It isn’t. [name_u]Elias[/name_u] is still exclusively male. Maybe confused it with [name_u]Elia[/name_u] or even [name_f]Elisa[/name_f]?
And Yes, [name_u]Robin[/name_u] is strongly male leaning here. Without the bird-association, it just feels like a [name_m]Rob[/name_m]-variation. And since unisex names aren’t as much of a thing here, a girl named [name_m]Rob[/name_m] seems strange to most people.
Yeah, tbh I’d be surprised to see Germans bending [name_u]Elias[/name_u] for girls. The country is still quite conservative in its naming culture, names have to be approved by the city administration, my friends there name their children [name_f]Anna[/name_f] and [name_f]Lena[/name_f]. Few seem to go crazy creative (although those people exist, too, but def not nearly as common as in the US I’d say).
Another reason it would be offensive to me is the fact that some cultures, like it or not, have highly gendered naming traditions. When you go back to Germanic names, [name_m]Wilhelm[/name_m] and Kriemhild and [name_f]Hildegard[/name_f] and all those composite names, there is just no room for gender interpretation. I get that [name_u]Nikita[/name_u] sounds cute on a girl, but if the locals don’t do it, then I don’t think we as foreigners have the right to do that to their names. ([name_m]Just[/name_m] because it’s done, if it is, doesn’t mean it’s right or appropriate.)
It’s totally different imo to take a a modern name that is perhaps not traditionally defined for a specific gender, and use it unisex. Often these will be word or unisex names, as discussed. If you want to use [name_u]James[/name_u] on a girl, well if [name_u]James[/name_u] is in your family tree or part of your own culture/heritage, the you are free to make that decision. That’s my sense about it.
I don’t have [name_u]James[/name_u] in my own heritage, so I wouldn’t touch that name, especially not in reinterpretation. But I have no problem using [name_u]Sage[/name_u] for a boy or a girl.
In my own culture, names are highly gendered, so there are often male versions ending in -o and female versions ending in -a. Or you pick a word or nature name, landscape, city etc and then you can get creative. My $0.02, obv nobody has to agree with me here.
Yes, that too. I doubt [name_f]Elias[/name_f] would even be legal.
There are certain surnames and nature names I like on both. Currently I’m crushing on [name_u]Marlowe[/name_u], [name_u]Bellamy[/name_u], and [name_u]Emerson[/name_u].
Would you think [name_f]Kylie[/name_f] was a girl or a boy?
I said… now that he’s older (10), will you start calling him [name_u]Kyle[/name_u]?
The mom said… no, his name is [name_f]Kylie[/name_f]. It’s an Irish surname.
I wonder how he feels now that he’s in his 30s.
About the girl [name_m]Ezra[/name_m], for some reason the parents couldn’t use [name_f]Esme[/name_f], so thought [name_m]Ezra[/name_m] was close enough.
I know two [name_m]Robins[/name_m], male, and a [name_f]Robyn[/name_f], female.
I know a male [name_u]Jamie[/name_u] and a female [name_u]Jaime[/name_u]… notice the spelling.
Also [name_u]Jordan[/name_u] and [name_u]Jordyn[/name_u].
Unisex names made sense when parents were told to talk to their unborn child, but had no idea if boy or girl.
Now most people know which sex to expect, but if it can’t be determined then a unisex name is a good idea.
I’m nonbinary myself, so I’m conscious of the benefits of gender-neutral names. I’m not having children any time soon, but when I do, I’ll either give them gender-neutral names or gendered names with gender-neutral middle names they can fall back on.