I love how it says not to use those names for boys. If a name sucks- save it for a girl!
Really, I don’t think [name]Lawrence[/name], [name]Arthur[/name], etc. are that bad for boys, but I would HATE to be a girl named something like that. I hate the idea that anything ‘uncool’ can be made cool again by applying it to a girl. I hate the trend for using masculine names on girls. [name]Every[/name] name site or name book will advise against using any name that isn’t hyper-masculine for a boy, but they suggest [name]MALE[/name] names for girls. I guess you can call a girl whatver you want, just like a dog, but make sure boys don’t get stupid names.
It’s sexist. Sorry, but the idea that boys deserve good names and girls can get whatever you think is ‘cool’ even if it’s hard to live with is just an extension of the idea that boys are people and girls are just cute fashion accessories.
You know what, I think that’s an excellent point. And overall, you can get so caught up in choosing a cool name that you can forget what that’s going to be like for the little person, male or female, who’s got to live with your “cool” choice. Yet, I do think that a name like [name]Murray[/name], for instance, sounds really fresh and warm and strong when a female has it – and I do have a friend (female) with that name – whereas there are so many old man Murrays that it just feels different for a baby boy.
You know what, I think that’s an excellent point. And overall, you can get so caught up in choosing a cool name that you can forget what that’s going to be like for the little person, male or female, who’s got to live with your “cool” choice. Yet, I do think that a name like [name]Murray[/name], for instance, sounds really fresh and warm and strong when a female has it – and I do have a friend (female) with that name – whereas there are so many old man Murrays that it just feels different for a baby boy.
One time I was talking to a friend about names which sound better when applied to the opposite gender, and she mentioned a name that goes the other way (is more common for girls but she likes for a boy). She mentioned that she likes the name [name]Kelly[/name], but for a boy; in her opinion she thinks that name sounds somewhat “fresh” again when applied to a male.
Edited to add: I noticed that the quote tags aren’t working properly.
I really don’t like geezer names for girls. I think they take the frivolity out of life. There was a stunningly beautiful girl at my art school and she was dating the head of the fine arts department. Her name didn’t fit her-it was [name]Peter[/name], not that [name]Peter[/name] is a geezer name, but still! There are so many beautiful names out there for girls that if I were a little girl and had a geezer name, I would be disappointed. Especially if my best friend were named [name]Vivienne[/name] or [name]Cecily[/name] and my name were [name]Murray[/name] or whatever! But to each her own. I do like many androgenous names like [name]Shiloh[/name], for instance. Of course I wouldn’t use them myself for a girl because I love feminine names.
You know, I actually think that’s a great point. My daughter’s name is [name]Rory[/name] and when she was 4 or so she was really pissed off because she had a “boy’s name.” And if I had known I would have only one daughter I might have chosen something more feminine…
I like the spunky feel of boyish names, but think they don’t suit girls well, so I started collecting femininsed boy names since the family names: [name]Josephine[/name], [name]Cecilia[/name] & [name]Frances[/name] as well as my own name, [name]Laura[/name], are femininsed boy names (it was a grand start, anyway) And My favorite of the bunch became my daughter’s name ([name]Josephine[/name]). Now the problem? since I’ve used my favorite, what to name a sister?
I love the name [name]Josephine[/name]! There are plenty of delightful girls names that also come from boys names. They are very common in [name]England[/name]. There’s [name]Georgia[/name], [name]Charlotte[/name]/[name]Carlotta[/name]/[name]Caroline[/name], [name]Cecily[/name]/[name]Cecelia[/name] (from [name]Cecil[/name]), [name]Jacqueline[/name], [name]Andrea[/name], [name]Joanna[/name], even [name]Emily[/name] ([name]Emil[/name]), [name]Laura[/name] ([name]Laurence[/name]), [name]Tamsin[/name] ([name]Thomas[/name]), [name]Henrietta[/name] (ugly! unless you’re royalty, of course), [name]Olivia[/name] ([name]Oliver[/name]), [name]Lucy[/name] ([name]Lucien[/name]), [name]Julia[/name] ([name]Julian[/name]), and many others.
I love [name]Henrietta[/name] too. (I loved “New Zoo Review” as a tot and [name]Henrietta[/name] stuck with me (don’t forget [name]Henrietta[/name] pussycat from Mr. [name]Rogers[/name]!) Mr. [name]Rogers[/name] was a huge hero of mine. It would also backhandedly honor his Grandmother [name]Harriet[/name]. I’m not super fond of [name]Harriet[/name] but adore [name]Henrietta[/name]!
I never used to like the names [name]Vincent[/name], [name]Vivian[/name], [name]Raymond[/name], and [name]Josephine[/name]. Now I’m in love with all those names. So maybe in a few years or even less, I wouldn’t be surprised if I will adore the names [name]Harriet[/name] and [name]Henrietta[/name]. And I hope [name]Bernard[/name] comes back in style someday because that was my most wonderful grandfather’s name. His middle name was [name]Marmaduke[/name] and I wonder when it will come back in style-maybe not for a long time.
Yep, I know a 6 year old [name]Bernard[/name], Mom was definitely ahead of the curve! [name]Bernie[/name]'s a smart kid and really cute too!
I can’t wait to meet a [name]Vincent[/name] or [name]Sidney[/name] boy. I have a girlfriend who’s due in [name]June[/name] and planning on [name]Seymour[/name]. for her Granddad. She’s going to call him [name]Maury[/name] at least occasionally she says.
If I get my way, [name]Clarence[/name] /[name]Clancy[/name] will be mine. I really dig it and [name]Clarence[/name] in full makes me happy. I like his angelic vibe.
Hey [name]Pam[/name]! You know, I’m staunchly against boys’ names for girls, but I would argue that any name that ends in the “ee” sound lends itself more easily to a girl. So, [name]Rory[/name] is pretty cool, even by my unforgiving standards! [name]Love[/name] the new website, I can’t tell you how much I enjoyed your and [name]Linda[/name]'s books. Your opinions were my gold standard for baby naming! It was nice to have my choices validated by two gals with such great taste.
I think that geezer names for girls are great. But some geezer names- [name]Virgil[/name], [name]Wendell[/name], [name]Reggie[/name]- had better stick with the geezers. I love [name]Seymour[/name], [name]Sinclair[/name], and [name]Sydney[/name] for girls. And I think that girls should leave some names to the boys, since we seem to be taking most of the names. You won’t be seeing a little [name]John[/name] or [name]Matthew[/name] with a [name]Barbie[/name] soon (I hope.).
Yikes. I just can’t imagine giving my daughter a boy’s name. The poster who originated this topic said it all, and said it beautifully, and her thoughts dovetail with mine one hundred percent. Also, I think there are few enough good names for boys, without kicking them over to the girls’ list. So many girls’ names have already been created from boys’ names over the centuries anyway – [name]Carl/name, [name]Paul/name, [name]Charles[/name] ([name]Charlotte[/name]), [name]Patrick[/name] ([name]Patricia[/name]), [name]Stephen[/name] ([name]Stephanie[/name]), and on and on. I don’t really think it’s necessary to take even more of the boys’ name stock and give it to the girls. In nearly every case, the name becomes permanently feminine, and woe to the boy who receives it today (witness [name]Kelly[/name], [name]Leslie[/name], [name]Shannon[/name]…). Then we have to really dig around to find something to name the boys, and you wind up scrabbling through the dustbins of history half the time in order to come up with something. I have nothing against historical names, but let’s face it, an awful lot of them are pretty clunky.
I have to wonder what it is about our collective mindset that it’s perfectly okay to feminize a boy’s name, but not vice versa. It seems to say, “boys’ names are just fine for girls, but girls’ names aren’t good enough for boys!” As a personal experiment, I just may try to ferret out a girls’ name that hasn’t been converted from a boys’ name, and see if it can be adapted to fit a boy. Why can’t we masculinize (is that a word??) girls’ names, too?
I just wanted to note that traditionally, [name]Kelly[/name] is an Irish boys name that means “Warrior”. I have always loved the name, but would probably never use it because half my family has the [name]Kelly[/name] surname. Who knows? If enough people are brave enough the use it for boys again, it will become a truly unisex name.
I know that I’m bumping a really old thread, but today I took a look at this name list. I have a question for [name]Pamela[/name] and [name]Linda[/name]: Have you actually known females with these names, or are they just names that you thought would be “cool” for a girl?
ETA: There’s one that I’ve heard on a female myself. [name]Barack[/name] [name]Obama[/name]'s mother’s first name was [name]Stanley[/name] (though she apparently went by her middle name [name]Ann[/name], probably because she didn’t like the idea herself). I also see that [name]Pam[/name] already mentioned an actual female [name]Murray[/name].
I like some geezer names for girls, and I actually think that [name]Murray[/name] is cute. I’m just not sure how well they would last through a kid’s/teenager’s life, if that makes any sense.
On the other hand, there are some geezer names I think could come back for boys, like [name]Bernard[/name], [name]Bertram[/name], or [name]Bertrand[/name]. Whenever I hear [name]Bertrand[/name], I just think of punky French band Plastic [name]Bertrand[/name] (”a Plane Pour Moi, anyone?).
