# Would you give your newborn son a stereotypically female name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 26, 2015, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585 "2015-04-26T17:30:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/21 "2015-04-26T20:29:21Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > No, I wouldn’t. Do you expect many (any) will say yes? I have no expectations. Why would I start a thread if I thought I already knew the answer? ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/22 "2015-04-26T20:32:26Z")
Although the name Robin is equally common for boys AND girls now, it _seems_ to be universally true that when spelled ROBYN, it is a girls name (although can be spelled Robin for both genders). Yet we have a relatively famous male Robyn here, Robyn Williams, an Australian science journalist. I always wondered what his folks were thinking? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/23 "2015-04-26T20:36:49Z")
“Son, this world is rough, if a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough.” No, I wouldn’t do it. ---
**Author:** ![HollywoodBaby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/90db22/32.png) [@HollywoodBaby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HollywoodBaby)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/24 "2015-04-26T20:47:33Z")
I don’t like the idea of giving a boy a girl’s name or vice versa. My high school math teacher named her daughter Dylan and everyone else adored it, but I hated it. It looks like you’re trying too hard to be unique. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/25 "2015-04-26T20:55:51Z")
What’s “trying too hard to be unique?” everyone already is unique. No name is guaranteed to be unique, but there’s nothing wrong with teaching for unusual. After all, every name that exists now was unique when it was used for the first time. ---
**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/26 "2015-04-26T21:25:03Z")
I don’t think I would go out of my way to name a boy with a feminine-sounding name. But there are names from different cultures or languages that sound feminine in a Western context. African male names like Issa, Coffi, or Kemi would likely confuse some folks. But I don’t think that’s a good enough reason not to pick those names. We had a beloved poster (now deceased) whose handle was “Askia”. Initially, I was not familiar with that name, so for a long time I thought “Askia” was a girl. Now when I look at it, it screams “masculine” because **Askia’s** personality was masculine. So while I don’t think I’d name a boy “Sue”, I wouldn’t be against naming him something that sounds feminine. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/27 "2015-04-26T21:26:09Z")
Certainly not. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/28 "2015-04-26T21:27:32Z")
> [@monstro](#): > > I don’t think I would go out of my way to name a boy with a feminine-sounding name. > > But there are names from different cultures or languages that sound feminine in a Western context. African male names like Issa, Coffi, or Kemi would likely confuse some folks. But I don’t think that’s a good enough reason not to pick those names. > > We had a beloved poster (now deceased) whose handle was “Askia”. Initially, I was not familiar with that name, so for a long time I thought “Askia” was a girl. Now when I look at it, it screams “masculine” because **Askia’s** personality was masculine. > > So while I don’t think I’d name a boy “Sue”, I wouldn’t be against naming him something that sounds feminine. Askia died? When?☹ ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/29 "2015-04-26T21:28:56Z")
> [@amarinth](#): > > “Son, this world is rough, > if a man’s gonna make it, he’s gotta be tough.” > > No, I wouldn’t do it. \*And if I ever have a son, I think I’m gonna name him Bill or George! Anything but Sue! I still hate that name! \* 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/30 "2015-04-26T21:33:48Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Askia died? When?☹ In 2007, of a heart attack. ☹ [Memorial thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=489866). I’d forgotten that [Askia was his real name](http://thetandd.com/news/local/obituaries/askia-moshe-hale-atlanta-ga/article_14019d0c-836c-5e80-b811-ede5df63968c.html). ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/31 "2015-04-26T22:30:07Z")
No way, if i ever had a son he would get a manly name like Lance or Bruce. ---
**Author:** ![joyfool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/df788c/32.png) [@joyfool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/joyfool)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/32 "2015-04-26T23:00:32Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > What are examples of people giving girls a stereotypically masculine name? I can’t say I’ve heard of that. Michael Learned Darryl Hannah Glenn Close …just to name a few really more famous ones. As for the question in the OP; depends on the name. I love them for gender swaps, like some of the interesting mentions above. But I’d never call a son Buffy or anything. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/33 "2015-04-26T23:12:34Z")
> [@wolfman](#): > > I would never give a boy a girl’s name. I also would never give a girl a boy’s name. Just in general I am against giving people stupid names. says wolfman… But to the OPs point, no. I would not give a girl’s name to a boy. Just imagine the hassles he would get in the school yard, being a teen is hard enough without that crap. ---
**Author:** ![LouisB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 11:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/34 "2015-04-26T23:17:16Z")
I named my son Ashley after my paternal grandfather. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/35 "2015-04-26T23:21:49Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > What are examples of people giving girls a stereotypically masculine name? I can’t say I’ve heard of that. Wyatt, Lincoln, James, and Maxwell are all the age three and under daughters of celebrities. I find the above examples awful, and no, I wouldn’t do the reverse to a boy. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/36 "2015-04-26T23:37:29Z")
All the feminine name the OP listed, I don’t especially like, and wouldn’t give the to a girl, either. FWIW, I don’t especially like the trend of giving girls boys’ names, just because it’s part of the overall cre8tiv naming thing going ion today, but it has happened before to a lot of names-- to Shirley, for example. Yes, that was a boys’ name, and then Charlotte Bronte wrote a book about a man who really wanted a son when his daughter was born, so he named her “Shirley,” and she grew up feisty and scrappy, as befit a girl with that name. I think the real clincher was Shirley Temple, though. No one would name a boy Shirley again after her. If I wanted to give my son a biblical name, I might pick a name that was thought of by the gentile public as a girl’s name, but that Jews know is a boys name, then use a nickname. I’m thinking in particular of the name “Ariel,” which you find as a boys’ name among Jews in the US, but as a girls name among gentiles. We actually considered it as a middle name for our son, but decided not to use it when someone we knew had a baby soon before us and used it as a first name (for a boy). But I’m not going to give my son a name that would get him teased, so no, I wouldn’t name him Melinda, Sarah, Virginia, or Katherine. I doubt I’d even call him Kelly, Leslie or Jody. However, if he had a deceased relative I wanted to honor, named Marion or Vivian or Lindsay, I would use it as a middle name, and carefully use the masculine spelling. He doesn’t ever have to share it. But I knew lots of people with odd middle names because they were named after a deceased relative. I knew people with Yiddish names no one ever uses anymore, like Feigle, and I know a guy whose middle name is Lemuel. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2015, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/37 "2015-04-26T23:37:39Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > I have no expectations. Why would I start a thread if I thought I already knew the answer? Perhaps because you think the current practice is “wrong,” and you’re trying to make a point. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/38 "2015-04-27T00:04:23Z")
> [@Freudian\_Slit](#): > > What are examples of people giving girls a stereotypically masculine name? I can’t say I’ve heard of that. There are a lot of names that in Anglo-American are considered feminine to one extent or another that were originally completely masculine or at least neutral (purposely ignoring spelling variations): Adrian, Alexis, Ashley, Aubrey, Audrey, Avery, Beverly, Blair, Bobby, Bret, Cameron, Carol, Charly, Christy, Ciaran, Clare, Cory, Courtney, Crystal, Dale, Dana, Danny, Evelyn, Fay, Fran, Franny, Francis, Gale, Gene, Gillian, Ginger, Hilary, Jamey, Jan, Jess, Jessy, Jody, Jordan, Josie, Julie, Kay, Kelly, Kelsey, Kim, Lanny, Laury, Lee, Leslie, Lindsay, Lou, Lucy, Lyn, Marion, Nicky, Paige, Patsy, Piper, Randy, Rene, Robin, Ronny, Sandy, Shannon, Shelly, Shirley, Stacy, Steph, Stevie, Tamesin, Terry, Tracy, Valery, Viv, Vivian, Whitney, Winnie I wrote about this in a failed thread attempt back in 2006: > [@Gender ambiguous given names (in Anglo-American/Anglophone culture)](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gender-ambiguous-given-names-in-anglo-american-anglophone-culture/363061/1): > > I’ve been thinking about gender-ambiguous given names in Anglo-American culture (or let’s expand it to English-speaking culture in general). For some reason, I find it fascinating. I’ve worked up a list and I hope the Doper community will find it interesting enough to continue. > > An overarching principal seems to be that there is some critical “feminineness” stage after which a name is no longer accepted as a masculine name at all. > > It seems to me there are several categories of gender-ambiguous names (feel free to add to the list): > > 1. Names that were originally exclusively masculine names that gradually made the transition to ambiguous names and are now pretty much exclusively feminine names. > > 2. Names whose gender specificity was based on a spelling differentiation whose ability to differentiate has been lost and has resulted in a name becoming gender-ambiguous or almost completely feminine. (Leslie/Lesley, Valery/Valerie, Vivian/Vivienne, Francis/Frances, Carol/Carole) > > 3. Diminutives that have transitioned from predominantly masculine to predominantly feminine (and are no longer treated as diminutives), or are currently in transition. > > 4. Names that were originally place names that were used as masculine given names and have been transferred to use as feminine names (often by example of a famous person). > > 5. Foreign names that are masculine in their home culture but have become (predominantly) feminine in Anglo-American culture (e.g., Ananda, Chandra). … > > 6. Names currently in transition from predominantly masculine to predominantly feminine. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/39 "2015-04-27T00:46:32Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Perhaps because you think the current practice is “wrong,” and you’re trying to make a point. You have me confused with someone else. If I wanted to make a point, I’d have simply said what I thought. Nothing I’ve written in this thread can reasonably be interpreted as propounding an opinion one way or the other, and in fact I do not have opinion on the propriety or impropriety of giving kids names associated with the other sex. ---
**Author:** ![Lorene89095](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a8b319/32.png) [@Lorene89095](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lorene89095)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2015, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585/40 "2015-04-27T00:54:22Z")
When I was much younger I knew a boy named “Sharon” pronounced Shar-ran in Texas… He had 2 older brothers with typical male names. He was a holy terror… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-give-your-newborn-son-a-stereotypically-female-name/718585.md?page=3)