Francis or Frances ?

[Andrew Tarr]

Our daughter is Kate Frances and our little grandson is William Francis
Often people get muddled with the spelling though 

Actually I am surprised by how rarely the spellings are wrong.  Franc*s has been a moderately popular name from 1750 onwards, and I can't recall finding a wrong'un in my transcriptions, despite some weird variations in other names, such as Archibell or Millecant.

I think the apparent hiccup in this example is down to the enumerator when he compiled his summary sheets, or maybe earlier.

[Andrew Tarr]

People will often spell a name the way they think it should be spelt.

For example my name is Carol, I often get it spelt Carole, so even today with the education that most of us have errors still occur. Back then people were not as literate as we are today.

Sorry, Carol, both versions are common and accepted variants.  I speak as one married to a Carol, so we do agree on that point.   

My current transcription source (~1790) seems to have been written by a dyslexic who knew his letters but not his words, unless they were common ones.  Surnames varied from page to page or line to line, and his lower-case 'e's were always mirror images.

[LizzieW]

People will often spell a name the way they think it should be spelt.

For example my name is Carol, I often get it spelt Carole,so even today with the education that most of us have errors still occur.Back then people were not as literate as we are today.

A friend of ours is called Carol, but because people spelt it Carole so many times, she decided she thought it looked better spelt with an e,  so now that's what she does and most people don't even know her name was registered without the e.

[larkspur]

Hubby Francis dau Frances,long line family name for both sexes. 
As my daughter points out when anyone spells hers with an I, "Its I for 'im and E for 'er 

[carol8353]

Hubby Francis dau Frances,long line family name for both sexes. 
As my daughter points out when anyone spells hers with an I, "Its I for 'im and E for 'er 

I like it 

Do you have any rules for Leslie and Lesley?

[Finley 1]

Thank you all

interesting points made


xin

[Billyblue]

'its a fella'   surely  otherwise it should be 'e'
xin

Normally, yes.  I had a friend Norma Francis.  One day I asked her why her second name was spelled with an i instead of e.  Her answer "Because my mother didn't know how to spell it!"
    
Dawn M

[aghadowey]

My cousin's son has the middle name of Frances- his grandmother's first name was Frances and they decided to keep the exact same spelling rather than have his middle name as Francis.

It is, however, very common to see Francis and Frances used incorrectly in records.

[Treetotal]

People will often spell a name the way they think it should be spelt.

For example my name is Carol,I often get it spelt Carole,so even today with the education that most of us have errors still occur.Back then people were not as literate as we are today.

Same here Carol(e)  ....I have been called Caroline too in the mistaken belief that I have shortened my name to Carol
Carolwithoutane