For those of you would [name]LOVE[/name] stealing boy names and putting them on girls, would you turn around and do the opposite? I see people wanting to name their daughter [name]Dexter[/name], [name]Addison[/name], [name]Emerson[/name] and other MASCULINE names, but they wouldn’t dare name their son [name]Mary[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name] or [name]Alexandra[/name] and it bothers me. At this rate, there won’t be many boy names left!
Thoughts?
I’m curious to see what kind of responses this gets. I’m not a fan of boys-names-on-girls at all.
I’m not sure why it matters honestly. The names are still there whether used on boys or girls, my husband and I both have uni-sex names, which according to Berries are different than boy names on girls. However my name is [name]Alix[/name]/ [name]Alex[/name] is much more common on boys then girls (and yes my full name is [name]Alix[/name]) and my husband’s name is [name]Skyler[/name], more common on girls than boys. We each have been mistaken for the other gender, not a big deal. So in my view, what does it matter? Names are not going to run out of existence because some on used your boy name on a girl.
But now we have uneducated people deriding educated moms for using [name]Madison[/name] and other gender bent names by saying that these boys have “girl” names when etymology clearly states otherwise. SO many boys names have been lost as it is ([name]Ashley[/name], [name]Kelly[/name], [name]Meredith[/name], [name]Evelyn[/name], etc) and at the rate we are going, there will be a ridiculously small pool of boy names to pick from!
I don’t usually think about genderbending names because I would hope to give my future children names that will be easy to live with, but I would absolutely use a name that is seen as more feminine on a boy.
While it may not be the best example for the general public, one of my favorites, [name]River[/name], I first heard on [name]River[/name] [name]Tam[/name] of Firefly, who was female, and I only liked the idea of the name on a boy.
I think it’s a bit telling of how society views women that it is acceptable to most people that girls get traditionally masculine names and it’s fine, but no one would consider giving their son a traditionally feminine name because it would apparently scar him for life to be mistaken for a girl.
edit to add: If I hadn’t already used [name]Piper[/name] on my cat, I’d absolutely consider it for a boy, even though it’s seen as a feminine name.
I think of [name]River[/name] [name]Phoenix[/name]. 
Haha, I do now, but he was gone before I was born, so it’s more of a secondary association for me.
To compare [name]Mary[/name] and [name]Elizabeth[/name] to e.g. [name]Madison[/name] is not a fair comparison. [name]Madison[/name] was a surname that was rarely used as a boy’s name, but was considered as such. [name]Mary[/name] and [name]Elizabeth[/name] have always been established more popular girls names. Most of the boys names on girls are more unisex/surname type names or names not so commonly used for boys. It’s not like [name]David[/name] and [name]John[/name] get used on girls (that much and there are always exceptions to the rule).
People don’t steal boy’s names anyway. These names are ceded to the girls because once a parent sees the name used on a girl they run away from using them on a boy. Why is that?
I agree with [name]Chelsea[/name] all the way, we all see names differently, but it isn’t “name stealing” and I’m sure many people do use “traditional” boy names gone girl on boys. It is a question of taste and it seems to be that names are constantly evolving, I would be curious to know when the names like [name]Madison[/name], [name]Ashley[/name] and [name]Meredith[/name] did “change teams” and maybe they did so to name daughters after their fathers?
cka makes a good point. The only reason these names become girl names is because everyone stops using it for boys once they hear about one or two girls with the name.
I’m not at all a fan of boy names on girls, and I don’t think I’m a fan of girl names on boys either. Although I think [name]Ember[/name] is considered a girl name and I randomly thought one day I’d love to see it on a boy. I’d also be a fan of “reclaiming” those names that have become girl names, like [name]Addison[/name], [name]Avery[/name], and some others I can’t think of off the top of my head. Some of my favorite boy names are starting to be used more for girls and I’m not going to let that stop me from using it. The only reason I let it stop me with a former favorite, [name]Riley[/name], is because of its trendiness. Not only are girls being named [name]Riley[/name] (which I could deal with), there’s also [name]Rylee[/name], [name]Ryleigh[/name], [name]Rilee[/name], [name]Ryley[/name], etc. Too many misspellings!
OH. OH OH OH OH OH. I’m going to go on a rant now.
I hate it when people use boys’ names on girls. It’s not classy at all, and I’m a huge fan of class. And there is one name in particular that I feel very, very strongly about - [name]Darcy[/name]. I’ve brought the name up before, because I do like it on a boy. And every single reaction I got is a wrinkled nose and something along the lines of, “Isn’t that a girl name?” And when I insisted that no, it’s really a boy’s name, they’d shake their heads and say, “It’s too feminine.”
Um. Excuse you? You’re saying [name]Darcy[/name] - THE Mr. [name]Darcy[/name] - is FEMININE? ARE YOU CRAZY? He is practically the DEFINITION of masculinity. [name]Darcy[/name] is 100% a boy’s name and it makes me cringe every time I see a little girl named [name]Darcy[/name].
There are others that I dislike as well (most of them, in fact) but this is the one that bothers me most.
Hehe I just did a rant about this :P.
Short answer: Probably yes if I could.
[name]Long[/name] answer: Now when you say girl names on boys can they be unisex or do they HAVE to be established girl names? I have [name]Madison[/name], [name]Sage[/name], [name]Aubrey[/name], & [name]Eden[/name] on my list to name a few, do those count as what your saying? As for established girl names, I like the name [name]Jane[/name] for a boy, would I use it? maybe I don’t love it enough to have it on my favorite’s list but if I did yeah sure.
Using a boy name isn’t stealing it if parents continue to use it for your son. So naming my daughter [name]Dexter[/name] won’t effect the name unless everyone halts and stops using it. Also you have to think of the history of men and females. Men are not suppose to be feminine or “weak” (that’s how our society looks at it, being feminine is being weak). You know that’s why people don’t bat an eye if they see a little girl in a superman costume, they may even think it’s cute, but see a boy dressed up as [name]Cinderella[/name] and you’ll be on the news being ridiculed. Men are suppose to show strength and having a feminine name does not display that. It’s been programmed in our heads that it’s okay to be masculine be it a boy or girl but it’s not okay to be feminine even for girls. I have seen so many times even from my little sisters that anything geared toward femininity is wrong or weird. Shoot I wore makeup one day and my sister actually said to me “I can’t take you seriously with that on your face”. I’ve even seem it on these boards a name being too “frilly” or “princessy”.
Dang that was long anyway, using boys names on girls on is just another way for people to give their daughters strength.
Okay I’m done haha!
The odd thing about using boys names on girls is that it represents an opportunity to change thinking more on these attitudes. It’s often argued that once names start getting used more for girls that they tend to be used less for boys and end up being girl names. While this may be true (not sure it always is anyway) this is an historical perspective where society has been more sexist anyway. Looking at name boards and in society in general I think younger generations are much more willing to blur the historical gender lines in terms of attitudes, and names, without there being so much stigma about it. This could mean that names that start being used by girls don’t end up being not used for boys and that they really do become more unisex.