My wife Frances once was given a private room in hospital because the people who arrange such things did not know what gender she was, they were unaware of Frances and Francis.
After a session at the vet, the cat took comfort from my husband while he was on the toilet. Needless to say, he fell asleep so my husband had to leave his shoes, pants and trousers behindâŠ
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We have Francoise and Francois, also Frances and Francis, I think âŠI do not know, that it is something to do with Berrichon a separate language in this region which is also known as Berry I am in Idre ( Centre- Val de Loire Region.
My uncle had the wonderfully ambidextrous name âClaudeâ. I miss him.
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My neighbour is named Claude after her father. She hates it. My mother in law was called Charles, she wasnât too happy either.
A friend / ex-colleague of mine has a uncommonly spelt firstname. The story goes that his dad was sent to register the birth and was told explicitly that the name was âGraeme with an eâ⊠Only the father was unaware of that spelling and so he ended up being called âGrahameâ instead 
That reminds me, Iâve not heard from him in years⊠I must reach out to him.
From the moment I was conceived my name was David, I suppose they would have added an âaâ if I had turned out differently. However my mother wanted to name me for my father and her father too, both Reginald.
She tried it several times and decided that David Reginald did not flow as easily as Reginald David. I have spent the last 82 years correcting people, even both tax regimes in England and France only know me as David, as do my bank accounts but my passport has the Reginald and I think probably the driving licence too.
Mum was so upset at what she had done and I occasionally complained about it, citing her own upset by having forenames Ida Elizabeth Dunstan when all her own life she was only known as Betty. (Ida was her Mumâs sister and Dunstan was a particularly fierce great grandmother who, being from Cornwall had to fend off the prejudice of her Welsh in laws. I gave the name to my son too and my daughter was offended at not having it herself 
)
??
Though, on the other hand, âŠ
âNot the marrying kindâ 
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Oh, a confirmed bachelor.
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Ours produced more when jazz was played than when it was classical music.
And if itâs Schrodingerâs cat is it there and not there?
They donât sound the same, François sounds like âwaâ at the end, Françoise like âwuzzâ.
France is f and Francis is m
Obv local dialects may affect things. Where Iâm from on the SE coast all sorts of different names are popular, compared to where I live now oop north in SW24.
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I am afraid you are comparing apples with potatoes, how anything is pronounced in Streatham Hill or on the South coast is a country mile away from rural France.
I think Vero is referring to the Dordogne by 24.
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Where does she say that? and even if she is, Dordogne is far posher than where I live.