Can I use Jasper for a girl?

When my older daughter was born we were expecting a boy and were planning to name the baby [name]Jasper[/name]–but she wasn’t, so we found another girl name we love. Now her little sister is on her way and we were working on other girl names when we remembered [name]Jasper[/name] and all of a sudden fell in love with it for a girl. I know it’s been controversial in the past but my instinct here is that it works just fine for a girl and might be quite beautiful, with a clearly feminine middle (like [name]Susannah[/name] or [name]Emmeline[/name] or [name]Ruby[/name]). Nickname [name]Jazz[/name] (maybe)? Can we get away with it? Thanks for your help!!!

Yes, you can use any name you’d like really. I love [name]Jasper[/name] for either!

You can use [name]Jasper[/name] for a girl if you’re willing to use [name]Sapphire[/name] for a boy.

Crossing gender norms is not my style unless it is just a nickname, like [name]Charli[/name] for [name]Charlotte[/name]. That being said, other people are big fans of it.

Actually there was another mother on here who had a daughter named Jasper, so it could work :slight_smile: and since it is a gemstone like Ruby or Pearl I think it would work well for a girl

Here’s a link to her post…

It works better than a lot of popular “gender benders” but it is a male name. [name]How[/name] much that does or doesn’t bother you is up to you. I don’t like male names on girls as a rule so i wouldn’t do it myself, but FWIW this is less bothersome to me than most.

Ha! Point taken. But for all the little girls out there named [name]Evan[/name] or [name]Elliott[/name] or [name]James[/name], those seem like much more clearly boy names than [name]Jasper[/name]? Or is it just that we didn’t know a lot of Jaspers growing up?

It feels masculine to me, and I don’t think it’s attractive on a girl. I guess you have to ask yourself whether or not you would be comfortable giving your daughter a name that has been trending upward for boys.

This is a good point. If you found yourself in the same situation you described but with the genders reversed, would you use your old favorite girls’ name for your son? Paired with an appropriately masculine middle? [name]Ruby[/name] [name]Matthew[/name]?

I’m not completely anti-crossing genders with names, but [name]Jasper[/name] loses its appeal when used on a girl for me. Statistically, [name]Jasper[/name] was given to 28 girls last year and 1240 boys, so there are many, many more boys with the name, but using it on a girl still wouldn’t be completely without precedent. It’s not to my taste, but I think that you could probably get away with it.

I was so happy to see the title of this thread!

[name]Ever[/name] since I heard [name]Jasper[/name] I thought it would be perfect for a girl. It’s really too feminine for a boy [name]IMO[/name]. I am pretty traditional when it comes to gender-appropriate names, but [name]Jasper[/name] - correct me if I’m wrong - is a word name, the name of a type of stone. So it’s really not a boy’s name anymore than Chalcedony is a girl’s.

To me [name]Jasper[/name] is completely lovely on a girl, with the cute nn [name]Jas[/name].

I can see the appeal of [name]Jasper[/name] on a girl. Would I use it? No. Because even though it’s a nature name and is therefore technically unisex, 99% of the world would expect [name]Jasper[/name] to be a boy. And I wouldn’t be willing to put my daughter through that. I actually don’t find it that bad, but there are some name boundaries I’m not willing to push. I think [name]Jasper[/name] could work nicely as a MN, for a girl, though, or even Jasperine. You could still use [name]Jazz[/name] as a nn, and Jasperine’s a recognized girls’ name. I used to know someone with Jasperine [name]Aurora[/name] (or [name]Aurora[/name] Jasperine?) on her list, and I always thought that was lovely. She also loved [name]Jasper[/name] [name]Aurora[/name]/[name]Aurora[/name] [name]Jasper[/name], which I like as well, but I find less usable.

Also, I would strongly take into account what your other daughter’s name is. Is she an [name]Annabel[/name]? Then I absolutely would not use [name]Jasper[/name]–everyone would assume she was a boy. Is she a [name]Rowan[/name] or a [name]Sloane[/name]? Then maybe [name]Jasper[/name] wouldn’t be so bad. I still find Jasperine or _____ [name]Jasper[/name] more usable, personally.

Here are the statistics I mentioned above, by the way. As you can see, there is precedence for use on a girl, but it’s trending upward for boys pretty significantly:

I’d advise against it. While [name]Jasper[/name] is a nature name, it has a long history as a boy’s name and I think it would sound really strange on a girl. It would be like naming a boy [name]Daisy[/name]. I would say either put it in the middle or go with a different name upfront that has a similar feel/sound (for instance, [name]Jasmine[/name] or [name]Jade[/name]) that is definitely feminine.

[name]Jasper[/name] is all boy.

Sorry to say [name]Jasper[/name] is all boy for me. I have a hard time seeing it as a girls name (even before this whole twilight nonsense).

My husband who is kind of fun to talk about names with because he knows nothing about trends and has interesting tastes, thought that [name]Jasper[/name] was a girls name. I was surprised at first but the more I think about it [name]Jasper[/name] does have a feminine sound to it and is a gemstone. I wouldn’t personally use it but I think it makes a nice and neat girls name. I usually hate masculine names on girls even ones like [name]Rowan[/name] and [name]Riley[/name] which are widely accepted for females.

I think its one for the boys :slight_smile:

[name]Jasper[/name] is on my boy & girl list. It’s a stone, they have no gender.

I’ve met an elderly man named [name]Pearl[/name]. [name]Diamond[/name], [name]Beryl[/name], [name]Ivory[/name] and [name]Ruby[/name] are also used on both genders
I only like [name]Jade[/name] for a boy and prefer [name]Jasper[/name] for a girl

It’s all boy and I would cringe if I saw it on a girl.

You can use [name]Jasper[/name] for a girl, because it’s your decision. It sounds like you really love it, so I think you have to go with your instinct there. Boys names for girls aren’t unheard of, of course, so it wouldn’t be as though [name]Jasper[/name] were the first or last girl given a traditionally masculine name.

I personally think it sounds too masculine for a girl, but that’s because I like it for a boy. It very much reminds me of when [name]Soleil[/name] [name]Moon[/name] Frye named her daughter [name]Jagger[/name] [name]Joseph[/name]. I thought that was the most masculine name in the world, and I couldn’t figure out why she chose such a name for her daughter! (I was more judge-y back then. :wink: ) However, I’m not naming your precious one, you are. If she looks like a [name]Jasper[/name], then [name]Jasper[/name] it is.

Best of luck!