# Lindsay: male or female? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 12, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543 "2012-09-12T21:36:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/1 "2012-09-12T21:36:43Z")
Just curious: if you saw the given name “Lindsay”, would you expect the person to be male or female? Said person is middle-aged and British, if that makes a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/2 "2012-09-12T21:42:23Z")
I immediately think of Lindsay Wagner (because I’m old), so I think ‘female’. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/3 "2012-09-12T21:44:25Z")
Middle Aged British, I might say male. But off the top of my head, “Lindsay Graham” is the only male Lindsay I can think of. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/4 "2012-09-12T21:44:35Z")
I thought Lindsay was originally female and Lindsey was originally male, although I can’t seem to find a cite. Several websites say that _now_ either name can be used for a boy or a girl, indicating that there was a distinction in the past. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Sparky\_the\_Wonder\_Spirit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky_the_Wonder_Spirit)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/5 "2012-09-12T21:47:06Z")
I’m aware that the name was originally male, but all the Lindsays I’ve met have been women. ---
**Author:** ![MeanOldLady](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/meanoldlady/32/10737_2.png) [@MeanOldLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MeanOldLady)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/6 "2012-09-12T21:47:58Z")
Shit, I clicked too fast. Just Lindsay with no other information is female. Knowing it’s a middle aged Briton switches it to male in my head for some reason. ---
**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:** [September 12, 2012, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/7 "2012-09-12T22:38:09Z")
Lindsay - female Lindsey - male in my head at least ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/8 "2012-09-12T22:45:07Z")
Female. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/9 "2012-09-12T23:28:11Z")
Male. At least it was until a certain drug addled redhead actress became identified with the name. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/10 "2012-09-12T23:51:36Z")
I voted female because I named my daughter Lindsay, but I’ve known men by that name. Of course, I also have an uncle named Leslie, so maybe my family just has a tenuous grasp on names and gender. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2012, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/11 "2012-09-12T23:53:15Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I immediately think of Lindsay Wagner (because I’m old), so I think ‘female’. Guess I’m even older, because I read it as unisex. I’m sorry, but using last names as first names has always struck me as bizarre. Whether for boys or girls, it makes no difference, it has a weird ring to it either way. I think it must have started as a WASP custom, because nobody had such names in the ethnic environment where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Taomist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@Taomist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Taomist)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/12 "2012-09-13T00:08:25Z")
> [@MeanOldLady](#): > > Shit, I clicked too fast. Just Lindsay with no other information is female. Knowing it’s a middle aged Briton switches it to male in my head for some reason. Lindsay Buckingham 🙂 But Lindsay Wagner was my first Lindsay, then Buckingham, so…it still seems a girlish name, but so is Leslie. And Nat is rather masculine, yet that’s MY name, so there ya go. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/13 "2012-09-13T00:16:11Z")
I would expect any given Lindsey to be female, but not be surprised if they were male. Same with Leslie, Kelly, Shannon, Jamie. I didn’t know the spelling -ay/-ey indicated gender, that’s interesting. ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/14 "2012-09-13T00:45:52Z")
The first Lindsay I ever knew was a boy, so I always associated that name with being male. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/15 "2012-09-13T00:57:38Z")
Probably female but I’d double-check to be sure. The spelling would make it much more likely, but still not definite. If the person were British and middle-aged then I’d be even more likely to say female, because I’ve known female Lyndsays in that age group but not male. ---
**Author:** ![Weeping\_Wyvern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@Weeping\_Wyvern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weeping_Wyvern)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/16 "2012-09-13T01:11:48Z")
I just met a girl Lindsay at my school… so perhaps that biases me. But it definitely sounds female to me. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/17 "2012-09-13T01:17:46Z")
> [@Taomist](#): > > Lindsay Buckingham 🙂 Lindsey ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/18 "2012-09-13T01:17:55Z")
I dated a female Lindsay so female it is. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/19 "2012-09-13T01:41:47Z")
> [@jabiru](#): > > The first Lindsay I ever knew was a boy, so I always associated that name with being male. Similarly, in my first encounter with the name Hillary, that was a male. So it took me a long time (and years later) before Hillary seemed suitable for a female. (Not sure how spelling counted. It might have been Hilary.) > [@Rachellelogram](#): > > I didn’t know the spelling -ay/-ey indicated gender, that’s interesting. Likewise, there’s Francis (male) / Frances (female). But these might be pronounced subtly differently too: Francis: Fran-siss. Frances: Fran-seez. ---
**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:** [September 13, 2012, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543/20 "2012-09-13T01:58:20Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Likewise, there’s Francis (male) / Frances (female). But these might be pronounced subtly differently too: > Francis: Fran-siss. > Frances: Fran-seez. The two women I know who are names Frances, pronounce their name exactly like the male spelling. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lindsay-male-or-female/634543.md?page=2)