I hope I linked that correctly but I came across this a few minutes ago. We’ve had discussions about this topic on NB before. Interestingly enough, I think the points raised in this article fit very well with what we were tossing around.
I will say though that, as someone who gave her son an uncommon name rather than a traditional one, I didn’t really consider these points. I didn’t choose his name based on the fear he’d be teased, to follow tradition, to give off a masculine, feminine or unisex vibe, etc. I mean I guess I did feel comfortable giving him a different’ name in part because naming trends are giving him peers with a wider variety of names than I grew up with, or my parents for that matter.
Still, I found it interesting! Curious to see what others think.
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That’s really fascinating and definitely chimes with discussions here!
I think in the past I found it more difficult to add boy names to my list because nothing felt exciting or unexpected but still wearable in the same way that so many girls names do. But over time I’ve expanded my idea of what counts as wearable, and I’m definitely more willing to push the boat out with boy names now than I would have been a few years ago!
side note
‘The college educated, especially those who come from families with more than one generation of higher education, are likely to see names from past generations like they see valuable antiques, and will want names they give their children to be ‘revivals’ from past history, even if they are still looking for something more unusual‘
As a PhD student into historical/literary names and antiques I feel very called out 