Frances

[ClaraBean]

Thoughts?
We have a list of 5 potentials, but we both really like this I think, so I fear I'm making the list even bigger!!!
Would use Fran/Frannie for a nickname I think. DP is a big fan of a nickname.

I like it.

Read Iain Banks' "The Wasp Factory" (or at least the plot summary on Wikipedia) before making a firm decision...
It's a nice name but it's always best to go in with your eyes open.

I like it because it feels old east end. I know a lot of Frans. The only thing I would say about Franny as a nn is that some people say it short at the front - Fran-eee and some say it long at the front - Fraaaaarn-ee. And this can be annoying for the Fran. I have the same thing happen with my NN.

All the people saying it's classy don't know my MIL!

Risks sounding harsh especially when said with a very short A in any of the northern accents

Fran sounds like a frazzled, hassled, dishevelled person to me.

But then I never understood Finn as a boys name either!

Frances Ellen is lovely!

Like it, in case you hadn't guessed. It's one of those underused suits-every-stage names.

I like it but then it's my middle name, my mums name and my granddad's name (Francis)

My mum is known as Frankie.

She's not overly keen on her name. She's disliked the gender neutral nature of it as there have been mix ups from it

My granny’s name but she never used it, being known as Queenie or Q instead.she was a bossy little girl and the eldest of a tribe of all girl cousins.
We couldn’t use it as the surname has ‘off’ in the middle of it.
‘F off’ was one to dodge.

Love the Frances /Helena combo mentioned upthread. I’d add Celia, which I think has a similar vibe, as does Eleanor, also already mentioned.

One of Granny’s younger cousins was also Frances, but known as Fanny.

@Biscuitsneeded, I meant it is a classic, traditional name, but not one I like. I went to school with someone named Frances, and she was a bully. It's probably that !

@123344user

Read Iain Banks' "The Wasp Factory" (or at least the plot summary on Wikipedia) before making a firm decision... It's a nice name but it's always best to go in with your eyes open.

The main character in The Wasp Factory is a boy called Francis. Different sex, different spelling, different name. Would never make the association with the book! It's hardly mainstream reading either.