I was doing a little research, as you do, and I’ve found out that [name_f]Joan[/name_f], whilst generally being out of the SSA top 1000, has still, in recent times, been used more on boys than girls.
I have to say I was surprised, [name_f]Joan[/name_f] is one of those names that I didn’t imagine going unisex, though it is on a rather small scale.
What do you think?
It’s kinda weird. I’ve never met a boy named [name_f]Joan[/name_f]. I’d only use it as a girls’ name.
Really? I’m surprised. I have a cousin [name_f]Joan[/name_f], and I have met several female [name_f]Joan[/name_f]'s… I want it to stay 100% with the girls. Oh, I just realized that my friend’s father’s name begins with [name_u]Jo[/name_u]… so I checked. It’s [name_m]Joen[/name_m]… Similar enough, and we have [name_m]Joel[/name_m] and Joam - well with all those opportunities… Bah. It’s weird.
I’m not a huge fan of unisex names. Like I see [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]Gary[/name_u], [name_u]Douglas[/name_u], [name_m]Austin[/name_m], and many more are listed as unisex on Nameberry. Why, why? No offense to any female with these names or anyone who used them for their little girls.
Probably because a bunch of people liked the names and thought it’d go nicely on their little girl.
Though why anyone would think [name_u]Gary[/name_u] would go well on … anyone.
So many names that were traditionally used on boys hopping the gender barrier and becoming unisex in their current usage. I want more girls names to make the leap.
[name_u]Gary[/name_u] is a family name for me. I, personally, in my own opinion think it goes well on boys.
It’s the Catalan form of [name_m]John[/name_m], as used by the artist [name_f]Joan[/name_f] Miró. As such it wouldn’t be a crazy choice for someone with origins in that part of the world. I’d be surprised if they were pronouncing it in the same way as the female name; that said, I can easily see [name_m]Jones[/name_m] on a boy, and from there to [name_f]Jone[/name_f] isn’t a huge jump.
I suspect it’s Spanish and pronounced yo-an. Not the same as the Anglo girl’s name.
I don’t have very strong feelings about the name, but a weird part of me is happy to see any name make the Female --> [name_m]Male[/name_m] migration, rather than the other way around. So many once-handsome male names seem to become unacceptable for boys after being worn by women. We’re terrified to name boys anything that might come across as girly or feminine-- meanwhile, boy names on girls feel spunky and tomboy-ish. It seems to be part of the lingering subconscious idea that girls (and anything associated w/ them) are inferior.
The ethnic explanations above make sense, but I can’t help feeling a little disappointed now 
I agree with mimiottawa. It’s probably pronounced [name_f]YO[/name_f]-ahn. Like using [name_u]Jean[/name_u] as a boys name, which is pronounced ZH-ohn (if that makes sense).
Also, I agree with lovelygenevieve - There are so many names on Nameberry listed as unisex that are so not. I know Nameberry’s criteria for listing a name as unisex is if it’s used by the opposite gender at least 10% of the time, but, really, [name_u]Douglas[/name_u], [name_u]James[/name_u] and [name_u]Gary[/name_u] are NOT unisex. I don’t care how many parents name their daughter [name_u]Douglas[/name_u].
I think [name_f]Joan[/name_f] is like [name_u]Alexis[/name_u] or [name_u]Angel[/name_u] - one of those names that a male bearing it is more likely than not from a non-Anglo culture.
I [name_f]LOVE[/name_f] [name_f]Joan[/name_f]! In addition to it being Catalan, it’s also Basque. I’ve taught a guy named [name_f]Joan[/name_f], and here it’s pronounced more like “yo-ahn” and in Catalan it’s closer to “dzo-ahn”. It’s not a name I’ve ever come across on a guy in an English-speaking country, though.
I’ve noticed a handful of names from the Spanish national football team popping up on the SSA list post-Euros and post-World Cup 2010. [name_m]Iker[/name_m] and [name_m]Xavi[/name_m] have both jumped in recent years, too.
[name_f]Joan[/name_f] pronounced yo-ahn is much better than [name_f]Joan[/name_f], like [name_f]Joan[/name_f] [name_m]Rivers[/name_m], for a boy in my respective opinion.
[name_m]Ah[/name_m], thank you re: [name_f]Joan[/name_f] and yo-an.
I can’t believe I made such a rookie mistake. It makes unfortunate amounts of sense now.