[name_f]My[/name_f] husband and I love the name “Sutton” for a boy, and its ranked near the top of our potentials for a first child. However…
Lately I’ve noticed the name EVERYWHERE.
As a girl name.
It seems like every time I open a video or reel online, someone is saying “here’s my daughter, [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] ----”. And what’s crazy is I hadn’t noticed this trend at all until recently and now it feels like it’s everywhere!
For context, I am American and my husband is Australian. Its mainly in [name_f]America[/name_f] that I’ve noticed the shift.
So my question is: “Is the the name [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] shifting away from being a traditionally male name, and into a modern girl name?”
Is this name still going to be usable on a boy? [name_m]Or[/name_m] will he be mocked in a future classroom / workplace for having a “girly” name? Are there similar sounding names or with a similar vibe? I’m crushed I may not get to use it! I don’t care for names that are too popular or trendy either, so that’s also a bit depressing.
We also loved the name [name_m]Fletcher[/name_m], but MY family hated it (hubby’s family liked it well enough) and [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] was our next favorite…but now I’m just not sure. Help!
boy: #446; 605 boys (up 78 spots from 2022, an additional 129 boys compared to 2022)
girl: #205; 1456 girls (up 11 spots from 2022, an additional 86 girls compared to 2022)
So, in summary, [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] is rising for boys and girls. It’s more popular for girls, but actually rising faster for boys.
All that to say – it’s absolutely still usable on a boy! I think the “mocked for a girl name” thing is becoming less and less of an issue as more and more names become used for both boys and girls. It no longer seems to be the case that names drop off the boy charts as they begin to be used for girls.
I’m hesitant to even suggest other options because I really think you should stick with [name_f]Sutton[/name_f]!
I wouldn’t automatically assume [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] was a boy or a girl, personally, it feels totally gender neutral to me. I do have a male [name_m]Hutton[/name_m] in my grade, and it fits him perfectly!
If you’re still super worried about it, I would suggest giving him a super masculine middle name to make it even clearer – for example, [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] [name_m]Theodore[/name_m] or [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] [name_m]Henry[/name_m].
I think its unisex like most surnames but its a surname in our family and I personally really dislike it as a given name. People’s pronounciation also vary a lot and it can sound like “somethin” or “sudden” with some accents and its just not a very attractive name imo. [name_m]Just[/name_m] my 2 cents
I’d guess girl but not be surprised to hear boy. I don’t know if it’s popular enough for the average person to have a strong feeling about the gender though.
I’d say say Sutton is a modern name in general - it was rarely used until the 2000s and then fairly equally for boys and girls until the 2010s when it began to lean more feminine. Either way, it’s still on the rise for both sexes - and though it is more popular for girls, there are still plenty of boys called Sutton.
If we’re going into stats, it was given to roughly 1460 girls vs. 700 boys - so for every one boy Sutton there are two girls
(you can see the full numbers for the last 100 years of so here )
So I do think it’s definitely still usable if you love it! And I don’t think it would be mocked - Sutton has the same vibes as Hudson, Logan, Weston etc and I wouldn’t associate it with any gender.
I say this from a UK perspective though (so Sutton is a place name ) so it might be worth checking how those around you perceive it? And it may well be different in Australia!
As I say, Sutton is definitely usable for a boy to me - and I do love Fletcher too!
[name_f]Aussie[/name_f] here, [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] is not common nor widely known. If people know it, it will likely be bendyse of [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] [name_m]Foster[/name_m] or [name_f]Sutton[/name_f] off [name_m]Real[/name_m] Housewives - ie both American women. I do like it for a boy - I actually prefer it on a. It - but it has that modern southern [name_f]Belle[/name_f] associations to me. You’d have to be prepared for being called Sutts by Australians if he spends significant time here. [name_m]Fletcher[/name_m] at least has the built in [name_m]Fletch[/name_m] nn.
) so it might be worth checking how those around you perceive it? And it may well be different in Australia!