[1] He was the sixth child of Count Zsigmond Széchényi (1720–1769), a captain of the hussars and Imperial and Royal Chamberlain and his wife Countess Mária Cziráky of Cirák and Dénesfalva (1724–1787).

He had an older brother and three sisters who all married into prominent Austro-Hungarian noble families.

[2] On 17 August 1777 in Kópháza, Count Ferenc married Countess Julia Festetics de Tolna (1753–1824).

Together, they were the parents of six children, including: Count Ferenc died on 13 December 1820 in Vienna.

[2] Through his son Pal, he was a grandfather of, among others, Elise Széchényi (1827–1910), who married Pedro Caro y Álvarez de Toledo, 5th Marquis of La Romana, and Pál Széchenyi (1838–1901), the Minister of Agriculture, Industry and Trade of Hungary from October 1882 to April 1889.