Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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09/05/2013 15:58

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

My dad's name is Francois, but he goes by his middle name which is more "American". I would love to pass this name on to my son, but I don't know any nicknames for it, and I don't want my kid to go by his middle name. Do you think this name is strange for a kid?

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09/05/2013 15:59

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

For a boy? Frankie! Love it.

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09/05/2013 16:01

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

One of the real housewives in NY had a boy named Francois. Its not that bad - at least most have heard of it. Frank or Franky is the obvious nickname.

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09/05/2013 16:03

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

Francois is definitely a French name, but it's one that many Americans are familiar with and will know how to pronounce. Frank or Frankie are the nicknames that pop into my head right away. I don't think it's that strange at all.

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09/05/2013 16:09

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

I was expecting far, far weirder than that. I like both Francois and Frankie. I knew a Frank in college who was a sweetheart!

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09/05/2013 16:24

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

Too pretentious unless you speak French.

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09/05/2013 16:30

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:Too pretentious unless you speak French.

What's pretentious about naming your kid after your father? Sheesh.

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09/05/2013 16:31

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

LOVE Frank as a nn.

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09/05/2013 16:32

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

How about just Francis? We anglicized my great-grandfather's name from Ludwig to Louis.

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09/05/2013 16:39

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

I like it okay as a middle name.

I like Francis as a first name.

I remember the child on RHONY and it sounded pretentious not to mention sort of hard to pronounce all the time as in "Francois, clean your room!"

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09/05/2013 16:39

Subject: Re:Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

I'm French (but grew up here, and am probably here for good at this point) and one of my name priorities for my kids was that it had to exist in both languages with the same spelling, or at least be recognizable/pronounceable in both languages. I didn't want to listen to Americans mangle the pronunciation every single time, and vice versa when in France. I don't think I would have put Francois on my list, mainly because the missing cedille would bug me every single time I looked at the name. (Or were you going to use the cedille? I'd be concerned about having trouble when some databases record the cedille and some don't.)
We did use my father's very French name as a middle name.

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09/05/2013 16:41

Subject: Re:Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:I'm French (but grew up here, and am probably here for good at this point) and one of my name priorities for my kids was that it had to exist in both languages with the same spelling, or at least be recognizable/pronounceable in both languages. I didn't want to listen to Americans mangle the pronunciation every single time, and vice versa when in France. I don't think I would have put Francois on my list, mainly because the missing cedille would bug me every single time I looked at the name. (Or were you going to use the cedille? I'd be concerned about having trouble when some databases record the cedille and some don't.)
We did use my father's very French name as a middle name.

No cedille, true. But people here certainly know how to pronounce it.

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09/05/2013 16:51

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

My cat's name is Francois.

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09/05/2013 16:53

Subject: Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Too pretentious unless you speak French.

What's pretentious about naming your kid after your father? Sheesh.

Yes, but even her father knows not to go by Francois. Why use a name that he doesn't actually use? Will your son live in the US or in France? Might make a difference.

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09/05/2013 19:52

Subject: Re:Passing on a old fashioned and very foreign sounding first name.

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Anonymous

Anonymous wrote:I'm French (but grew up here, and am probably here for good at this point) and one of my name priorities for my kids was that it had to exist in both languages with the same spelling, or at least be recognizable/pronounceable in both languages. I didn't want to listen to Americans mangle the pronunciation every single time, and vice versa when in France. I don't think I would have put Francois on my list, mainly because the missing cedille would bug me every single time I looked at the name. (Or were you going to use the cedille? I'd be concerned about having trouble when some databases record the cedille and some don't.)
We did use my father's very French name as a middle name.

I agree, the missing cédille makes me cringe (I'm bilingual), and the fact that the c cédille doesn't exist in English would make me avoid the name for an American child. But if I were to use it, I would absolutely spell it correctly, i.e. with cédille.