Okay, so there is always a lot of talk on Nameberry about boy names for girls, and a sentiment that is frequently brought up is: If you would name your daughter [name_u]James[/name_u] or [name_u]Michael[/name_u], hopefully you’d also name your son [name_f]Rose[/name_f] or [name_f]Amelia[/name_f].
So I’d love to know…are there any parents here that actually WOULD name their son with a girl’s name? Not talking about names that were masculine at one point but are currently more feminine ([name_u]Alexis[/name_u], [name_u]Madison[/name_u], etc). Talking about tried-and-true, exclusively feminine names like the aforementioned [name_f]Rose[/name_f] and [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], or [name_f]Sophia[/name_f], [name_f]Rebecca[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f], [name_f]Suzanne[/name_f], [name_f]Deborah[/name_f], [name_f]Emily[/name_f], [name_f]Penelope[/name_f], etc…
I think [name_f]Nell[/name_f], [name_u]Piper[/name_u] and [name_f]Scarlet[/name_f] could work on a boy. Maybe even [name_f]Cleo[/name_f] or [name_f]Willow[/name_f]. Whether I’d use them though, I’m not sure - maybe [name_u]Piper[/name_u] as a middle
I think [name_f]Daveen[/name_f] as a variation on [name_m]David[/name_m] could work. Maybe [name_u]Wren[/name_u], [name_f]Olive[/name_f], [name_f]Eve[/name_f], [name_f]Ines[/name_f], [name_f]Inez[/name_f], and [name_f]Maud/name_f.
I’m not a parent, but they would work if you’re brave.
There are some traditionally girl names I’d use on boys (mostly nature names!). But I view many nature names as unisex instead- I don’t think I could go hyper-feminine and use something like [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] or [name_f]Penelope[/name_f] because I wouldn’t personally give a girl a hyper-masculine name. One boy I went to school with always went by [name_f]Peggy[/name_f] and he wore it well, but that was his surname and not his first name.
[name_f]Willow[/name_f]
[name_f]Autumn[/name_f]
[name_f]Orchid[/name_f]
Hyssop
[name_f]Bee[/name_f]
[name_u]Ruby[/name_u]
[name_f]Holiday[/name_f]
[name_f]Rose[/name_f] (I remember @tranquilstars having an [name_m]Asher[/name_m] [name_m]Henry[/name_m] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] in their signature and another user had [name_m]Arthur[/name_m] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]- swoon!)
[name_f]Hyacinth[/name_f]
[name_f]Lark[/name_f]
[name_f]Emerald[/name_f]
[name_f]Thyme[/name_f]
[name_u]Winter[/name_u]
Larkspur
[name_f]Garnet[/name_f]
[name_f]Merry[/name_f]
[name_f]Hazel[/name_f]
I’ll be honest and say I don’t find the majority of these to be the most wearable in the front spot. Some can definitely be pulled off, but I’m not sure if I’m brave enough to venture outside of using them in the middle spot only.
I went to elementary school with a boy named [name_f]McKenna[/name_f]. He wore the name really well, and was never teased to my knowledge—in fact, he played guitar and was the hearthrob of the 5th grade!
There are a couple of feminine names that I like for boys, [name_f]Jasmine[/name_f] and [name_f]Lark[/name_f] come to mind, but I don’t like them enough to use them. I actually thought [name_f]Lark[/name_f] was more of a boys’ name at first anyways and used it on a male character back in middle school.
There was a blog I saw on here (I think) where the parents named their son [name_f]Jayne[/name_f] (after the character [name_f]Jayne[/name_f] [name_m]Cobb[/name_m] on [name_u]Firefly[/name_u]). She said it fits him well.
To go back to OPs original question, I find myself wanting to say yes, why not, perhaps, maybe and then realize I am really hesitant and not so sure and it frustrates me that in 2020 I feel that way. Boys names on girls are so common, no one even thinks twice about it anymore, like naming a girl [name_u]James[/name_u] for example. But even now I would be worried about using a once traditional boys name like [name_u]Ashley[/name_u], or especially a particular favorite of mine like [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u], even as a mn. It can be fun to make lists and consider what if, but I can’t honestly say I would use them definitely even though I ask myself every day why not and think of the double standards that are applied.