# Happy 100th, Leslie "Bob" Hope! Or, has any name changed from female to male usage? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 30, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627 "2003-05-30T21:19:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/1 "2003-05-30T21:19:25Z")
Leslie. Ashley. Madison. Campbell. Stockard. All these names, and I’m sure there are others, used to be boy’s names, but are now just about exclusively given to girls. But I can’t think of a single female name which has even gone unisex, let alone changing entirely over to the other gender. Are there any examples of that, of which I’m unaware? (Note, I tried submitting this before but the hamster got tired. I don’t kinow if it got posted or not. I apologize for the double post, if any.) ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/2 "2003-05-30T21:42:16Z")
Don’t forget Marion Morrison, a/k/a John Wayne. My own name, Britt, is traditionally a girl’s name, in Sweden at any rate. It’s the Swedish form of the name “Bridget”. It’s pretty much unisex now. At least I hope it is. ---
**Author:** ![MadPenguin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/65b543/32.png) [@MadPenguin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPenguin)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/3 "2003-05-30T21:46:09Z")
Kelly and Tracy come to mind. ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/4 "2003-05-30T22:30:17Z")
The only example I can think of what was a “female” name becoming “male” is that of Lady Douglas Sheffield. However, I have no idea if Lady Douglas had a unique name, or if it was more common. (I haven’t seen it used elsewhere in Tudor studies.) ---
**Author:** ![punkkid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7feea3/32.png) [@punkkid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punkkid)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/5 "2003-05-30T22:36:20Z")
Kimberly ---
**Author:** ![refusal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@refusal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/refusal)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/6 "2003-05-30T22:37:46Z")
Maybe Brett, which used to be primarily a girl’s name early last century (certainly in Hemingway’s Fiesta), but now seems to be at least as popular for males as females. The boy-\>girl thing is definitely more common. I’d add Shannon, Dale and Hillary to that list. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/7 "2003-05-30T22:54:32Z")
Florenz Ziegfield was a man. Stacy and a few others are not sex-specific. (I’m not even sure which direction Stacy is moving.) ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [May 30, 2003, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/8 "2003-05-30T23:05:14Z")
I think Christian was used for girls in the middle ages. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/9 "2003-06-02T12:39:09Z")
Re. **Leslie**. In the U.K. it is still ( I _think_) the case that the “Leslie” form is male, and the “Lesley” form is female. The “Campbell” one really confuses me, as it was really a surname\*, then OK, I suppose a male first name. But why do parents give the kid a name that really means “bent nose”? And I dimly recall from “The Bonfire of the Vanites” some little girl with the given name of “MacKenzie”: from a U.K. and especially Scottish perspective, that seems sort of odd too. Still cannot think of any names doing the female/male transition, but I bet the question will bug me all day! ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/10 "2003-06-02T12:41:07Z")
Ah - how about the female “Valerie” - at least there is a French (male) version “Valery”? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/11 "2003-06-02T14:03:20Z")
Hazel. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/12 "2003-06-02T15:12:17Z")
Never heard that one, but it does remind me of Holly - surely that was a female name first. Although the only time I have seen it as a male name was some pop grou called, I think, “Frankie goes to Hollywood” - maybe it only counts as a nickname. ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/13 "2003-06-02T15:28:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Celyn \* > \*\*Ah - how about the female “Valerie” - at least there is a French (male) version “Valery”? \*\* I think we’ve done this before – there are plenty of names that are used for men in France and Russia that are women’s names in Anglo-Saxon countries. I doubt that they spread in an easterly direction though, so they will have been men’s names first. Changing the gender of names seems to be more common in North America than it does this side of the water. I’ve never heard of a male Hazel, nor a Kimberly spelt in full (Kim does exist as a boy’s name here though). Holly Johnson’s real name is William Johnson. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/14 "2003-06-02T15:30:05Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lissa \* > \*\*The only example I can think of what was a “female” name becoming “male” is that of Lady Douglas Sheffield. However, I have no idea if Lady Douglas had a unique name, or if it was more common. (I haven’t seen it used elsewhere in Tudor studies.) \*\* That’s something a bit different from what we’re discussing here. Younger sons of English nobles of the higher ranks–I think that just takes in marquises and dukes–are traditionally addressed as “Lord Firstname”. I think they can call themselves Lord Firstname Lastname, but never just Lord Lastname. The daughters are similarly addressed as Lady Firstname. If Miss Ashley Jones marries Lord Firstname Lastname, she can then call herself Lady Firstname, or Lady Firstname Lastname, since she gets the title by marriage. But she can’t call herself Lady Mary or Lady Jones. So I’m guessing that Lady Douglas Sheffield married Lord Douglas Sheffield, or possibly Sir Firstname Douglas-Sheffield. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/15 "2003-06-02T15:32:07Z")
Lindsay, I believe. ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/16 "2003-06-02T15:42:22Z")
Vivian and Joyce have also migrated from male to female usage. It’s hard to find eveidence of names going from female to male. Maybe in other languages … take the Italian male name “Mario”. Is that a back-formation from Maria, which in turn is a descendent of the Hebrew female name _Miryam_ (approx)? Or no? “Rene(e)” is French for “reborn,” IIRC. Which sex was this name used for first? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/17 "2003-06-02T15:51:30Z")
You won’t find a Hazel anymore, I think that went out of style pre-WWII. You might find some elderly guys with the name - but odds are better they’ll go by “H. Somethingsomething.” Ross Perot is not one of them, though, unless my memory is failing me. Unless I misunderstand, English titles is that they aren’t related to the person’s name at all, i.e. Sarah, Duchess of… it’s York, right? Her last name isn’t York, that’s the title of the Duchy. Lord Byron’s real name was George Gordon, and sometimes you’ll see it written out that way: George Gordon, Lord Bryon. Not a lot, though, since most people just know him as Byron. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/18 "2003-06-02T15:57:47Z")
Mario is not a back-formation of Maria. It’s derived from Marius, which comes from Mars (Roman god of war). ---
**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/19 "2003-06-02T16:00:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Marley23 \* > \*\*Mario is not a back-formation of Maria. It’s derived from Marius, which comes from Mars (Roman god of war). \*\* I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t asked. Thanks. Interestingly, that means that the English name “Marshall”, and Italian “Mario” are cognates. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2003, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627/20 "2003-06-02T16:05:30Z")
No problem. I’m very interested in names, which you might expect from a guy named Marley. [www.behindthename.com](http://www.behindthename.com) is good for questions like your Maria/Mario one. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-100th-leslie-bob-hope-or-has-any-name-changed-from-female-to-male-usage/178627.md?page=2)