The Baby Name Wizard

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Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Frances!

Comments and insights on the name Frances: | Edit

My name is Frances and I love it. It's my grandmothers name and my mother's middle name. I like having a name that is so connected to my family yet so uncommon. The only bad thing is when people spell it using an "i" because it's also a boys name.

Personal experiences with the name Frances: | Edit

We named our daughter Frances, and she is now three. We have yet to meet another Frances in her age bracket - hell, her decade! - and I love it. It's very low on the Social Security Name list and has been for the past several years. I wanted a classic, not too common, and Catholic saint's name where I could call her at the park and not have five kids come running to me. People don't cringe (to my face, at least) when I tell them her name, and they often say it suits her, but then, she does look like one of those old-fashioned Campbell's Soup Kids with the huge blue eyes and cheeks! Her middle name is Arabella, so we have the unisex and very girly name combo, and we call her "Francie Belle" sometimes.

My first name is Frances, and there are reasons why I like it and I don't like it. I hate it because of the male version and everyone thinking that is my name. I think Francis is such an ugly name and when people write my name like that, it makes me hate my name. Other than that, I love it. I love how it is rare and nobody else I know has the name (except for a middle name). All of my friends and family call me Frannie and I love it.

My middle name is Frances, and every time I tell someone my middle name they say, "Isn't that a boy's name?" And then I say "It's a girl's name when it's spelled with an 'e.'" And then they respond with "Francisse?" Not to mention the fact that I hate it. It's probably because I'm young though. But it does remind me of an old woman knitting a scarf eating oatmeal with her cats. Just my personal opinion.

My middle name is Frances and I LOVE IT! I'll admit that as a child I hated it because everyone else seemed to have "Anne" "Marie" and "Elizabeth" as a middle name. I am only 26 yrs old, and I can proudly say that I am happy to carry on my family's tradition of giving the name Frances as the middle name to a daughter. I really think it is a feminine name and is also very unique. On that note, now that I am older many of my friends have commented that they wish they had a unique middle name like me.

^ My Middle name is Frances to,and i never used to like it, and when people asked me my middle name, i wouldn't tell them, but now i quite like it :) It is very unique, and it's a beautiful name.

My first name is Frances and for the most part I hate it. I also always get the response, isn't that a boys name? And I have to have the same e & i conversation. I am named after a Great Aunt in the family so it has always felt like an "old name" to me. I remember always wishing growing up that I had a more common & girly name, because the only other person in my school with the same name was of course a boy. But now that I am older I've grown to appreciate it's rareness a little more. I'm only ever called Frani, which I love, especially since that is a unique way of spelling it.

I find this name hard to get used to when you first hear it for a girl. My friend's name is Frances and when I met her two years ago and introduced her to my family my twin brother (who is quite stubborn) kept insisting it was a boy's name and he ignorantly still does which annoys me (I can't imagine how much it annoys Frances!).

Nicknames for Frances: | Edit

Frannie, Fran, Francie, Frankie, Fanny, Franny, Frani

Meanings and history of the name Frances: | Edit

Frances means Free

Famous real-life people named Frances: | Edit

Frances Hodgson Burnett, English-American children's book author (The Secret Garden)
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, patron saint of immigrants
Frances Folsom Cleveland, First Lady and wife of Grover Cleveland
Frances Shand-Kidd, mother of Princess Diana
Frances Wisebart Jacobs, American philanthropist and a founder of the United Way of America
Frances McDormand, American actress (Fargo)
Frances Perkins, American labor reformer and the first woman to serve in the U.S. cabinet
Frances Farmer, actress
Francesca Annis, actress
Frances Conroy, actress
Frances Gumm, Judy Garland's real name
Frances Tomelty, actress
Frances Bean Cobain, daughter of Courtney Love and Kurt Cobain

Frances in song, story & screen: | Edit

Frances, a temperamental young badger in Russell Hoban's picture books
Franny Glass, a character in JD Salinger's fiction, most notably the novel Franny and Zooey
Frances "Baby" Houseman, the heroine of the film "Dirty Dancing", played by Jennifer Grey