-speaking countries.
pronunciation=
gender = Female
meaning = To flower in the sense of a blossom or prosperous, flourishing
region =
origin = English, French
related names = Fiorenza, Flo, Florencia, Florencita, Florentia, Florrie, Floss, Flossie, Flora, Florance, Florella, Florentina, Florentine, Florian, Florice, Florina, Florinda
footnotes =
Derived = Latin, verbs "floreo" and "florens", and masculine Roman name "Florentius"

Florence is an English, Italian or French given name for girls. It is derived from the Latin verb "floreo", meaning "to flower", in the sense of a blossom. The name is also derived from the Italian city Firenze, or Florence, in English.

A notable Florence was Florence Nightingale, who was a nurse in British hospitals during the Crimean War and is usually considered the founder of modern nursing. She was given the name because she was born in Florence, Italy. [ [http://www.behindthename.com/names/florence Behind the Name] ]

Florencia, a Spanish version, is among the most popular names for baby girls in Uruguay. The name was most popular in the United States between 1900 and 1940, when it was in the top 100 names given to baby girls. The name last ranked in the top 1,000 names given to baby girls in the 1970s. Florence was the fourth most popular name given to baby girls in Quebec, Canada in 2007 and the name has also risen in popularity in the England and Wales, where Florence was the 109th most popular name given to baby girls in 2007.

Name variants

Alternate forms include:
*Flo, Flora, Florance, Florella, Florentina, Florentine, Florentyna, Florian, Florice, Florie, Florina, Florinda, Florine, Floris, Florrance, Florrie, Florry, Florynce, Floss, Flossey, Flossie, Flossy (English)
*Florentia (German)
*Fiorentina, Fiorenza (Italian}
*Florencia, Florencita, Floriana, Florinia (Spanish)

English nicknames for Florence include:
*Flo, Florie, Florrie, Florry, Floss, Flossey, Flossie, Flossy.

People with this name

As a surname

* Hercules Florence, a French/Brazilian artist and inventor of photography
* Tyler Florence, a celebrity chef and TV host

As a given name

* Florence Ballard, an African-American singer
* Florence Beaumont, one of eight Americans known to have set themselves on fire in protest of the Vietnam war
* Florence Delay, a French actress
* Florence Harding, the wife of American president Warren G. Harding
* Florence Henderson, an American actress and singer
* Florence Foster Jenkins, an American soprano
* Florence Griffith Joyner, an American athlete in track and field
* Florence Hoath, a British actress
* Florence Kelley, an American social reformist and feminist
* Florence King, a Mississippi author
* Florence Knapp, an American supercentenarian
* Florence LaBadie, a Canadian silent movie actress
* Florence Lawrence, an inventor and actress, referred to as "The First Movie Star"
* Florence Mills, actress in 1920s black theatre and the Harlem Renaissance
* Florence Nightingale, a pioneer of modern nursing
* Florence Beatrice Price, African-American composer and teacher
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GS|n=reed&GSfn=florence&GSbyrel=in&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=6679175& Florence Reed] (1883-1967), [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=1039656&word= stage] star and [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0715427/ television] actress. Daughter of comedian Roland Reed.
* Florence Marjorie Robertson, a British actress and singer
* Florence Sabin (1871-1953), anatomist and pathologist, first female professor at Johns Hopkins Medical School

Fictional characters

* Florence (Little Britain), a character from the British radio and TV show "Little Britain"
* Florence Ambrose, a character in the "Freefall" webcomic.
* Florence Jean Castleberry, a waitress in the TV series "Alice"
* Florence Johnston, the maid from the TV series "The Jeffersons"
* Florence, a character in the children's television programme The Magic Roundabout and the film adaptation The Magic Roundabout (film)
* Flossie Bobbsey, one of the Bobbsey Twins in the children's novel series of that name
* Florence, a female character in the movie, Adventures of Flower Land.

Notes