France is both a given name and a French, Czech or Slovene surname. In French-speaking countries, France may be a woman's first name. In France, it may derive from an ethnic name for an inhabitant of the country; a variant is Lafrance. In the Czech Republic, the surname may relate to the word Franc. In Slovenia, France may derive from the personal name "France", a vernacular form of "Frančišek", Latin Franciscus ("Francis"). It may also be an Americanized spelling of the German given or surname "Franz". [1]