 In 1562 the whole of the Alphonse Group (Alphonse, St. François and Bijoutier) were collectively named on Portuguese charts as San Francisco.This might explain how St. François was given its name.Chevalier Alphonse de Pontevez commanding the French frigate "Le Lys" visited on 28 June 1730 and named St François possibly following the Portuguese name for the group.