A Question about Unisex Names

Boy Names
1

I’ve seen the argument made on here that once you give a daughter a unisex name (like [name]Riley[/name] or [name]Emerson[/name] or whatever), that you should keep with that pattern so the first daughter (or second, whatever) doesn’t feel left out. I support the idea fully, actually–I have a unisex name and my sisters do not, and I’ve always wished I had a name like [name]Rachel[/name], [name]Eleanor[/name], [name]Annabel[/name], [name]Lily[/name], [name]Grace[/name], etc. that was 100% girly.

I was thinking about that today, and how I love unisex names for boys… Should this rule also apply to boys, then? I’ve never really considered this as most of my unisex favorites are originally boys’ names, so I thought having siblings like [name]Caleb[/name] and [name]Avery[/name] would be fine. They’re both boys’ names, imo, and [name]Avery[/name] still ranks high for boys despite its popularity for girls. Besides, it’s a family name for me so it’s high on my list regardless.

But if I have an [name]Avery[/name], do you think I should continue that, with choices like [name]Emerson[/name], [name]Bailey[/name], [name]Riley[/name], [name]Morgan[/name], [name]Addison[/name], [name]Harper[/name], etc.? [name]Do[/name] you think he’d feel left out if his brothers were [name]Caleb[/name], [name]Everett[/name], [name]Jack[/name], [name]Asher[/name], [name]Grayson[/name], etc., which are 100% masculine, imo?

The problem isn’t that I don’t have the guts to use a unisex name, because I totally would if I loved the name enough, but since I had a unisex name and hated that I felt left out, I’ve always vowed I wouldn’t do that to my daughters. It just now hit me that my sons could potentially feel the same way if I gave one a unisex name but not the others. Anyway, it was just an idea that hit me this morning and I was curious what others thought.

Thanks, ladies!

2

Hmmm… I never thought about this before. To me, names are names. Unisex names are either boy or girl to me, minus a few exceptions such as [name]Avery[/name]. I personally don’t think it matters if you use unisex and non unisex names in a sibset. I guess, since you felt left out because of your name, having similar style names may be more important to you. Either way, I think most people don’t necessarily pay too much attention to the types of names in a sibset. :slight_smile:

3

I definitely don’t think you need to use another unisex (which I see as ‘boy-name-on-girl’ when on a girl, and just ‘boy name’ when on a boy) if you name your son something like [name]Avery[/name].
[name]Avery[/name] & [name]Caleb[/name] go well together. [name]Avery[/name] and [name]Morgan[/name] go fantastically. [name]Avery[/name] & [name]Harper[/name]… too trendy for me, to be honest. I’m not sure if a guy named [name]Avery[/name] would feel left out if he had brothers named [name]Paul[/name] & [name]John[/name] or something. To me, [name]Avery[/name] is especially handsome in that instance.
I know a guy named [name]Garnet[/name] and his twin brother is named [name]Trevor[/name]… I think it’d fine. Mismatched in style, but it’s not just a gender thing. I don’t think guys really notice or care about this kind of thing as much as girls do.

4

No I don’t think it carries over to the boys…unfair, but that’s the way it is!

5

No I wouldl ove to see other unisex names on boys more than are being used on girls. But your [name]Avery[/name] would be fine I think if his brothers names didn’t match. I have [name]Avery[/name] on my list for a boy as well [among other unisex ones]. Please use [name]Avery[/name] for a boy!

6

I don’t think you have to use all unisex names for boys. However, I do think it’d be odd if you used a very traditional/old, heavy male name with [name]Avery[/name] - like [name]Charles[/name] or [name]George[/name] (though this is more of a time period name thing to me, as in I see [name]Avery[/name] as more of a modern name, so I guess, personally it’d sound weird with old colonial names and such - like I think [name]Edith[/name] and [name]Ashlynn[/name] would be a weird combination).
I think that [name]Avery[/name] and [name]Caleb[/name] go well together and [name]Avery[/name] and [name]Everett[/name] go well together.

7

if you had an avery and a caleb, i would assume you had a boy and a girl.

[name]Emerson[/name], [name]Bailey[/name], [name]Riley[/name], [name]Morgan[/name], [name]Addison[/name], [name]Harper[/name] = girls names to me.

8

Well, if I had an [name]Isabelle[/name], a [name]Violet[/name], a [name]Caleb[/name], and an [name]Avery[/name], would you still assume [name]Avery[/name] was a girl? There are absolutely no unisex names on my girls’ list, and since [name]Avery[/name] started out on the boys, and it’s my great-great-great grandfather’s name, so it seems pretty masculine to me.

9

haha, I was just thinking no matter what, I will always think [name]Avery[/name] is a girl, so it wouldn’t matter if you used unisex or a more masculine name… to me [name]Avery[/name] is a girl, so if you had an [name]Avery[/name] and [name]Caleb[/name], [name]Avery[/name] will be girl, if you had a [name]Violet[/name], [name]Avery[/name], [name]Caleb[/name], [name]Avery[/name] would still be girl to me until I met him or was corrected. I grew up around only girl Averys though so that’s why I automatically will assume [name]Avery[/name] is a girl until I am told otherwise…

I think if you use a unisex name on a boy, then you should with the next one, I think it works the same as a girls. He or she will feel left out if the others have more masculine/feminine names…

Overall I dislike “unisex” names because I never seen a name truly be “unisex” I guess where I grew up Averys were always girls, Elliots were always boys, Aubreys were always girls, there was never a boy and a girl that had the same name, never.

10

I think it depends. I mean, I’d quite easily name three sons [name]Ashley[/name], [name]Jordan[/name] and [name]Elliot[/name] (they didn’t cross over much to the girl side in the UK as they did in the States), but then again I’d be just as inclined to go for [name]Daniel[/name], [name]Joshua[/name] and [name]Elliot[/name]. I don’t think it’s so much of a case of being ‘left out’, so to speak, than the overall feel of the names.

With [name]Avery[/name], I wouldn’t pair it with anything too classic, and I’d be cautious of what I used for girl names, as I wouldn’t want boy [name]Avery[/name] to be constantly confused on paper with girl [name]Morgan[/name], say, but boy [name]Avery[/name] and boy [name]Morgan[/name] would make a nice sibset. [name]Even[/name] three boys [name]Avery[/name], [name]Morgan[/name] and [name]Caleb[/name] would work fine, as [name]Caleb[/name] has quite a ‘soft’ feel to it. [name]Avery[/name], [name]Hunter[/name] and [name]Fox[/name], on the other hand, feels a bit mismatched as both [name]Hunter[/name] and [name]Fox[/name] have a ‘harder’ feel to the name. I can’t quite explain it, but as most of the ‘unisex’ names have a ‘softer’ feel, I think even if you don’t use all unisex names for boys, you should keep the same ‘soft’ feel on the boys names so they match better.

And [name]Diana[/name], I agree - where I grew up - [name]Jordan[/name], [name]Ashley[/name], [name]Taylor[/name] were 90% boys, and [name]Elliot[/name], [name]Cameron[/name], [name]Rory[/name] were 100% boys. To me, they’re not unisex at all, but boys names used on girls. Never met an [name]Avery[/name] or [name]Aubrey[/name] so I can’t comment on those, guess they’re not popular over here.

11

Thanks for this! It makes perfect sense to me, and I think it’s a sort of naming philosophy I’ve been leaning toward, anyway. I’ve always loved softer boys’ names, and if my boys’ names aren’t unisex, there’s a pretty good chance that I’ve heard them either used or considered on girls. The only ones I haven’t heard on girls I think are [name]Caleb[/name] and [name]Boone[/name], both of which have soft sounds, to me, so even though [name]Avery[/name] and [name]Bailey[/name] are unisex, I think most of my boys’ names still fit really well with them. I think I’m just naturally attracted to soft, respectable boys’ names. I like that they seem to fit just about anyone, like he wouldn’t feel like he needed to be a violin virtuoso or a construction worker or a hunter–he could really be anything, I think.