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ArchivesMy Unusual Name!
Please help me understand my first name, Frän(Frahn) feminine. My mother told me that it's Old French but I cannot find it anywhere. I'm beginning to think that either she or someone else just made it up and it really comes from nowhere. I've struggled with this name my whole life. Rarely can anyone pronounce it correctly when read and everyone ask me where it's from. I would love to end the mystery to my name. I will be extremely appreciative to anyone that can help me! Thank you.
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Fran could sound like Frahn, but once you put on the umlaut it should, in German, sound more like Fren.
Most of the English-speaking Frances girls I've met use the short a, as in and, for the nickname form, Fran, but the long a (or ah) sound for Frances. Perhaps your mother preferred the nn to the full form, also preferred the ah pronunciation, and made sure that everyone would stop, ask, think about the sound and never, ever get it wrong again. Which is fine in theory, but I do sympathise with all the tedium it causes in your life.
Frances of course means 'Frenchwoman' and has been in use for centuries. But I've never seen an umlaut in Old French. I can see where the confusion could come from, though.
Most of the English-speaking Frances girls I've met use the short a, as in and, for the nickname form, Fran, but the long a (or ah) sound for Frances. Perhaps your mother preferred the nn to the full form, also preferred the ah pronunciation, and made sure that everyone would stop, ask, think about the sound and never, ever get it wrong again. Which is fine in theory, but I do sympathise with all the tedium it causes in your life.
Frances of course means 'Frenchwoman' and has been in use for centuries. But I've never seen an umlaut in Old French. I can see where the confusion could come from, though.
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I agree, that Frän would be prononced with an "a" as in "and" - I think it means "women" in some languages like dutch, and it might be a swedish name, because Ikea uses it for one of their products, and I believe they use first names a lot. :)
Fran would correspond to what your mother told you about it being a french name, but then the ä doesn't make much sense, since Fran in french is pronounced more like "Fron". I also don't think that "ä" ever existed in french ... so I also believe it's a creative spelling of Fran , maybe used in some nordic countries :)
Fran would correspond to what your mother told you about it being a french name, but then the ä doesn't make much sense, since Fran in french is pronounced more like "Fron". I also don't think that "ä" ever existed in french ... so I also believe it's a creative spelling of Fran , maybe used in some nordic countries :)
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