[name]Just[/name] saw on tv Gov. [name]Haley[/name] [name]Barbour[/name]. A man from the South. Looked up [name]Haley[/name] and definitely looks like it has always been a girl’s name (not even unisex) with this spelling.
So what do you think? [name]Do[/name] you think this is a particularly Southern thing? Or a generational thing? Are boys still named names like [name]Haley[/name] in the South now as it doesn’t show up on the stats (too low maybe).
Doesn’t seem to have hurt Gov. [name]Barbour[/name] in terms of a career where I imagine perception and people’s reaction to your name is important too. Would you be more willing/less willing or indifferent to trusting a guy with a girl name?
You know, I hear of his name often enough and it never even dons on me, really. I wonder if [name]Haley[/name]'s comet or [name]Alex[/name] [name]Haley[/name], author of Roots, play a role.
Maybe it’s the fact that the spelling overlaps with [name]Hal[/name], or [name]Hale[/name] which means healthy or Hail, the powerful ice storm.
I’ve never had an issue trusting men with women’s names, it’s never occurred to me. I’d trust a guy named [name]Rosa[/name] if he seemed honest! At the end of the day to me it is just a name…I guess I can see how other people might react directly though.
I honestly think for [name]Haley[/name] [name]Barbour[/name] it probably seems more masculine because his last name sounds so manly (all those B’s, [name]Barber[/name], Barbarossa…). If it was [name]Haley[/name] [name]Sydney[/name], [name]Haley[/name] [name]Ashley[/name] or something that might be harder.
The spelling [name]Haley[/name] does look much less girly to me than [name]Hailey[/name] or [name]Hailie[/name] etc. Not that we usually see names…maybe if he’s on the news, the spelling is always captioned with the sound, and that actually does make the connection stronger?
I also think with some names…it’s like there’s room for one celebrity/person in the public eye with that name, at least. [name]Kelsey[/name] Grammar and [name]Shia[/name] LeBouef both have very “feminine” names, but because they’re celebrities, different rules kind of apply. Kind of like how all of their crazy kid names are more plausible on their kids than on your neighbor’s.
Also, [name]Haley[/name] [name]Barbour[/name] is much older than most little girls named [name]Haley[/name]. That probably helps him pull it off in combination with everything else.
PS I’ll add I lived many years in the South and don’t think that’s actually a factor, but I might be wrong. Still, I’d put my money more on some of the other considerations.
I have always lived in the South and have never met a man named [name]Haley[/name], but I have met male Kelseys, Shelbys, Lindsays, and Ashleys. Most were named for their mother’s maiden name or some other family name connection. I imagine their are male Haleys (pre-1980 baby books often listed [name]Haley[/name] as a male name) and I imagine it was often for the same reason. But I doubt their are any more male Haleys than any other surname name, and certainly there aren’t many being born today with [name]Haley[/name] such a sensation on the girls’ side.
Someone reminded me of [name]Haley[/name] [name]Joel[/name] [name]Osment[/name] as a more recent example of [name]Haley[/name] on a boy. He was born in LA in 1988, but interestingly according to Wikipedia
Osment”s parents described his childhood as a ”good old-fashioned Southern upbringing,”
[name]Haley[/name] is definitely unisex. If it’s a surname, it’s been used for a boys’ name- in the South, anyway. I live in the South and meet guys with “girly” names all the time. Like someone mentioned it’s a tradition here to use maiden names as your child’s first name. I’d be willing to bet that [name]Haley[/name] is his mother’s or grandmother’s maiden name. As for trusting a man with a “girly” name, I don’t see how someone’s name is relevant to whether or not you can trust them. I’m actually kind of surprised at this… Did you ever watch The Sixth Sense? The actor that plays the little boy is named [name]Haley[/name] [name]Joel[/name] [name]Osment[/name].
Whoops. Didn’t see your post until after I posted, [name]Chelsea[/name].
I forgot about [name]Haley[/name] [name]Joel[/name] [name]Osment[/name]! But now of course that jumps out at me. So interesting. Maybe I grew up in the wrong part of the South to comment accurately : D. There is [name]Ashley[/name] [name]Wilkes[/name] in Gone with the Wind, come to think of it…