Appellation Mountain

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Name of the Day: Frances

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A fictional badger has made this ladylike appellation a staple on nursery bookshelves for years. But would she wear well on a real girl?

Thanks to Kim for suggesting today’s Name of the Day: Frances.

If you came of age in the last thirty years, you may have grown up reading the works of Russell and Lillian Hoban – among them Bedtime for Frances, Bread and Jam for Frances and A Baby Sister for Frances. Our heroine is a small, high-spirited badger. (Her baby sister is Gloria.)

Not so long ago, Frances sounded fit only for a pencil-drawn children’s illustration. The Italianate Francesca was the stylish choice. But today, the gentler Frances could be part of the next wave of antique monikers primed for revival.

The first starbaby to wear the name is nearly grown up herself: Frances Bean Cobain, daughter of Kurt and Courtney. More recently, Amanda Peet chose Frances Pen for her daughter, for whom she uses the spunky nickname Frankie. And Brooke Shields’ firstborn is Rowan Francis.

The Francis and Frances spellings were used interchangeably for men and women throughout the Middle Ages. Both share the same root – the Late Latin Franciscus, for Frankish or Frenchman. The first notable bearer of the name was the 12th century Saint Francis of Assisi. He was born Giovanni. His father, a successful businessman, had been traveling in France when his son arrived. On his return, Dad decided that Francesco suited his boy better, and the nickname stuck. Saint Francis, of course, founded the Franciscan monastic order and is among the most beloved of Catholic saints, inspiring many a child’s name.

Sometime in the 1600s, Frances became established as the dominant spelling for women, but like many names of long use, variants abound, and you can find a female Francis today.

By the start of the 20th century, Frances regularly ranked in the US Top Ten for newborn girls. She remained in the Top 100 until 1955. Since then, she’s fallen steadily to a low of #825 last year.

Francesca peaked at #353 in 1996, but today remains a respectable #477. She fits right in with Isabella, Alexandra and Olivia. But as those names start to feel overused, parents are seeking not just new choices, but new sounds – and more modest classic names could be just the thing.

Other early 20th century favorites that share Frances’ quiet profile include Alice, Maude, Eleanor and Beatrice – many of which are already heard among the fashionable. We can also imagine Frances as sister to Clara or Cora, or even chart-toppers like Emma and Hannah. Frances hits the highly coveted combination – seldom heard, but undeniably classic.

Sparky nicknames include Frankie and Frannie, both of which would sound just right sharing the playground with Maddie. Longtime favorite Fanny, however, is not the best choice circa 2008.

Frances sounds smart, and bearers like Oscar-winning actress Frances McDormand and former Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins – the first woman to hold a US cabinet position – bolster this image. It’s also the given name of the character played by Jennifer Grey in Dirty Dancing – though she’s known throughout the flick as Baby.

It’s an appealing choice for a daughter. And if you spent your college years with a Robert Doisneau poster on your dorm room walls, well … this is a far more sophisticated option than calling your daughter Paris.

More names you might like:

Comments

  1. I’m a second generation Frances after great grandmother on my fathers side.My full name is Frances Elizabeth Beare so it was rather frustrating when people spelt my name with a is instead of es (my mother always said that the es is more feminine the the is) or when they pronuced my last name beer instead of beare.
    I now love my name as i find it unique considering how many bethany’s,chole’s and laurens ive met,I know that if i wasnt named Frances i would have been named Florence for my other great grandmother.My sisters names are quite beautiful to as they are called Lucy Jade and Emily Rose – i was always jealous of their names when growing up.

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  2. I’m a Frances born in the 1940’s. My father insisted on naming me Frances but couldn’t really say why it was so important to him. He just knew he had to have a Frances. He had been orphaned at the age of 3 and knew nothing about his family. After his death I began doing family research to discover his roots, (he didn’t even know the names of his grandparents) and found that there was a Frances in almost every generation. After all those years of having no knowledge of my father’s family, I felt immediately connected to the past generations through my name.
    Sadly, my father never knew the family roots of the name he insisted on giving me…….or did he? Was it somehow buried in his 3 year old subconscious? I like to think so.
    At any rate I am thrilled and honored to have such a classy and classic name and knowing that I am one of a long line of Frances’ I couldn’t be happier. Now if my Granddaughter will just have a daughter and name her Frances……

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  3. My name is Frances and I’ve never been a fan of it. My family calls me Gidget, which I love. Named after the 60’s sitcom with Sally Field. Gidget’s proper name on the show was Frances.

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  4. So happy to find a post on Frances! I’m the 4th generation Frances in my family. My great-grandmother was Frances Faye, then my grandmother is Lily Frances, my uncle is Michael Francis (YES, we firmly believe that the -is spelling is masculine and will challenge anyone who says otherwise to a duel), and lastly, I’m Kathleen Frances. My daughter’s first name will be Frances. DH and I already decided on this ages ago.
    The story of how the first Frances got her name is actually a cute story. Her parents originally named her Eunice Faye but when Cecil, her older brother first heard what his baby sister had been named, he (who was four at the time) put his foot down and said “No, no, no. She’s a nice little Frances Faye Forbes.” This amused their parents so much that they changed her name to just that. Thanks to my great-great uncle, I have this wonderful name that connects me with the generations past. 🙂

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    • Oh, I wanted to add that anytime I see the name Francesca on someone that doesn’t have an heritage link to the name (Italian, etc) it sets my teeth on edge…it didn’t do that before, but I guess as it got more popular, it got more irritating. Just seems so overly-feminine and forced, like the parents wanted their girl to have a name ending with an ‘a’ so they pasted it on the end of the name. Roberta and Wilma gets the same reaction out of me.
      I’m overly sensitive when it comes to girl names, I admit. Oh well.

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  5. I just sent this link to my husband–we just had a baby girl in September and we named her Frances. However, the name wasn’t pulled out of thin air; it was my great grandmother’s name. We like to stick to traditional family names and named our son, Lowell, after my husband’s grandfather. But it’s funny because I can immediately tell if someone likes the name–most, and expectedly so, make a reference to it being such an “older name”. My mother-in-law is already calling her ‘Frankie’ and I’m not sure I’m on board with that just yet….If she ends up being a little tom-boyish, maybe (however my husband really likes it). But for now it’s either Frances or Francie (alot of time we call her ‘Francie-pants’ or ‘Francie Rain’, since her middle name is Lorraine, sometimes my husband will even pull off a ‘Francois Pantelones’, trying to be funny). But I refuse to let anyone call her ‘Franny’, ‘Fanny’, or ‘Fran’, while I can still control it. 🙂 It’s funny though because in her 3 short months I’ve already had to correct the spelling of her name many, many times. It’s funny to me that more people default to the ‘is’ spelling rather than the ‘es’. Another interesting tidbit is my mom has a friend who just recently became a grandmother to a girl by the name of Francesca…..only her (Francesca’s) parents call her ‘Frances’ for short.

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  7. Funny to read all of these, my name being Frances.. “hottie” I hated my name for the longest time too but i realized in highschool, when every other girl had the name Lauren or Sarah or Katie, that i loved it, and now i love it even more in college! Everyone always knows who someone is talking about when they say Frances, there’s never a “Frances Who?” and I always get a “Is that your real name?? It’s great!” or “It’s so classic”. Seriously, best name EVER! I go by fran, france, francoise… my grandmother, a Frances as well, went by Fanny

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  8. Funny to see the comments!
    My name is Frances (and i hate it) as i’m 16. Almost everybody who meets me for the first time spells my name francis! It is extremely annoying, as i am not a guy!
    Nicknames i go by are: Franny, Frankie and Fran.

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  9. Awww…my chocolate lab’s name is Francie, so named after a character from the Jennifer Garner TV hit Alias. (We had no children at the time, so we put quite a bit of thought into naming our dog…sad but true.) Francie is a cute nickname for the rather proper Frances.

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  10. Thanks Verity! Pomeline’s my secret love. Everyone thinks I’m crazy but I just can’t shake her off my list entirely! If you do find the boys list and add some, would you be so kind to post them? I keep track and post a “Would you come on over & give your thoughts” sort of post when the name’s up at another website I frequent. (Thanks too, for Flora. I adore it, but want to use Florence, possibly as a full name, since she was another one of my Mom’s sisters: Josephine, Helena, Florence & Francesca they were) Can’t wait to see what you dig up!

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  11. You all are fabulous! Thanks for the suggestions.

    I’m determined to find a better way to do this, but for now I’ve updated the calendar to include:

    10.1 Alwilda – Thanks, Holey – that’s going to be quite a fun one!
    10.3 Pomeline – A far less obvious choice from the orchard!
    10.4 Cornelius – Interesting choice, DH and Lola.
    10.5 Maxine – Another, my son just played with a little girl called Maxine at the beach. (Her mother was English.)
    10.7 India – one my faves, too, DH.
    10.9 Flora – the floral name of all floral names, Lola.

    Now let me go find the boys’ names and fill in a few more days …

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  12. Frances sounds frumpy to me, but Francesca is lovely. But I tend to the more flowery/sugary/exotic end of naming, so my opinions are to be taken with a tablespoon of salt.

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  13. Great choice for name of the day – purely for being a name I’m completely familiar with but have never considered! Actually, Frances was the name of my great grandmother but I’ve always thouught her name was the least favourable of my great grandmothers. Now, you mention it though, I’m looking at her in a whole new light, she certainly does fit in with names like Isabella, Clara and Olivia but for me she doesn’t quite have their user-friendly feel (and this from someone who loves stuffy names!)

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  14. Unfortunately when I think of Frances it also brings to mind scandal, but of the college dorm variety. I had a dorm mate named Frances who was an absolute trainwreck, (drinking, smoking, sleeping around, breaking up relationships left and right). I don’t know if it was her name or her personality or her parenting or the way she was treated because of her name, but I would NEVER consider this for a child of mine, funny how associations change your perception.

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  17. I love Francesca! I have a cousin with that name and she’s half Italian. Her nickname is Chessie (don’t know how to spell it. I never asked her parents that and I usually just call her by her full name.) It’s alot nicer than Frances in my opinion. I just never liked Frances/Francis and I don’t like Fanny/Fannie and Frankie. I agree with Unknown. It does seem really dated. Fanny will more than likely get the poor kid teased in school and on a playground and Frankie is too masculine for a girl. Paris is awful and trashy compared to Francis though. Skanky Paris Hilton ruined that name a long time ago. I never liked it before her, but now I really hate it.

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  18. Thanks for covering Frances. I really love it, especially the nickname Francie. But the other names you mentioned, Alice, Beatrice, Eleanor, are also high on my list, so it must be something about the style. Great name!

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  21. Alright, a few girls that entertain me, Hope I haven’t missed them already!

    Josephine
    Elspeth
    Dorothy/Dorothea
    Edith
    Florence/Flora
    Cecily (This one might have been covered already)
    Jemima
    Mathilda/Matilda
    Pomeline ( A French little Apple!)
    Martha
    Pandora (My MIL!)
    Philippa
    Roxana (not Roxanne!)
    Lilac
    and finally
    Margaret, Marguerite &/or my lovely medieval Margery

    Anything? 😉

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  22. I have an offbeat suggestion for a girls’ name: Alwilda. This was the middle name of one of my great-great aunts, born in 1884 to an Illinois wagonmaker’s family with otherwise ordinary names like Elizabeth and Howard. I’ve always wondered how they happened on that name.

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    • We have a relative by the name of Awilda, sort of close. She is a Latino – Dominican Republic.
      I always wondered where that came from, I wonder if it’s related to Alwilda…

      Btw, my great grandmother was Frances and I got her as a middle name. Kids in school smeared it on me constantly, what is the deal?
      But my GG was a fabulous and wonderful lady and I’m proud to have it.

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  23. Wish granted – Linus is already on the calendar for 9/7!

    I need to sit down and review my calendar later this week, but I’ll put Cornelius in there when I do, promise. Personally, I’m a huge fan of Cordelia, but Cornelius has an interesting vibe, too – and fits so well with Julius, Marius and the other -us names that I’ve covered. (My baby brother has dibs on Leonidas, nn Leo.)

    Funny, Laney, I have my share of Cenzos and Cescas in my Italian family and until you mentioned it, I’d never thought about how to *spell* it.

    I do think Frances is daring these days – but I’m hearing more and more of Alice and definitely lots of Beatrice, so I think she might be due for a revival.

    And I’d overlooked Francie – that’s a sweet nickname for a ladylike Frances who wouldn’t quite be comfortable as a Frannie.

    As for Fanny? I had a Great Aunt who answered to the nn – though her full name was Philomena. She was lovely, but I suppose I’m particularly disinclined to entertain it, as her name made me snicker through many a childhood family event.

    Going back to NotD, any one have a few good ideas for girls? For the first time ever, I seem to be pulling WAY ahead on boys’ names and I like to fill the calendar evenly. (Neurotic, I know – but there it is.)

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  24. Hey DH… Consider your request for Cornelius seconded! I really like him but with Cosmo & Clarence already in my top 2, Cornelius ends up in a secondary spot. I’m beginning to feel the C overload! (What s it about C’s that I like this time around?

    I’d also like to make yet another request, if possible, Linus? I’m starting to really warm up to him, being the former Pope name (like my other boys) and the first name of my other half’s personal hero: Linus Torvalds. I also like the Peanuts assocation, my brother was affectionately Linus for his blanket toting ways as a toddler (as I was Lucy, the bossy older sister) Thanks Mom for that! 🙂 I’d love to see what other assocations you can dig up, Verity (if you’ve got the time, I mean)! I searched but can’t find him here.

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  25. I have to say Frances is a pretty name but I do find it a bit old and dated. I’d love to see it on a child, but I just wouldn’t use it myself. I prefer Francesca instead, and I do have to say I love Francis on a boy!

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  26. Oh, speaking of A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, would you be interested in doing a name of the day on Cornelius? That was Francie’s brother in the book and he went by nickname Neely.

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  27. You left out my favorite Frances nickname—-Francie, worn by my favorite literary Frances Nolan nn Francie in A Tree Grows In Brooklyn.

    For me, Frances has a few great nicknames but not enough wow or femininity for me. I could see using in the middle slot if it were a family name but this one is still a bit too musty for me.

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  28. Hah! Frances was my Mother! 😀 She was actually born Francesca (in a Polish/Russian family, no less!) and anglicised it to Frances by high school, figuring it would be easier to live with. Not really. I recall many telephone conversations with her saying “‘es’, not ‘is’ ‘es’ is for girls”! Drove her bananas. Frances (Mom) & Francis(Uncle) are both family names for me, hence her being in the middle (Eulalie Frances Madelief). I’m still looking for someplace to use Francis in the middle for a boy.

    Yes, I know the spellings were interchangable for centuries but honestly? “es” for girls, “is” for boys is what my brain, and eyes, prefer. No, insist on!

    Both boy & girl variants are smart, happy and really lovely. Frankie only appeals on a little boy, Frank (ala Ol’ Blue eyes) on a /teen/man. Francie for the girls.. or do I dare? Fannie sounds so flapper-ish cool to me and makes me think of Fannie May candy and Fannie Mae, the Federal lending insitution. I am firmly in the “fannie is not your tush” camp!

    France Bean surprised and enchanted me, and raised both Kurt & Courtney a notch in my estimation. And if anyone ever called a Frances of mine “baby” I’d strangle them.
    I thoroughly adore Frances (and Francis). 😀

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    • I love the Fannie/Fanny nickname as well! There are so many admirable women in history called Fanny and yes, it really is flapperish cool. 🙂

      Reply

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