Hello, I was wondering about the baby name [name]Fanny[/name]. I know it means a totally different thing for you than it does for us Americans - don’t worry I’m not going to use it for my baby! I was just thinking about it because my grandmother’s legal name was [name]Stefanya[/name] and I thought, you could call the baby [name]Fan[/name] if you went with that. I was also reading A [name]Christmas[/name] [name]Carol[/name] and [name]Ebenezer[/name]'s sister was called [name]Fan[/name]. So, my question is, does [name]Fan[/name] still have the the same dirty context as Fammy or was Dickens writing before that was slang for ladyparts?
[name]Hi[/name] I’m a [name]Brit[/name] 
Yes fanny still very much has the association you’re thinking of! It flat out would not work as a name in the UK (in my opinion) without the child suffering serious teasing about their name for the rest of their lives and sniggers behind their backs! Lol.
As for [name]Fan[/name]…I’m not sure. I guess you could get away with it as a short form of a name like [name]Stefanya[/name] because “fanny” itself is nowhere in that name. I think if you used it as a name on it’s own though people would assume it was a nick name for [name]Fanny[/name] and you’d have the same problems. If you’re in [name]America[/name] I definitely think [name]Stefanya[/name] nn [name]Fan[/name] would be fine, if she ever came to the UK though I would probably go for “[name]Stef[/name]” but I don’t think [name]Fan[/name] would be awful.
As for Dickens, I would imagine that he was writing before this association was made as I know it used to be a popular name for girls in the UK also, just not in the last 80 years! Lol.
[name]Hope[/name] that helps
My understanding is that [name]Fanny[/name] came to mean ladyparts precisely because it was a common diminutive of [name]Frances[/name]. Lots of other girl names were used for the same purpose - [name]Mary[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]Jane[/name], [name]Mary[/name] [name]Kate[/name], [name]Madge[/name] (that one’s from [name]Madge[/name] the vag)… I saw the Vagina monologues a few weeks ago, and they go on for at least a minute listing them. [name]Fanny[/name] is the only one in regular use though, but I think people would still recognise it as a name. There’s the expression “sweet [name]Fanny[/name] [name]Adams[/name]” which doesn’t refer to the vagina, but rather is expanding the [name]FA[/name] in a different way from normal.
[name]Fan[/name], I think people would probably go to the ones that keep you cool.