Florence comes from the Latin florens, meaning "flourishing" or "blooming" — from flos (flower). It is the English form of the Italian city Firenze, named for the flourishing flowers of its valley.
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910), founder of modern nursing, was named after Florence, Italy where she was born. The British singer Florence Welch of Florence + the Machine has kept the name visible. Today Florence is rising rapidly in the U.S. and sits in the top 350.
Florence reduces to nine — the number of flowering devotion.