View Message

I love Francesca! With no nn. Francesca is unique yet normal and absolutely beautiful.

Very pretty name.
In my area, Francine, or Francoise (there's a cidilla under the c, but my keyboard won't make it) are more common.
Also just France, usually formally Marie-France.

Francesca is beautiful, but the only Francesca I ever knew went by Fran. She said that her siblings sometimes called her Franca, pronounced so that the first syllable rhymes with John. I don't care for either of those nicknames, especially Fran. I know your friend may say, "Oh, no, we won't call her Fran, she'll always be Francesca" but I think that it's so natural to shorten Francesca to Fran that it would be hard to avoid (at least here in the U.S., I wouldn't know about Italy or any other country.) That's the reason I wouldn't use Francesca.

I like Francesca. It used to be a real favourite of mine.
Sounds dignified and there are plenty of nn possibilities. On the other hand it is not a name that will necessary be shortened if she wants to use the full version.

---

I don't like Jayna.
I much, much prefer Jane.

---

I like it. My cousin's got the same name and she's never had any trouble with it being pronounced. I like the nick names Frankie and Chessie.

---

Not so sure on Jayna though.

Well, that's my name, and if your friend were Italian I'd advice her not to use it because it's apallingly common in Italy, lol. Otherwise, it's not a bad name at all, only some English speakers have trouble pronouncing it (saying Fran-zhe-sca instead of Fran-che-sca).

I love Francesca but its so popular where I live.
Jayna is nice too & I think they make a good sibset.

I don't mind it, I have met too Francescas in my life, one was an adult (in her 30s and the other was about 4 or 5, she went by Frances).

Francesca would be a great way to go. Personally I like Francesca best without a nickname, but it is the kind of name many people feel compelled to nickname. If she doesn't like Frankie as a nickname, she can use Chess. However, I can see the appeal of Frankie, even though it is not my taste. I just really love Chess. The only downside is some people might confuse it with Jess.

---

I'm not sure if Francesca goes well with Jayna, but I'm not one to care too much about complementing sibsets. How a name complements the sibling name would only be a tiebreaking determinant if I was considering two or more names I liked equally.

---

Jayna is not my thing but I think Francesca is beautiful. Has your friend picked a middle name?

---

S xx