Frances - Francis
From Hull AWE
The two forenames Frances and Francis are homophones, in both of which the second vowel has an indeterminate quality, either the shwa (IPA: /ə/) or short '-i-' (/ɪ/), occasionally a short '-e-' /ɛ/. Their spelling matters:
- Frances is a female forename (its common abbreviations are Fran and Frankie), and
- Francis is a male forename, commonly abbreviated as Frank. Francis is the name of a saint much venerated in the Catholic church (see further Saint Francis), and the name of the Pope elected in 2013.