What gender comes to mind when hearing these first names?

Robin- M
Terry- M
Kelly- F
Shannon- F
Tracy- either
Tony- M
Jody- F (although this seems more like a male spelling)
Sidney- M
Courtney- F
Hilary- F
Alex- M
Jamie- either
Erin- F
Qbert- alien :slight_smile:

I think Hilary is the only name on this list where I haven’t known a male and a female with that name. OK, and Qbert… My sister had a male buddy in school named Courtney.

I am British, and to me Aaron is air-on and Erin is eh-rin (with a short i). They sound quite distinct. However, I know many Americans (including my own children) pronounce both as something like eh-run. (I think, however, I have heard Hank Aaron’s name pronounced by Americans as ah-ron.)

Of course they are completely different names with quite different origins. Aaron is from the Old Testament, and Erin is Irish for Ireland. And, of course, to all intents, Aaron is exclusively male and Erin exclusively female. (No doubt that will be changing in America, though, as people get confused by their own poorly differentiated pronunciation.)

Is there a point to this poll, by the way? (I gave my answers upthread.)

Robin - Female
Terry - Male
Kelly - Male
Shannon - Female
Tracy - Male
Tony - Male
Jody - Male
Sidney - Female
Courtney - Female
Hilary - Female
Alex - Female
Jamie - Male
Erin - Male
Qbert - Male

Robin: Female
Terry: Male
Kelly: Female
Shannon: Female
Tracy: Female
Tony: Male
Jody: Female
Sidney: Female
Courtney: Female
Hilary: Female
Alex: Male
Jamie: Female
Erin: Female
Qbert: Male? I’ve never heard this name before

Robin - boy (girl Robyn)

Terry - boy (girl Terri)

Kelly - girl

Shannon - girl

Tracy - girl

Tony - boy (girl Toni)

Jody - girl

Sidney - boy

Courtney - girl

Hilary - girl

Alex - either

Jamie - boy

Erin - girl

Qbert - neither

Robin F
Terry M (Terri F)
Kelly F
Shannon F
Tracy F
Tony M (Toni F)
Jody F
Sidney F
Courtney F
Hilary F
Alex M
Jamie M
Erin F
Qbert Now you’re just being silly…

Sidney and Jamie were the only ones I had any second thoughts about.

Expanding a bit:

The only males I have ever known named Tracy, Courtney, or Robin were all born at least 40 years ago, usually 50, 60, or more. And there have been mighty few of them. But at least I have known males by these names, even if it seems they are rapidly on their way to extinction.

In contrast, I’ve known a number of females of all age ranges with these names. So in my book they are quite definitely female.

Sidney–likewise, the only men I know with the name are quite old by now. (I do know a young man named Sid, but his given name is not Sidney.) Then again, I think I only know one female Sidney, and she’s a kid. So that’s a bit of a headscratcher.

I believe I have never known a male named Shannon, Kelly, Hilary, or Jody, though I know there have been men with these names (baseball players Shannon Stewart, Kelly Gruber, and Jody Davis, illustrator Hilary Knight…). These are easy–female all the way.

I have never known, or heard of, a male named Erin. (I think.) Female, most definitely.

Seems like I’ve known a female who spelled her name Terry, though Terri has been in my experience much more common. I don’t think I’ve ever known a female who spelled her name Tony. Both definitely male.

I have known multiple Jamies of each sex, probably more males but it’s close. Same with Alex, but a lot more men than women. I went with male for both.

What say you guys to Marion?? or Stacy??

Robin - F
Terry - M
Kelly -
Shannon - F
Tracy - M
Tony - M
Jody - F
Sidney - could go either way
Courtney - F
Hilary - F
Alex - either way
Jamie - M
Erin - F
Qbert - It

Marion - M
Stacy - F

I know Alex is traditionally a male name, but there were three female Alexes in my high school class (of 100) and no male Alexes, so I usually think of one of them.

Erin is always a female name. Aaron is always a male name.

Robin M
Terry M
Kelly F
Shannon F
Tracy F
Tony M
Jody F
Sidney M
Courtney F
Hilary F
Alex M
Jamie M
Erin F
Qbert M

They’re all names that used to be male names and have become female names in recent decades.

Do I win a prize?

Also, the E in Erin is a schwa and the name Erin is not only pronounced in a completely different way to Aaron, they’re not even distantly related. Aaron is a biblical name that comes from Hebrew, Erin is an Irish Gaelic name. They most certainly are not different gender-versions of the same name.

Robin - M
Terry - F (yes, I know about Gilliam… he also has a lastname that sounds like a woman’s name, though!)
Kelly - F
Shannon - F
Tracy - F
Tony - M
Jody - F
Sidney - M
Courtney - F
Hilary - M
Alex - M
Jamie - I used to have the silliest time convincing anglos that the name of my father and brother (Jaime) is, indeed, a male name. Thanks to Mr. Oliver I don’t have that problem any more :smiley:
Erin - F
Qbert - the child dunnow, but the parents are gender moron

Robin - girl
Terry - guy
Kelly - girl
Shannon - that’s my name, so girl
Tracy - girl
Tony - guy
Jody - girl
Sidney - girl
Courtney - girl
Hilary - girl
Alex - guy
Jamie - guy
Erin - girl
Qbert - orange

However, I personally have known a male Courtney, a male Erin (yes, spelled E-R-I-N), a female Terry, a female Tony, and a female Jamie.

Robin - girl
Terry - girl
Kelly - girl (I’m a male Kelly, go figure)
Shannon - guy
Tracy - girl
Tony - guy
Jody - girl
Sidney - guy
Courtney - girl
Hilary - girl
Alex - guy
Jamie - guy (Lannister!)
Erin - girl
Qbert - guy

Has anyone every encountered any gender ambiguity with the name ‘James’? Recently a colleague’s niece was given this moniker. Has anyone ever met a female James?

Robin - F
Terry - M
Kelly - F
Shannon- F
Tracy- F
Tony - M
Jody - F
Sidney - F
Courtney - F
Hilary - F
Alex - M
Jamie - M
Erin - F
Qbert - Whatever

Robin -M (my brother- never met a female spelled that way in UK, but know little boys called that,)
Terry- M
Kelly -F mostly
Shannon -F
Tracy -F
Tony -M
Jody -F
Sidney -M
Courtney -F
Hilary -F
Alex -M
Jamie -M
Erin -F (Aaron is not pronounced the same at all to me, and is male- I know both an ‘Aaron’ A-rhon and an ‘Aeron’ Air-rhon, who both get annoyed it you say the wrong one- but both are distictly different from Eh-rin)
Qbert -Goldfish

Robin**(M)**
Terry**(M)**
Kelly**(F)**
Shannon**(F)**
Tracy**(F)**
Tony**(M)**
Jody**(F)**
Sidney**(M)**
Courtney**(F)**
Hilary**(F)**
Alex**(M)**
Jamie**(M)**
Erin**(F)**
Qbert**(M)**

No. James is a male name. Jamie can be a girls name.

I’ve heard of female Jamies being called James, but not one with the first name actually James.

ETA: And Cubert is a male name.

Robin- Girl, though the only Robin in my life is male
Terry- Girl
Kelly-Girl
Shannon-I think girl, my brother recently learned this mistake with my 13 y/o niece she told him she was going to hang out at Shannon’s house, thinking nothing of it the request was approved. My sister in law came home to point out Shannon is a 15 y/o boy who’s parents aren’t home till much later.

Tracy- Girl
Tony- Boy
Jody- Girl
Sidney- Boy
Courtney- Girl
Hilary- Girl
Alex- Boy
Jamie- Boy
Erin- Girl
Qbert- um who? I’d guess pet