I completely agree. I like a mix on my lists. I admit it, I don’t like complete girl names or complete boy names switched around but after reading what you said, it won’t bother me. I’ve started liking girls names with a little less frill like [name_u]Wren[/name_u], although I will always love overly girly names, and I adore [name_u]Finn[/name_u] for boys. I think its all about appreciating a variety of names. Its not really the names that’s the problem, its the assumed idea of what a boy should be and what a girl should be. I like the name you may choose for your boy by the way!
[name_m]Just[/name_m] putting it out there: I love [name_u]Sequoia[/name_u], and I will be really excited if you use it (bribing you? Who? Me? That’s ridiculous.).
I love both soft and hard names for boys and girls. I agree with @anaxandra about the actual sound of letters, whether or not they are vowel heavy, etc. If I love a name, I love a name, and the rest doesn’t matter. I agree with a previous poster about there being a big difference between soft and weak. Being strong doesn’t mean you are not gentle, loving or kind, just as possessing those admirable qualities doesn’t mean you are weak. Those same rules pertain to names, in my opinion.
This is my main issue with the idea of using boy names for girls.With a name like [name_u]Elliot[/name_u] that has been in common use for boys is deemed “too soft” and therefore, “a girl’s name” but of course often they don’t like “girly names” which for some reason includes anything that is traditionally a girl’s name. So they just seem to have an issue with femininity. Girl’s names are too soft for girls and my favorite boy names are too soft for boys. Or some other weird logic. When I pick names out I tend to pick out softer names, I have to put effort into making sure I also get high energy names (I sort of think of them as being rambunctious little soccer player names, getting into trouble running around, yelling and knocking things over) because I may get that sort of child. Because I’m a quiet introvert type though I tend to gravitate for names of little gentlemen or little ladies, but I also like a little sass in some of my names. For girls I’ve kind of gone away from the frilly type, not because I don’t like them but because it’s hard to know how “feminine” she will want to be but more because most of those names seem a little to long and elaborate to me for everyday use since I don’t generally want to use (rather than just like) names longer than 3 syllables. Of course femininity or masculinity isn’t even a sliding scale for most of us, and it changes throughout our lives. It’s more a little or a lot form column A and a little or a lot from column B. So I tend to like quiet, sweet and gentle, or maybe bookish and nerdy, or sarcastic and speaks their own mind. And that goes for both sexes.
When I say soft, I mean soft in sound. Something with lots of vowels and softer consonants. Like th, sh, l, r, f, h. Hard isn’t really the opposite, that would be hard stop sounds like t, g (like in [name_m]Greg[/name_m]), d and likely consonant heavy, although more likely I’d say harsh or clunky maybe. Energetic to me would be sounds that tend to vibrate, like v, g (like in [name_m]George[/name_m]), z and maybe s sometimes, depending on how it’s combined. Masculinity or femininity doesn’t enter into these qualities.
LOL we’re definitely using [name_u]Sequoia[/name_u], but I’m just not 100% sure about [name_u]Orion[/name_u] as the middle name. I really, really wanted [name_u]Emerson[/name_u] (another name that falls into the dreaded “going to the girls” category), but hubby vetoed 
I too mostly like soft names for boys. I have not seen too much of it being used negatively on the forums, but when I do see someone mention a boys name as soft I almost always assume it’s positively meant.
Sometimes though, names I find soft are considered more ‘rough’ by others.
The thing that no one talks about though is elaborate boys names, or dare I say frilly. We often call girls names frilly or elaborate or princess-y, usually elaborate is the most positive one. Why are these terms never used to describe boys names? I refuse to accept that frilly boys names don’t exist! I wonder if people secretly consider it a greater insult to call a boys name frilly (meant in a good way) than saying they don’t like it.
I’ve been thinking of starting a thread asking for frilly boys names in the hopes of generating some magical, medieval, romantic fairytale names to make me swoon ^^ But then again, names I would describe as frilly and names others would call frilly could be two very different things!
That’s a shame about [name_u]Emerson[/name_u]: some of our family friends have a little boy named [name_u]Emerson[/name_u], and it suits him down to a tee. He is quiet, introverted, gentle and studious, but he also has a lot of energy, and if he hasn’t got a book in his hands, he’s running around or climbing trees. I’m sure you’ll find the perfect middle name for you- you have flawless taste, so I don’t see how you can go wrong. Good luck!
Hear-hear!!!
(Ironically I really like my boys names to sound like strong, Germanic Warriors but then again I’m not huge on “soft” girls names either. - But I do want my girls to have girls names… I think…lol).
I use the term “softer” rather than “soft” when describing names like [name_m]Julian[/name_m] and [name_u]Francis[/name_u] and it has to do with sound rather than strength. I also not afraid to say that I do prefer this type of name rather than harsher sounding names which are so filled with macho swagger I am in grave danger of falling into a coma due to an overdoes of testosterone. 
People who are paranoid about “softer” names for boys names are most probably the same individuals who wouldn’t hesitate to name their daughter [name_u]James[/name_u]. It’s an attitude that just perpetuates the same double standard: it’s quite fine to give a girl a boys name because it will make her “stronger” and therefore “society” will take her more seriously but God forbid if you even attempt to follow the same practice with a boy. He’ll be scarred for life. I strongly dislike double standards because they hurt everyone - girls and boys.