In the “Imaginary Birth Announcements” thread I recently mentioned a (fictitious) new nephew named [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_f]Grace[/name_f], and that his parents decided to use [name_f]Grace[/name_f] as the MN since they wanted to go counter to the trend of boy’s MNs for girls like [name_u]James[/name_u] and [name_u]Ray[/name_u] (which this site’s founders seem to embrace). I also mentioned that it makes a more unique combo out of two common names.
This got me thinking - what would you think about giving a boy a girl’s (or very female-leaning unisex) middle name? Some I thought would work (that are common MNs for girls) are [name_f]Claire[/name_f] (some spellings are more unisex or masculine), [name_f]Grace[/name_f] (as I mentioned being a virtue/word name could be construed to be unisex, although virtually only used for girls), and [name_f]Marie[/name_f] (sometimes used as a second name on boys in francophone areas). Any other ones (especially the typical fillers for girls) that you think could work on boys?
Of course I’d only pair them with decidedly masculine first names, so maybe a [name_m]David[/name_m] [name_f]Marie[/name_f] or [name_m]Matthew[/name_m] [name_f]Claire[/name_f], but no [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] [name_f]Maries[/name_f] or even [name_u]Ryan[/name_u] Graces.
I sort of love it with the right names. [name_f]Jane[/name_f] is one I love for a guy (because of [name_f]Jayne[/name_f] in Firefly being so masculine!). So something like [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] [name_f]Jane[/name_f]. I keep a tab on my excel folder for guys I’ve met with girl names (first or middle) so I know it works! Hardly anyone gets to know the middle name so it’s really not that big of a deal. And for virtue names ([name_f]Grace[/name_f], [name_f]Hope[/name_f], etc) there’s no reason they can’t be used because they have no gender. Girls use [name_u]Justice[/name_u], [name_m]Noble[/name_m] etc (which sound more boyish) so there’s no reason a boy can’t use [name_f]Grace[/name_f] or [name_f]Hope[/name_f].
I know boys with [name_f]Jade[/name_f], [name_u]Wren[/name_u], [name_f]Willow[/name_f] (a first name there) in their names. I can post the full list if you’d like.
I once met a man named [name_f]Alison[/name_f]. He was in the army… So, maybe [name_f]Alison[/name_f] could work as a middle name. I also know a male [name_u]Courtney[/name_u]. As well as [name_u]Kelly[/name_u].
In the [name_u]Meredith[/name_u] [name_u]Gentry[/name_u] books by [name_f]Laurell[/name_f] K [name_m]Hamilton[/name_m] there are boys named [name_f]Holly[/name_f], [name_f]Aisling[/name_f] and [name_f]Crystall[/name_f].
I think virtue names especially really should be considered unisex. I suppose [name_f]Grace[/name_f] seems particularly feminine, because it could be associated with gracefulness of movement which brings to mind ballerinas, but the name is really about grace in the religious sense. But I don’t see how [name_f]Faith[/name_f] or [name_f]Hope[/name_f] or any other virtue wouldn’t be applicable for a person of either sex.
I personally like a lot of names that used to be masculine, but are now considered feminine, much more for boys. Like [name_u]Ashley[/name_u], [name_u]Kelly[/name_u], [name_u]Meredith[/name_u], [name_u]Hilary[/name_u], [name_f]Carol[/name_f], [name_f]Alison[/name_f] (any -son name actually, they really should be for boys!) I’m not a big fan of any of the more current unisex names ([name_u]Taylor[/name_u], [name_u]Bailey[/name_u], [name_u]Hayden[/name_u], [name_u]Emerson[/name_u], etc.)
My [name_f]MIL[/name_f] was really into “androgynous names,” as she called them, back when she was pregnant with my DH. The story I first heard from DH was that she had wanted to name him [name_u]Kendall[/name_u], but FIL hated it so he named him [name_m]Kevin[/name_m] while she was recovering from her emergency c-section. I asked her about it and she was adamant that that was not true. She said what happened is that she really wanted to name a girl [name_m]Kevin[/name_m], but FIL forced her to use if for their son instead. I can’t even decide what’s worse, a boy [name_u]Kendall[/name_u] or a girl [name_m]Kevin[/name_m]!
[name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is actually pretty nice, although it might just be because I find [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] to be a very soft, sweet name anyway, so it works with the softness of [name_f]Grace[/name_f]. It sounds very Victorian to me, for some reason.
I love the idea of more feminine names on boys. I’d love to have a boy [name_f]Willow[/name_f] or [name_u]Paris[/name_u] (surely nature and place names are technically unisex anyway?) and I used to toy with the idea of using [name_f]Autumn[/name_f] on a boy.
I know a boy [name_u]Wynter[/name_u] and a boy [name_f]Willow[/name_f] (and a boy [name_f]Winsome[/name_f] because nameberry lists it as a girls name) so I think [name_f]Autumn[/name_f] works great on a boy.
[name_f]Grace[/name_f] is unisex since it’s a word. I’d love to use boy’s with more feminine names. I have recently found boys with middle names of [name_u]Piper[/name_u], [name_f]Lotus[/name_f], [name_f]Trinity[/name_f], [name_u]Page[/name_u], [name_u]Monroe[/name_u]. First names on boys lately I’ve seen: [name_u]Whitney[/name_u], Wreyn, [name_f]Journee[/name_f], [name_u]Brooklyn[/name_u], [name_u]Avery[/name_u], Maddeson, [name_u]Winter[/name_u], Krimson, [name_u]Briley[/name_u], [name_u]Addison[/name_u], and [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f].
You know, I actually rather like [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_f]Grace[/name_f], and I’m not even particularly fond of either name on its own.
A boy [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]? It’s bad enough on a girl, but that seems particularly cruel to me.
I do love [name_u]Gale[/name_u] and [name_u]Rowan[/name_u] for boys, as well as [name_m]Emile[/name_m] and [name_u]Florian[/name_u] (which are both masculine names, of course, but given their similarities to [name_f]Emily[/name_f] and [name_f]Flora[/name_f] I wouldn’t be surprised to see parents co-opting them). [name_f]Willow[/name_f] for a boy intrigues me, but [name_f]Willow[/name_f] for me is forever [name_f]Alyson[/name_f] Hannigan, so I just can’t quite get there.
[name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is strangely appealing! It’s like the cool sleek vibe of the [name_u]Gray[/name_u]/[name_u]Grey[/name_u] trend, with the Victorian gentry of Mr. [name_u]Darcy[/name_u]. I love the mixture of traditional strength with the softness and whimsy. This could easily wind up on my GP list!
I’m with almost everyone here, I love this idea! especially with more girly virtue or nature names I think it works well. [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] is rather appealing, while I, like @esrever, would never look twice at either of them alone.
I would love to see that list @dantea, unless you’ve already posted it somewhere and I missed it…
I think it’s great. I’d probably only consider either names that were once masculine and are now feminine (e.g. [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u]) or ungendered names, such as place names or virtue names.
I don’t see anything wrong with choosing an adventurous middle to go with a classic masculine first name and I can definitely see some girl’s names making good middle names for boys. There is a whole group of strong feminine names that might be fun to explore: [name_f]Maren[/name_f], [name_f]Briony[/name_f], [name_f]Lauren[/name_f], [name_f]Jolie[/name_f], [name_f]Audrey[/name_f], [name_f]Maude[/name_f].
I love [name_m]Benjamin[/name_m] [name_f]Grace[/name_f]! This is a really appealing idea overall, though like others, I like it best with relatively genderless names (virtues, places, or previously male names.) I also can’t see it with middle names longer than one or two syllables. Some possibilities: [name_f]Anne[/name_f], [name_f]Bree[/name_f], [name_f]Kate[/name_f], [name_u]Blair[/name_u], [name_u]June[/name_u], [name_u]Sage[/name_u], [name_f]Eve[/name_f].
The only [name_u]Kendall[/name_u]'s I know are boys!
