I was recently reading [name]Brian[/name] Friel’s Play "[name]Philadelphia[/name], Here I Come” I noticed the main character’s full name was [name]Gareth[/name] [name]Mary[/name] O’[name]Donnell[/name]. I was shocked to see [name]Mary[/name] used as a middle name for a male, I told my friends this and received a response I was not expecting.
They replied “My dad’s name is [name]Dennis[/name] [name]Mary[/name]” or “all the man on my Dad’s side are giving their grandmother’s name as a middle name”. I was amazed to hear these respsonses.
I was wondering, it this just another cracked Irish traditional or is it popular in [name]America[/name], [name]Britain[/name], Australia etc. as well, to give a Boy a female MN?
I’ve never actually heard of that. I mean, unisex names, sure (I’ve heard of [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Lynn[/name] and [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Evelyn[/name]… and both [name]Lynn[/name] and [name]Evelyn[/name] have masculine origins), but never something like [name]Theodore[/name] [name]Jane[/name] or something!
I would never do something like [name]Caleb[/name] [name]Arlene[/name]/[name]Caleb[/name] [name]Ruth[/name]/[name]Caleb[/name] [name]Karen[/name], haha.
At first I thought you were talking about using a unisex name that most people see as 100% girl now (like [name]Addison[/name], [name]Bailey[/name], etc.), and I would totally do that. [name]Bailey[/name]‘s in my top 3 for a boy, haha. I wouldn’t use a recognized girls’ name on a boy, though.
Not uncommon in [name]France[/name] to see [name]Marie[/name] or in some cases even [name]Anne[/name] (outdated imo) used for men, I think its more of a Catholic thing, I know a [name]Jean[/name]-[name]Marie[/name].
Definitely a Catholic thing in many cases, especially with [name]Mary[/name] names. I’ve actually never seen it in Anglo names, so it’s interesting to see this one, but even Catholic Germans sometimes have [name]Josef[/name] [name]Maria[/name] and the like. The somewhat well-known poet [name]Rainer[/name] [name]Maria[/name] Rilke is one example. So it’s not just the [name]Romance[/name] languages like French like above and Spanish (where [name]Jose[/name] [name]Maria[/name] is also a common combo).
I don’t know about non-Catholic (or even non-[name]Mary[/name]) use, but it wouldn’t shock me completely, although it is certainly very unexpected.
I have also seen this among men I’ve worked with in Spain , but I have never seen it in the US.
It’s more common to hear of this practice in predominantly Catholic countries such as [name]Ireland[/name], Spain, Portugal, [name]Italy[/name], [name]France[/name], Belgium, [name]Austria[/name], Poland and southern parts on Germany. Boys will have [name]Mary[/name], [name]Marie[/name] or [name]Maria[/name] and the girls will have [name]Joseph[/name], [name]Josephe[/name] or [name]Josef[/name].
I think that if it’s okay to give girls male names, then it should certainly be okay to give boys female names.
thanks for the response on this topic.
Yes, Ireland is a VERY catholic country and i do remember a friend’s father’s middle name being [name]Marion[/name] also, so i understnad the Virgin [name]Mary[/name] connection.
interesting about the [name]Joseph[/name] connection, @micha, i’ve never hear of a women here in Ireland to be given a masculine [name]Joseph[/name] name, only the female variations. must be a mainland europe thing.
thanks for the replies, once again.
Wow! This is definitely new to me, too! I personally wouldn’t be a follower of this trend, but I don’t see anything wrong with it since they are middle names rather than first names.