View Message

Francis (m) will always be the annoying kid from Swiss Family Robinson to me. I cannot shake it. No amount of loving Franciscan spirituality changes it for me and no quantity of famous Francis figures overwhelms it. In my head he's wild, uncouth, whiny, and frankly not very bright.

---

Maple is cute. I think it's an accessible nature name. But it's evocative of sweets (syrup) and Canada (the flag) in such I way that I stick to thinking of it as a kind of hippy Mabel alternative.

Like Francis (m), dislike Maple.
Francis is a little bit of an acquired taste to me because I suspect people think of it as not very masculine, and yet the nicknames are very square (Frank, Frankie). I still considered it for my son anyway. It has character, but it's not in your face. I guess I'm ignorant because I didn't make a connection about it being Catholic.
Maple reminds me of staple and syrup, not trees, when it's a name, and also it's surname-ish. It's just so pedestrian seeming. And also easily confused with Mabel, which I think is another clunker.

This message was edited 10/16/2017, 9:35 AM

Love love them both a lot

Really like Francis, mostly because I have had very positive interactions with it, so it strikes me as friendly, serious, kind, and historic all at once. Maple on the other hand I don't think I could ever warm up to. I'm from a region that produces a lot of maple syrup, it's a huge industry, and it will always be a food to me. The sound is lovely, I can see the appeal, but its not for me.

I imagine Maple will (a) get very bored very soon by syrup jokes and (b) spend the rest of her time explaining that, no, her name really isn't Mabel (which would be preferable).

---

Francis is a favourite as long as it doesn't shorten to Frank, which I can do without.

Francis - I would find it refreshing, because you never hear it anymore, and certainly not as often as the female variations of this name (Frances, Francesca). I would probably assume they were Catholic. All in all, it would be cute to meet a young Francis/Frank.

---

Maple - I kind of like it, don't completely love it. It's a bit 'out-there' for my tastes. The nickname 'May' is cute. I would assume they were born in the US, probably in the South.

Francis I like, but more as a mn. Maple is so cute and I love the leaves. I think it's a very pretty name.

Francis -- parents are devout Catholics and want to make sure their son grows up to be one, too. They probably call him Frankie for short.

---

Maple -- dyed-in-the-hempfiber hippie parents want their daughter to be "one with nature." Probably has a sibling named Cloud.

This message was edited 10/15/2017, 4:27 PM