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I have never met anyone with the middle name Frances (that I know of). I'm Canadian, and grew up in the 90s. I only ever encountered boys with the middle name Francis (exact same pronunciation), but even then it was pretty rare. I wonder if Frances as a middle name in the UK was inspired by or affected by Princess Diana's popularity at all? That was her middle name.

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I've come around to Frances' charms, a bit. It's a clever sort of name, a nice green colour to me, and I love the nickname Frankie. But I think I prefer Françoise or even Francine. Frances has a bit of a downtrodden vibe to it - a sad sort of sensibility.