Paquita (name)

Paquita is a given name of Spanish origin, a diminutive of the name Francisca, which is the feminine form of Francisco, which derives from the Latin given name Franciscus.

Francisca derives from the Medieval Latin Francus / Franciscus, meaning "belonging to the people of the Franks", a Germanic people of central Europe. The Franks derived their tribal name from a type of throwing axe, known as a francisca, that they used as a weapon during the early Middle Ages. The Franks were the only tribe who had rights of free citizens in the Middle Ages, so the term frank came to mean a free, sincere, or true. The word came from the Germanic word frankô (or franka), which referred to a weapon like a javelin or spear. Before this, in Proto-Germanic the word was sahsą, meaning "knife" or "dagger".