Michael Butler wrote:
> > Claud is the British way of spelling this
> Christian
> > name for a man or Claude if you are a female. Same
> > as
> > Francis for a male and Frances for a female. Isn't
> > this same on your side of the Atlantic?
It is, I believe, a British curiosity.
Where I live, in French Canada, I have never ever heard of a man named Claud, although there are plenty of male Claudes, female Claudes & Marie-Claudes, Claudettes & Claudels, etc.
I think the male Claud thing is strictly British. Here, it would be odd for an anglophone to be named Claude, given that it is such a prominent francophone name. More evidence of our prevailing two solitudes, I guess.
Emanuel (neither Emmanuel nor Emmanuelle nor Immanuel)
Lowi
Montreal, Quebec