Né and Née

(masculine) and née (feminine) are gallicisms synonymous with born. Most-frequently seen when preceding a married woman’s original name, these words can be used after any changed name (e.g., Pope Francis, né Jorge Mario Bergoglio or Olivia Wilde, née Olivia Jane Cockburn). Although writing both words without the acute accent has been common, prefer the French styling, which has grown more popular in the past decade and remains visually distinctive from any English misspelling.

Do not mistake either word as synonymous with formerly, a poor habit occasionally seen when referring to the original names of inanimate entities, such as corporations, journals, and newspapers.

But my above suggestions ignore a more fundamental issue: When an English word exists and serves the same purpose as an adopted foreign word (e.g., without and sans), a writer seeking better style should always prefer the existing English word over the foreign word. In the case of and née, the English born serves the same purpose (and isn’t gender-biased), and is thus better-fit for our language (e.g., Pope Francis, born Jorge Mario Bergoglio). Some writers, especially those who put on airs of erudition, tend to use foreign words, especially gallicisms, before considering the better English equivalents. Avoid such an approach unless the word has cemented itself in our language without a clean, equally-simple English equivalent, such as cliché and doppelgänger.