# Ambiguous names. **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261 "2012-12-07T02:53:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/1 "2012-12-07T02:53:06Z")
I am sure some of you have one and I wonder if you even notice? Signed Harry. ---
**Author:** ![thenonepercent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@thenonepercent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thenonepercent)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/2 "2012-12-07T03:31:31Z")
One what? Notice what? ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/3 "2012-12-07T03:57:52Z")
What mean ambiguous? Ambiguous in what way? Here in the land of leftover hippies we have all kinds of non-traditional names, but I’m not sure how ambiguous they are. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/4 "2012-12-07T04:13:55Z")
Do you mean like Kelly, a name that could be for a male or for a female? ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/5 "2012-12-07T04:17:23Z")
This is a rather ambiguous OP. Signed, Jamie (who isn’t very hairy). ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/6 "2012-12-07T05:50:55Z")
Mine is a name that is 99% male, but then some smartass decides to name their daughter that. It’s not cultural, either, like the name Sharon. Although I’d think there are even fewer females with my name in Ireland. Don’t notice but if girls have the name it sets me on edge. I can think of two semi-famous ones. Oh, Jaime is pretty much a unambiguous male name (hai-mi), but sometimes a girls name in an apparent create spelling of Jamie. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/7 "2012-12-07T21:44:59Z")
Well, sure, it could be any of a number of species. Though many of the species do hybridize so it’s not always easy to pin down the exact species, and just the genus might be all you could really say. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/8 "2012-12-07T21:50:10Z")
The younger a woman, the more likely she has a unisex name, in my experience. Got waited on by Kendall yesterday. Girls name of Hudson, Avery, Harper, Addison are springing up more and more. Peyton, Sydney, Morgan… ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/9 "2012-12-07T22:02:34Z")
> [@Mewl\_Dear](#): > > I am sure some of you have one and I wonder if you even notice? > Signed Harry. Could you clarify what you want to discuss, please? ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/10 "2012-12-07T22:09:25Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Oh, Jaime is pretty much a unambiguous male name (hai-mi), but sometimes a girls name in an apparent create spelling of Jamie. Actually, it’s pretty much 50/50- I literally just looked it up, 'cos I was sending a job application to someone with that name, and I wanted to check if I should address it to Mr or Ms. She was a Ms, btw. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/11 "2012-12-07T22:46:03Z")
And what about all those poor people stuck with two first names? I can never remember which one comes first. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/12 "2012-12-07T23:28:44Z")
> [@Filbert](#): > > Actually, it’s pretty much 50/50- I literally just looked it up, 'cos I was sending a job application to someone with that name, and I wanted to check if I should address it to Mr or Ms. > > She was a Ms, btw. You’re right sorry, I should say that if you’re wagering, Jamie is likely female, Jaime male if paired with a Spanish surname especially. Occasionally there are males with that name, maybe short for something. I lament that nobody names their boys anything manly anymore, like Vivian. > [@Ethilrist](#): > > And what about all those poor people stuck with two first names? I can never remember which one comes first. Go call Mr. Van Damme Claude-Jean, and his roundhouse will let you know about your mistake. ---
**Author:** ![percypercy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8baadc/32.png) [@percypercy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/percypercy)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/13 "2012-12-08T00:37:48Z")
There was a girl named Jamie in the year above me in school, and girls named Sydney, Kelly, and Courtney in my grade. Yeah, those are women’s names now, but they all started out as guys’ names. And yeah, I meant to an all girl school. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/14 "2012-12-08T00:58:51Z")
My first name is really a nickname, and completely non-existent in English. In emails I often get replies to “Dear Mr. [gracer]”, but I can’t really blame them. What does piss me off is when they presume I misspelled my own name and I get a reply to “Dear Mr. Mike”. You actually think I not only misspelled my signature, but I also got it wrong when I signed up for the email address?! All this, and to top it off I once got a reply from Matalan customer services that opened with “Dear Mr. William Shakespeare”. OK, right at the bottom of my signature I have a Shakespeare quote, it’s after all the contact info and in cursive. But seriously, somebody in customer services actually types a reply to an email from William Shakespeare? I think he must’ve seen my name at the bottom and just couldn’t bothered with it. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/15 "2012-12-08T03:13:46Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Jaime is pretty much a unambiguous male name (hai-mi), but sometimes a girls name in an apparent create spelling of Jamie. I meet far more girls and women named Jamie/Jaime than I do men with that name. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/16 "2012-12-08T03:16:24Z")
One of the babies in my library storytime is named Crow. Boy or girl? ---
**Author:** ![Rhiannon8404](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rhiannon8404/32/17929_2.png) [@Rhiannon8404](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhiannon8404)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/17 "2012-12-08T03:17:37Z")
> [@Arrendajo](#): > > One of the babies in my library storytime is named Crow. Boy or girl? I would think Crow for a boy, Raven for a girl. ---
**Author:** ![Mewl\_Dear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mewl\_Dear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mewl_Dear)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/18 "2012-12-08T03:43:21Z")
> [@Ellen\_Cherry](#): > > Could you clarify what you want to discuss, please? I didn’t wanna discuss nothing, figured what the hell, piss off an over sensitive mod. ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2012, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ambiguous-names/643261/19 "2012-12-08T04:46:57Z")
I’m giving you an official warning for trolling. And closing the thread. Ellen