How do you feel about unisex names? For boys and girls

Girl Names
1

Are unisex names that bad? Please tell me how you feel about them!!

I have always (after high school) hated unisex names. I am a teacher so I hear a lot of names. I wanted my kid’s names to be all girl or all boy, easy to spell, easy to pronounce, etc. I feel like that is hard… Does it really matter or do all these years of planning my future children’s names really should be all girl or all boy…

Does it matter for either sex. I started liking the name [name]Skylar[/name] for a girl and [name]Finley[/name] for a boy. I’m worried about [name]Jameson[/name] for a boy because it is occasionally used for girls… Since [name]Skyler[/name] and [name]Finley[/name] are clearly on the charts for both…<<Would it be an issue for the children/adults or does it matter.

How do you feel about unisex names for boys and girls. I trust you all!!!

xoxo THANKS!:wink:

2

Not a fan at all. My first name is [name]Toni[/name] and I’ve always wished my parents had chosen a more feminine name. I often fall back on my middle name ([name]Grace[/name]) when I don’t want to deal with commentary or have to spell it. I have people that have known me almost 20 years that still spell my name [name]Tony[/name], but that’s a whole other issue.

3

I’m not that fond of it, that being said it does work for some people and some children just suit unisex, plus its not like they’re loved any less for having a unisex name. My mum has always been picky about names. She likes frilly, extravagant names, that are rarely heard on kids where we live, eg. [name]Claudia[/name] & [name]Angelina[/name]. Ultimately though, whether she likes the names I name my children or not, she’ll still love them and it won’t matter because its their name. But unisex names, just often don’t appeal to me and if they did my kids names would probably end up being scarily alike! I have NEVER heard [name]Jameson[/name] be used on a girl and that’s a name I’ve liked for a long time. So I wouldn’t worry about it. [name]Just[/name] pick what you love and what you and your partner agree on. Ultimately, as you know, some people will love it and some won’t. But kids often love hearing why they were named what they were named and if its on your heart I am sure they’ll love it too. As for other kids, most are understanding of each other’s names, a girl at my school was named Pooja (meaning “prayers” in [name]Indian[/name].) Not once did anyone pick on her over the course of twelve years. So just pick what you love! Sure its a risk; but every name is. Plus it isn’t alfalfa :wink:

4

I do like some unisex names on girls (particularly [name]Jocelyn[/name] and [name]Hadley[/name]! Och, love). But I have a unisex name ([name]Ashley[/name])–I share the name with my uncle, and that has given me a weird sort of complex, hahaha. I feel like I can’t own up to all my femininity, for one, and that something more feminine, like [name]Lydia[/name] or [name]Hannah[/name] or [name]Eleanor[/name], would suit who I am much more. I like my name, just hate that it’s unisex. And it’s not even that I get mistaken for a boy, because I never do. [name]Ashley[/name] is just that common for girls. And I like the ties to nature, and even [name]George[/name] Mueller’s orphanage, [name]Ashley[/name] Downs, and the stories of how God provided for Mueller and the children in his care. Mueller was a great man of faith, and I’ve realized it quite late, but I love having that connection to my name, and I never would have had that if I had any other name (even if it was something like [name]Asha[/name] or [name]Aisling[/name]!). But I made a vow to myself almost 5 years ago that I would never give my daughter a unisex name up front, and I have a bad enough case of OCD that I don’t see myself ever going back on that (much as I would love to add [name]Jocelyn[/name] to my list! Och, I love her. And [name]Joss[/name]. :(). I just don’t want my daughter to ever feel what I’ve felt, like I wasn’t allowed to be girly enough, because I had a boys’ name. It sounds stupid, but it’s really something I struggle with. I have to tell myself every day that it’s okay to wear dresses and pretty clothing, and that I’m a girl, no matter how many male relatives I have who also share my name.

On the other hand, I love sensitive, softer names for boys. And once I “see” a unisex name on a boy, I usually fall in love with it. I’m a huge proponent of unisex names being usable on boys. [name]Avery[/name] and [name]Bailey[/name] are on my short list (och, I love them! And if given a chance, I’ll probably use [name]Avery[/name]. It’s a family name for me, has lots of great connections–I just adore it in general!), and I would love to meet little boys named [name]Aubrey[/name], [name]Shannon[/name], [name]Riley[/name], [name]Addison[/name], [name]Harper[/name], [name]Emerson[/name], etc. It has crossed my mind that my poor son would feel the masculine form of what I’m going through, but I would try and instill in him that [name]Avery[/name] is definitely a boys’ name, and a very cool one at that, and that it’s a family name, and all the other great associations I have with it, and hopefully he’ll one day grow to love it, too. Besides, I figure, since it originates on boys, hopefully it’d be easier for him to embrace it. :slight_smile:

5

I am very pro-unisex names. I am of the (extremely unpopular per the nameberry forums) opinion that most names can be unisex. Obviously there are plenty of hyper-feminine names that would only be a provocation to teasing and misery on a boy (thinking of a poor boy named [name]Clementine[/name] or [name]Rosie[/name]), but I think any boy name can be a girl name (yay, patriarchy!). But seriously, is [name]Adrian[/name] really more masculine than [name]Karen[/name]? What makes [name]Dean[/name] a boy name but [name]Jean[/name] a girl name? I dunno. I really don’t think it matters. And if your kid doesn’t like their name, they will find a nickname that suits them anyway.

6

Personally, I find some of the Unisex naming ok, but then it gets to a point where your naming a girl [name]Maxwell[/name] and a boy [name]Angel[/name] I get upset. Unisex names, for me, is a subtle statement saying that the act of differentiating between femininity and/or masculinity is a bad thing. There is nothing wrong with having differences in names. Women and men have their differences and there’s nothing criminal about it. Now, I’m not saying that if you name your daughter [name]Finley[/name] I’m going to start a riot, but we should just keep in mind that it is our differences that make us unique and special, not our similarities.

7

Thanks. I think I will give my animals unisex names so I can get that out of my system for my kids, lol.