# I used to be a man...(names thread) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 9, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543 "2001-09-09T18:42:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/1 "2001-09-09T18:42:51Z")
I was reading about how Beverly and Shirley used to be men’s names. They say Shirley Temple popularized it for women. First of all is this true? I can’t recall any famous men called Beverly or Shirley. Second. What other names were formerly men’s names now used by women exclusively (or almost exculsively) I can think of Merideth, Kelly, Kim, Stacey, Tracey (yeah I know there are a few men left named that but when someone says Tracey you usually think of a woman.) ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/2 "2001-09-09T18:46:28Z")
Carrol and Dana ---
**Author:** ![lurkernomore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d6d6ee/32.png) [@lurkernomore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lurkernomore)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/3 "2001-09-09T18:50:29Z")
\ …and don’t call me Shirley. \ ---
**Author:** ![Earthling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/90db22/32.png) [@Earthling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earthling)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/4 "2001-09-09T18:50:44Z")
**MsRobyn** may very well disagree, but most of the Rob **i** ns I’ve run across are now female. ---
**Author:** ![Wicked\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/2acd7d/32.png) [@Wicked\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wicked_Blue)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/5 "2001-09-09T19:34:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by lurkernomore \* > \*\*\ > …and don’t call me Shirley. > \ \*\* Leslie is a girl’s name to me. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Zyada](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zyada/32/3028_2.png) [@Zyada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zyada)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/6 "2001-09-09T19:35:50Z")
Ashley is a girl’s name to me, because I have a female cousin by that name ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/7 "2001-09-09T19:39:50Z")
I read parts of Gone With The Wind when I was maybe 8, and I kept thinking Ashley Wilkes was a girl. It confused me greatly. I think of Tracey as a girl, and Tracy as a guy when I read them. If I hear the name out loud, I think girl if the speaker or subject is Northern, and guy if the speaker or subject is Southern. :shrug: Kim’s a guy’s name? ---
**Author:** ![Ringo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/779978/32.png) [@Ringo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ringo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/8 "2001-09-09T19:43:22Z")
I know or have known males named Shirley, Carrol, Leslie, Dana, Kim and, for that matter, Hannah and Joy. I agree, though, that those names are probably most commonly associated with females today. Along with René and Jules. Now that I think about it, I have known a woman named Stevie and another named Fred. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/9 "2001-09-09T19:46:11Z")
Yep when I was in school we had two Kims. Basically though I am looking for names that aren’t shortened. Kim = Boy Kimberly shortened to Kim = Girl Like Pat or Chris the seem to go either way but thy are short for something else. I mean no one names thier girl Christopher or Patrick. Or no one names their son Patricia or Christine. It only becomes either or after they shorten it. Or Alex. People name their kid Alexander or Alexandria (Alexis) an shorten it. Kind of like Leslie = Boy Lesley = Girl That used to hold up but now most women I know named that are Leslie. I still see enuff male Danas to say that still goes both ways. And I am not counting contemporary names that have recently become vouge like Blair or Tyler. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/10 "2001-09-09T19:50:43Z")
One of my best friends in grammar school was a guy named Shannon. If you had told me then that I would someday fall for a Shannon Iwould have laughed… ---
**Author:** ![Yankee\_Blue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/7ea924/32.png) [@Yankee\_Blue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yankee_Blue)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/11 "2001-09-09T19:51:04Z")
IIRC names like Beverly and Shirley as well as others like Mackenzie and Bailey were surnames used as given names for sons in order to perpetuate the mother’s as well as the father’s name - eventually they became unisex, then heavily (or exclusively) used by females. This is a weird trend that still goes on - as you’ve pointed out - even now traditionally male names like Morgan, Jordan, Madison (any name that ends in _son_ btw, was traditionally male until recently - hmmm, who’d have thought…), Taylor, Sydney,and Kyle are being bestowed more and more often on females. For some reason the trend does not seem to work in the opposite direction, I know of damn few girls names that wound up being used exclusively by boys - okay so I can think of none right now… I’m not at all sure why this goes on, any more astute students of human nature out there? ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/12 "2001-09-09T20:01:37Z")
_Beverley_ is a man’s name, I have found to my surprise. Beverley Cross was a scripter who worked on David Lean films and wrote the scripts for Ray Harryhausen movies – **Jason and the Argonauts. Clash of the Titans, Sinbad an the Eye of he Tiger**. You ought to be able to find him in the IMDB. ---
**Author:** ![Odieman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a87d85/32.png) [@Odieman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odieman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/13 "2001-09-09T20:05:18Z")
Maury Povich’s dad was a famous sports writer… his name url=“[http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0765925.html](http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0765925.html)”]:Shirley Povich…[ ---
**Author:** ![Gregor\_Samsa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@Gregor\_Samsa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gregor_Samsa)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/14 "2001-09-09T20:17:49Z")
I’ve worked with two men named Claire (or Clare) which is odd since it’s also my daughter’s name, one guy named Kim (also my sister’s name) and a guy named Gail. They were all in pipeline construction, for whatever that’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/15 "2001-09-09T20:24:18Z")
Here’s an interesting site that has the etymology of most common first names. It does not, however, give any info on when the names started crossing genders. [http://www.behindthename.com/](http://www.behindthename.com/) ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/16 "2001-09-09T20:32:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Philistine \* > \*\ ***MsRobyn** may very well disagree, but most of the Rob **i** ns I’ve run across are now female. \*\* Actually, I did go to kindergarten with a boy named Robin. And we had identical Space: 1999 lunchboxes. Hence the root of my dislike for being mistaken for a boy. But no, mainly it is a female name. And author Robin Cook would probably have problems being mistaken for a female, as would Christopher Robin. Interesting bit of trivia: The name Robin, male or female, is a dimunitive of the name Robert. BTW, not that this affects y’all that much, but I am changing the legal spelling of my name to Robyn. And one other former masculine-to-feminine name: Evelyn. It happens to be my grandmother’s name. 🙂 And I have an aunt named Shirley and had a cousin named Dana. And a cousin (male) named Cary. Robin ---
**Author:** ![everton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ecb155/32.png) [@everton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/everton)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/17 "2001-09-09T20:56:06Z")
I’d think of all these as girls’ names (but the links go to men who have those names - you can judge for yourselves how well-known they are)[ul] [li]Beverly, [Shirley](http://www.neowrestling.com/bios/daddy.shtml), Merideth, [Kelly](http://www.videoflicks.com/VF2/A101/1010857.ihtml), [Kim 1](http://www.dryden.co.uk/spies/philby.htm) or [Kim 2](http://users.senet.com.au/~miltonbm/kha.html), [Stacey](http://www.btinternet.com/~p.killick/sellpagekeachs.htm), Tracey, Carrol, [Dana](http://www.danacarvey.net/) ([Dana](http://www.rte.ie/millennia/people/dana.html) with a long first “a” - “Dahna” is female), [Ashley](http://www.corrie.net/profiles/characters/peacock_ashley.html) (fictional, and I’m not boasting about even knowing it) and [Hilary](http://www.politicallinks.co.uk/politics/biog/mp_biogs/356.stm).[/ul][/li]The only male Beverly I could think of takes topless photos for a British tabloid “newspaper” so I haven’t linked to him. I think of Robin and Leslie as boys’ names primarily. Leslie would be female if spelt Lesley. Aren’t Jules, Stevie and Fred short forms of other female names? I have a female friend we call Jules, but we use it as a short form of her real name Julia. Same goes for Charles (her real name is Charlotte), and it seems to be OK for girls to use “male” shortenings of their names. Often names of non-Anglo-Saxon origin are male in their original language, but become female when used by Anglo-Saxons, such as the Slavonic [Ivan](http://www.infoplease.com/ipsa/A0109392.html) (pronounced Evonne), [Karol](http://www.lucidcafe.com/library/96may/johnpaul.html), or [Valery](http://uk.sports.yahoo.com/oly/oldgames/bio/1478.html), or the French [Yves](http://members.netscapeonline.co.uk/jameswtravers/nf_ymontand.html) (pronounced Eve), [Lilian](http://www.soccernet.com/euro2000/france/player/Thuram.html), [Camille](http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/pissarro/) or [Emmanuelle](http://arsenal157.tripod.com/players_profil4.htm#17.%20Petit). René is male unless spelt Renée. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/18 "2001-09-09T20:57:16Z")
I had forgotten about Shannon. Isnt’ there a famous DJ by that name (male) Aren’t most Gale/Gail short for something Abigail or Gaylon? ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/19 "2001-09-09T20:59:06Z")
I’ve met a few guys named Lynn. One unfortunate guy in my husband’s family tree got stuck with the surname as first name thing; he was named Tiffany. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2001, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543/20 "2001-09-09T21:01:06Z")
My name’s Andrew, but my family shorten it to Drew. It’s only in the last five years or so that people have said, “Hey, that’s a girls’ name!” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-used-to-be-a-man-names-thread/80543.md?page=2)