Word Confusion: Frances versus Francis

Posted February 1, 2024 by kddidit in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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This is one of those name confusions that drive me wild — it is a homophone. When an author refers to Francis, I’m expecting the character is male. And in reverse, a character named Frances is a female.

A popular mnemonic for the spelling is “i for him and e for her“.

Source: Francis

So when the author assigns the “wrong” sex to a name, it makes me nuts. Even in this non-binary world, the choice of a female or male version of a name makes a difference.

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Exploring Later . . .

Other gender-challenged words include “Attach vs Attaché vs Attachée“, Chargé d’affaires vs Chargée d’affaires“, “Fiancé versus Fiancée“, “Protégé versus Protégée“, and “Widow versus Widower“.

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Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Frances

Francis

Frances Burnett by Herbert Rose Barraud and scanned by Phrood. It is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

This image file, Francis I of France, was donated by by Metropolitan Museum of Art and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.

Part of Grammar:

Proper Name

Plural: Franceses

A.k.a. Francine

Proper Name

Plural: Francises

A given name for a female

A given name for a male

Examples:

Saint Frances is the patron saint of automobiles.

Frances Hodgson Burnett was an author who wrote Little Lord Fauntleroy, A Little Princess, and The Secret Garden.

Frances Shand Kydd was a British viscountess and the mother of Diana, Princess of Wales.

Born in 1957, Frances McDormand is an American actress.

Jennifer Grey portrayed Frances “Baby” Houseman from the movie Dirty Dancing.

St Francis is chiefly known as the patron saint of animals.

Pope Francis was born in 1936.

Francis Bacon was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author, and pioneer of the scientific method.

Francis Irving, a British computer programmer, was also an activist for freedom of information.

Derivatives:

The variations on either name are more commonly referred to as diminutives.

Fran, Frannie, Franny

Fran, Frank, Franny, Fritz

In Other Languages

Country	Female	Male
Catalonia	Francesca	Francesc
Czechoslovakia	Františka	František
France	Françoise	François
Italy	Francesca	Francesco
The Netherlands	Franciska	Franciscus

History of the Word:

Of unclear origin, the name is thought to mean free.

The name of the country France came from the Germanic Franks — their characteristic national weapon was the francisca, a throwing axe.

Saint Francis of Assisi was given the name Francesco by his French mother and francophile Italian father, a name that meant free man, Frank, Frenchman, in medieval Italian. This made the name popular in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.

Francis became regularly used in Britain in the 16th century.

Naturally, there had to be a feminine version.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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