What’s in a name?
My interest in the name Francis was sparked when I met a student whose mother’s name is Francis. She is Catholic. I had a female classmate in university called Frances and two male friends named Francis, and I had always thought of the two names as a male-female pair like Alexander – Alexandra, David – Davida, Patrick – Patricia. So I was puzzled, and consulted some books. One, “Naming Your Baby” by Joyce Robins, was particularly useful and contains this information:
“Francis and Frances stem from the Latin word meaning a “Frenchman”. St. Francis of Assisi made the name popular in the Middle Ages and it was used, with Frank as the shortened version, for both boys and girls but later Frances became the popular feminine form, with Francine and Francesca as variations. Pet names for girls are Fran, Francie and Frankie and for boys Frank and Frankie.”
That makes good sense, for if someone adopts a name out of admiration for a saint, whether the adopter or the name is masculine or feminine should not matter that much.
Historically, there are names that might first be used by both sexes and then differentiated to varying degrees later. Besides Francis, there is Hilary (or Hillary), which, according to Robins, “was first used as a boy’s name, then … used for both boys and girls … and though still sometimes used for boys, is now mainly a female name.” But Wah Yan Kowloon boys will remember a respected male teacher, Mr. Hilary Lee Hoi Chow (1919-2008).
Pet names or diminutive lend themselves more easily to being unisex. So Frankie and Frank (the latter in earlier times), as noted above. Sandy, Alex and Alix are the short forms of Alexander or Alexandra (or Sandra). Pat can be Patrick or Patricia. Viv can be Vivian (used to be a boy’s name but now used more by girls) or Vivien. Chris is short for both Christopher and Christine, and so on.
Francis and Frances are pronounced in the same way. There are other pairs that are exactly the same in sound but different in spelling: Terry (for Terence) – Terri, Joe (for Joseph) – Jo (for Josephine).
In England, the earliest example of Francis noted is Francis Calthorpe of Norwich (1494). Humfrey Cockayne, born about 1490, and Lady Francis Brandon (born 1517), who was the daughter of Mary Tudor (1496-1533) and god-daughter of FrancisI of France (1494-1547), had a daughter whom they named Frances, the first recorded instance of that name. The distinctive spelling came in in the seventeenth century. The two names were favorites of the aristocracy. Both were indeed derived from the country France, as the etymology attests.
Francis is both a given name and a family name, adopted out of respect for the saints. Some famous English people bearing the given name of Francis are the sea captain and politician Sir Francis Drake (1540-1596) and the philosopher and essayist Francis Bacon (1561-1626), in the sixteenth and seventeenth century. The well-known English rider turned detective writer, Dick Francis (1920-2010), bears the name as a surname.
Closer home, we had Fr. Francis Chan 陳福偉神父 (1923-1993), a graduate of Wah Yan College Hong Kong and a teacher on the Kowloon side from 1956 to 1988. He was appointed Prefect of Studies by Fr. Dargan, “the first time that a Chinese member of the community has held a responsible position …He has been very successful in improving discipline.”So wrote Fr. Dargan to Fr. Superior in January 1960. We students knew how true that was! He became the first Chinese rector of the Jesuit community in Hong Kong.
Here are some other European pairs of Francis -- Frances: (Latin Franciscus “a Frenchman”)
French: François Françoise
Spanish: Francisco Francisca
Italian: Francesco Francesca
German: Franz Franziska
The city San Francisco was founded in 1776, when colonists from Spain established a fort at the Golden Gate and a mission named for St. Francis of Assisi a few miles away.
When Argentinian cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio was elected Pope on March 13 this year, his choice of the name Francis gave rise to a lot of discussion. There are a number of saints who are called St. Francis: St. Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), St. Francis Xavier (1506-1552), St. Francis Borgia (1510-1572) and St. Francis de Sales (1567-1622). The first two are perhaps the most well-known to us.
St. Francis of Assisi (translated as 聖方濟各or 聖芳濟各in Chinese, probably after the Italian or Spanish pronunciation) was an Italian friar and preacher who founded three orders: the Order of Friars Minor, the Order of Poor Clares for women, and the Order of St. Francis. Born with a silver spoon in his mouth, he chose to live a life of poverty and dedicated his life working for the poor. He is known as the patron saint of the animals and the environment. He is also known for his love of the Eucharist, his “stigmata” or wounds, his sorrow during the Stations of the Cross, and for the creation of the Christmas creche or Nativity Scene. He was canonized by Pope Gregory IX in 1228. Francis originally had the baptismal name of Giovanni. It was said that his father nicknamed him Francesco because he was on business in France when the child was born.
In Hong Kong, there are the St. Francis of Assisi parish and church (its earlier Chinese name was聖五傷方濟各堂1955-1965, now just聖方濟各堂), and primary schools and a secondary co-ed college St. Francis of Assisi’s College 聖芳濟各書院 located now in Fan Ling and under the Catholic diocese. In Vancouver, there are the St. Francis of Assisi parish and an elementary school. The parish holds a pet-blessing ceremony every year.
Perhaps more familiar to Wahyanites, St. Francis Xavier (聖方濟 or 聖芳濟) was a companion of St. Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), one of the first seven Jesuits, and a co-founder of the Society of Jesus whose followers are bound by vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. He was born in Navarre (now part of Spain) and being a pioneer missionary, he travelled far and wide, going to India, Japan, Borneo, the Moluccas and reaching Shangchuan Island 上川島 near Toishan 台山 in China in the last year of his life. There he died from a fever on 3 December, 1552. He was canonized by Pope Gregory XV in 1622.
In Hong Kong, there are two schools bearing the name of St. Francis Xavier, one St. Francis Xavier’s College 聖芳濟書院 in Tai Kok Tsui and one, St. Francis Xavier’s School 荃灣聖芳濟中學 in Tsuen Wan, both run by brothers from the Society of Mary. On Hong Kong island, there's St. Francis’ Canossian College 嘉諾撒聖方濟各書院 on Kennedy Road, whose patron saint is Francis Xavier. It is run by sisters from the Canossian Daughters of Charity. It is an interesting fact of history that the only Jesuit-run schools, Wah Yan, bear the name neither of Francis Xavier nor Ignatius Loyola but a Chinese name 華仁, a reflection of the respect for the origin of the school and the openness and inclusiveness of the founding Jesuits. In Vancouver, there is the St. Francis Xavier parish, a day-care centre and an elementary school. Ms Therese Leung, formerly an English inspector of the Education Department in Hong Kong, was principal of the school for many years until 2001.
Macau still holds the relic of St. Francis Xavier’s arm bones in a silver reliquary which was first housed in the Cathedral of St. Paul, then moved to St. Jospeh’s, to the chapel of St. Francis Xavier on Coloane Island, and now to St. Joseph’s Seminary and the Sacred Art Museum.
“In 2006, on the 500th anniversary of his birth, the Xavier Tomb Monument and Chapel on the Shangchuan Island, in ruins after years of neglect under communist rule in China, was restored with the support from the alumni of Wah Yan College, a Jesuit high school in Hong Kong.” (Wikipedia: Francis Xavier)
After which St. Francis did the new Pope choose his name? Vatican spokesman the Rev. Federico Lombardi confirmed soon after the election that the name refers to St. Francis of Assisi. That was a little surprising for a Jesuit priest. The Franciscan order is a mendicant order (Latin mendicus ‘beggar’), and is often viewed as the Jesuits’ traditional rivals. Adopting that name is seen as a gesture by Bergoglio, the first Jesuit to become pope, towards the Franciscans. It is bridge-building, an idea he reiterated in the days after the election. Not only to another Catholic order, but to other religions and other people.
The name signifies that he seeks to be “the people’s pope, a pope who cares about the poor, who wants to have solidarity with the people of the world.”This is how Chad Pecknold, an assistant professor of theology at The Catholic University of America, tells Melissa Block on “All Things Considered”, a news program on the US network National Public News.
According to legend, St. Francis of Assisi heard a voice from the crucifix that commanded him to rebuild the deteriorating chapel of San Damiano: “Repair God’s house, which has fallen into ruin.”So the name also suggests a rebuilding of the Catholic Church which is facing many problems and scandals.
Both St. Francis Xavier and St. Francis Borgia were Spanish Jesuits in the sixteenth century who travelled and established churches in the Americas and in Asia. The name Francis bears echoes of their endeavours too.
To sum up, however inadequately, the new pope’s adoption of the name Francis suggests bridge-building, service to the poor and the disadvantaged, stance against wealth and greed, solidarity with all people, rebuilding of the Church, and evangelism. A great deal there is in that name.
To go back to my student’s mother, Francis. Besides the history of the name and its reference to the saints, with reverberation of its multiple referents and meanings, there is another justification for her to use that name. One of the Chinese rules of nomenclature puts it well, “名從主人”. (The name should be how its bearer wants it.)
Finally, the meaning of a name, like that of a word, is cumulative and changeable. Pope Francis will invest the name with certain qualities which will accrue over his lifetime. People who choose Francis as a name in the future would be mindful of some of the undercurrents of meaning up to the point of adoption. A name carries no less than human history.
That’s why Romeo Montague’s name carries a glorious burden. So does Francis.
Note:
This essay is part about English names and naming and part about Pope Francis’ choice of name. There is of course a good deal of theological issues in the choice. Those interested can consult religious writings on the subject.
The article is based on several sources: the Wikipedia, books and religious friends. The selection of and the interpretation put on the information from those sources as well as the views expressed are my own, and any errors that occur are my responsibility.
Three of the books consulted are The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, by E.G. Withycombe, third edition, OUP, 1977, and Naming Your Baby, by Joyce Robins, Treasure Press, 1987, and the indispensable Fr. Morrissey’s Jesuits in Hong Kong, South China and Beyond, 2006. The information about Pope Francis is taken largely from the words of Philip Chircop, S.J., to the “New First Companions” of La Cova 2011, forwarded to me by Colleen Wong. My thanks to both of them for allowing me to use the material. Thanks are also due to Francis Chan and Colleen for helpful suggestions. Mr. Anthony Ho reminded me about Fr. Francis Chan (when my memory, it seems, holds only “Fr. Chan”!).
March 26, 2013, Vancouver