France – Wikipedia, the free encyclopediaThe name “France” comes from the Latin , which means “country of the Franks”. There are various theories as to the origin of the name of the Franks. One is that it is derived from the Proto-Germanic word frankon which translates as javelin or lance as the throwing axe of the Franks was known as a francisca. Another proposed etymology is that in an ancient Germanic language, Frank means as opposed to .