Is Fran too feminine?

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Our first son will be called Francis I wish to shorten to Fran/Franny but have had several comments about it being too feminine.

what are your honest thoughts?

I’ve only heard Of women called Fran. Boys are Frank or Frankie in my experience.

Fran is male name in some regions of Balkans, but it's variant and not very popular. Female version is Franka only. Franz is male name in some parts of Europe.
I would say, use Francis sometimes if you plan to use Francis on bc. There's no need for 'official' name if you are never going to use it.

There's Fran Healy from the band Travis but I haven't heard of or met any male Frans or Franny.

Sadly Franny is too similar to Tranny for my liking.

I only know female frans
Male I'd shorten to frank

In Scotland you could just about get away with it 15 years ago or so.

Now? Either stick with Francis or go with Frankie or Frank. Or Franz.

Only heard Fran as a female name. Most Francis boys get shortened to Frank/Franky etc.

Only every heard of female Fran.
I guess if you don't like Frank you could go Franz, or google says apparently Fritz ie a less common NN for it.
Or call him Fran but use Francis enough it stills feels like 'his' name so if he hates it or gets teased when he is older he can easily switch to the full name.

I knew a Franny, sometimes called Fran. Presumably his full name was Francis.

He was over 6’ tall and muscly, with a lovely wife and children. It still seemed odd.

I only know one male Fran, an Irish guy in his thirties. I think he was Francis. So I actually only know it as a male name.

He'd get called Fanny. Don't do it.

To me Francis is a very feminine name already (I grew up with a Frances) and so Fran is very feminine too. Franny is awful and makes me think of fanny. I would stick to Frankie personally.

franny is awful ! Sounds like fanny or tranny
frankie is good

There was a male Fran at my school. Short for Francesco.

Personally I would avoid Francis as I know too many Frances and Francis's that get fed up of the 2 being muddled up.

My husband is a Fran Francis. There are loads in his extended Irish family
I've never thought of it as feminine

franny is awful

he will be fanny by year 4

It’s definitely more usual here. Then again, where I’m from, Florence is a traditionally male name.

Fran - totally fine

Franny - fecking asking for years of ridicule.

Francis - excellent name.

Fran - totally fine

Franny - fecking asking for years of ridicule.

Francis - excellent name.

Also know an Irish Fran, completely normal and not at all unusual.

My Grandad was Francis and my Nan called him Fran or Franny (pronounced Frahn rather than rhyming with ran) so it feels like a natural shortening to me. Everyone else called him Frank. My daughter is Frances but no short form so far.

Francis is nice enough - an elegant name and sounds pretty unisex, especially as there aren’t so many female Frances about now.

Fran does sound more feminine than masculine to me as it’s also a shortening for more popular Francesca - but since it’s only a nn it should be fine (and he can always decide to use Frank instead if he wants to when older).

As pp said, Franny is a no no outside the home, as “Fanny” will be obvious.

Francis isn't nice enough at all!!! It's horrible. But million times nicer than calling a kid franny

I love Francis for a girl.

The only male Fran I ever heard of was the lead singer of Travis.

But it's the lead singer of Travis and because that's who he is, he pulls it off and I like it.

In general, I don't think it's a good idea for a little boy to be called Francis or Fran. I think it's just a target for piss taking and it's difficult enough for kids growing up in this day and age.

Edited to say I didn't realise this was a common name in Ireland. I guess the environment you're living in / grown up in informs what's popular so dictates how it's received.

Fran, Franny, Francis, Francine all very feminine. Only alternative I can think of is Frank but even then I think of Frank Spencer ..

I know a male and female Fran. ( as a pp also noted both these Frans are Irish )
The male from school and many years later the female at Uni.

I love the name Francis ( it’s my dh and eldest middle name ) and most of his family call him Fran

So to me it’s a male name mainly, even though I know a girl with it.

St Francis is the patron saint of animals and the environment
The name Francis means Freeman