# What would your name have been if you were born the opposite gender? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 11, 2004, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941 "2004-01-11T05:24:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Baggins111](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9fc29f/32.png) [@Baggins111](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baggins111)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/101 "2004-01-15T02:28:09Z")
Dana Lynn. But I got saddled with the fortunate name of John Thomas. Brit dopers will get that one. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/102 "2004-01-15T04:55:33Z")
Anna. Not only that, but my parents had simply assumed that I was going to be a girl. I came second, the first child was a boy, so they simply concluded that a girl would come next to balance things out. Alexander was an impulsive decision shortly after they learned that their plans had been thrown off. ---
**Author:** ![Jennyrosity](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/2bfe46/32.png) [@Jennyrosity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennyrosity)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 11:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/103 "2004-01-15T11:13:16Z")
Patrick. My mum, who’s names is Mary, wanted to name her younger brothers Moses and Joshua. “Mary, Moses and Joshua” - sounds like a 70s folk group doesn’t it? Fortunately, her taste had improved by the time she had me! ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f07891/32.png) [@Little\_Plastic\_Ninja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Plastic_Ninja)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/104 "2004-01-15T16:35:29Z")
> [@winterhawk11](#): > > My mom wanted to call me Samantha (no doubt after “Bewitched”–my mom’s always been into witches and the show was popular at the time) but didn’t for reasons that have been lost to time. I don’t know why my parents named me this. My father just liked the name, apparently, and Mother didn’t have any ideas – though I would have been Breanna (Brianna?) as her second choice. I also could have been Anastasia. ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/105 "2004-01-15T17:15:43Z")
Stacy, if my mum is to be believed. **Stacyberserker** she rocks! ---
**Author:** ![Papaveraceae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e8c25b/32.png) [@Papaveraceae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Papaveraceae)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/106 "2004-01-15T19:54:59Z")
_blush_ If I had been a boy I would have been named Gawain. I had enough problems in school with Tara… Neat-o link…[Sir Gawain and the Green Knight](http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/c/cme/cme-idx?type=HTML&rgn=DIV1&byte=6163598) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/107 "2004-01-15T20:21:16Z")
My older brother would have been Stephanie. I would have been Staci. With an ‘i’. This was in 1971 when ending names with ‘i’ instead of ‘y’ or ‘ie’ was unknown. I’d have been an outcast, shunned by my peers. Laughed at on the playground! In short, not much different than my real childhood. ---
**Author:** ![Thirty-Nine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f0a364/32.png) [@Thirty-Nine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thirty-Nine)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2004, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/108 "2004-01-15T20:30:24Z")
Alice… …or Polly. I guess I would come to appreciate the parrot related jokes… :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/109 "2004-01-16T14:20:57Z")
Jennifer, but I was born male, so I got to be named John. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/110 "2004-01-16T14:46:33Z")
My parents were dead-set on Lucy. Actually, I think it was supposed to be Louisa, with Lucy as a nickname (good move). Didn’t work out. Then my younger brother was born, no luck there either. About nine years later, we got a dog and named her Lucy. A few months later, my mom got pregnant… but an embarrassing conundrum was averted, since they struck out and had another boy. ---
**Author:** ![Elenfair](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/cc9497/32.png) [@Elenfair](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elenfair)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/111 "2004-01-16T15:16:09Z")
I would have been Jean-François if I had been a boy. ---
**Author:** ![yellowval](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/919ad9/32.png) [@yellowval](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yellowval)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/112 "2004-01-16T15:23:26Z")
I would have been Andrew. People in my family seem to like that name. My younger cousin got it instead, and it’s also my nephew’s middle name. I’m glad I got Valerie, though the morons gave me the middle name Dawn. Lovely, but when paired with V makes for the initials VD. It’s not my middle name anymore, thank goodness, since when I got married I took my last name as my middle name. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2004, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/113 "2004-01-16T18:50:56Z")
I would have been Stephen (my younger brother’s name) and he would have been Kendra. ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2004, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/114 "2004-01-17T15:37:51Z")
My mom says Jackie…which is also my girlfriend’s name. ---
**Author:** ![Blonde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Blonde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blonde)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2004, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/115 "2004-01-18T17:37:37Z")
I would have been Paul. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/116 "2004-07-06T12:52:13Z")
Family folklore has it that my father wanted to name me some ten-syllable Hawaiian name, had I been born female. _whew_ ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/117 "2004-07-06T13:42:11Z")
As the youngest of four daughters, Mom said she never even bothered picking a boy name for me. She did, however, continue the acronym started with my older sisters **C** atherine, **A** mber, **R** onda and **T** onya. My ex-husband’s name is Tom and we were going to go with that horrid cutesy same first initial tradition for our baby, I loved the name Thea(dosia) for a girl. Musta been the hormones? Thankfully we were against juniorizing and all the male T names we liked were already used somewhere in the family so we ended up with a Zachary. ---
**Author:** ![clayton\_e](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@clayton\_e](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clayton_e)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/118 "2004-07-06T14:00:28Z")
I think my mom said my name would’ve been Ashley instead of Clayton. ---
**Author:** ![booklover](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/85f322/32.png) [@booklover](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/booklover)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/119 "2004-07-06T14:01:34Z")
Stephen, which is my younger brother’s name. If he had been a girl, he would have been Kendra. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2004, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941/120 "2004-07-06T14:17:57Z")
Michael. By the time my brother was born, they knew so many little Michaels that they changed their minds and went with Rodney. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-would-your-name-have-been-if-you-were-born-the-opposite-gender/223941.md?page=7)