[name]Kim[/name] was in the top 100 names for boys in the 1950s and then fell out of the top 1000 in the 80s. It was also popular for girls of course and seems to be more thought of as a girls name even though it was quite popular for boys too, and fell out of the top 1000 for girls in the 90s.
With 20+ years of little popularity for either boys or girls, does anyone think [name]Kim[/name] is now usable again on a boy or will it forever be thought of now as a girl name, or is it just too dated to use on either gender anyway?
I was thinking the same thing not too long ago. My mom was telling me she knew a man named [name]Kim[/name], and I thought it was kind of cool. It’s sort of like the name [name]Kelly[/name], which I absolutely love for a boy. For me, I would definitely use it, just maybe with a more masculine middle
No, [name]Kim[/name] is forever a girl’s name now. I cannot count how many girl Kims of all ages I know. It doesn’t sound cute, handsome, or masculine on a boy at all now. I think the same goes for [name]Kelly[/name], [name]Shannon[/name], [name]Ashley[/name], [name]Kelsey[/name] and any other name from the past 30 years that have become predominantly female. But then again I think all of these names are dated for either gender anyways.
As a [name]Kim[/name], I am still a little shocked when I meet a male [name]Kim[/name]. I realize it started out with the boys, but it’s definitely not theirs anymore and probably won’t be again. I agree that it’s like [name]Ashley[/name], [name]Lindsay[/name], [name]Meredith[/name] and many others, gone to the girls permanently! At least for me anyway!
[name]Kim[/name] is one of those names that seems to coincidentally appear in several cultures, sometimes as a legitimate female name and sometimes as a legitimate male name. In Scandinavia, it is a short form of [name]Joakim[/name] and is occasionally used as an independent given name. In the Netherlands, its a nature female name meaning, “horizon.” And of course, in the English-speaking world, it is attributed as being a short form of [name]Kimberly[/name], which was originally just a surname. I know its also a common surname in Korea.
I do think of it as more feminine, but I do think a boy can pull it off, because, while it has a feminine history it is a no frills name. If that makes sense.
See, my thing is that all those awesome boy names are being taken over by the girls, but then they somehow become off limits to the boys. I love it when I meet boys with names like those. I know a twenty-one year old [name]Kelly[/name], and he totally rocks the name, and I hear [name]Ashley[/name] is more popular on boys in [name]England[/name] than on girls. And even though I know a few female [name]Mackenzie[/name]'s, it’s still a male name for me.
I hope it comes back to the boys’ side. It seems to have more potential sound-wise than, say [name]Leslie[/name] or [name]Ashley[/name]. It’s really sad that when a boys’ name goes to the girls’ it’s apparently off limits for boys forever, but parents name their daughters [name]James[/name] and think it’s cute.
When I was little, we had this book about kindergarten, and there was a boy in it named [name]Kim[/name]. [name]Kim[/name] is my (female) cousin’s name so I was very confused, but my mom said that [name]Kim[/name] was originally a boy’s name, so I accepted that and have always associated [name]Kim[/name] (as a given name) being male, while [name]Kimberly[/name] with the nickname [name]Kim[/name] being female.
Last year in this Anthropology of Colonialism course I took, we watched the movie [name]Kim[/name] (based on [name]Rudyard[/name] Kipling’s novel), and after that [name]Kim[/name] just became more masculine to me… and a few months ago I met a guy my age named [name]Kim[/name]; he’s Finnish, though.
Maybe once the Kimberlys are older, and [name]Kim[/name] Kardashian is out of the spotlight, it’d be more usable?
And just chiming in on the “guys with names used more for girls” topic, I have a guy friend from Iceland named Kristinn. My legal name is [name]Kristin[/name] and I’ve always hated it on myself and have never liked the sound of it on other girls but yet I [name]LOVE[/name] it on him. For some reason, Kristinn-on-a-guy makes a big difference to me. I even pronounce it slightly different, and it just sounds so much better to me, but this pronunciation change might just be because he’s Icelandic. I still wouldn’t like it on me, but seeing it on a guy really made me do a 180 about how I feel about it.
I knew a Norwegian boy called [name]Kim[/name] a few years ago, but I think it’s gone to the girls in English speaking countries, at least. It’s not even seen as unisex anymore like [name]Ashley[/name] (Beebear is correct in that [name]Ashley[/name] is more popular on boys in the UK) but I don’t know of an English speaking country where [name]Kim[/name] is popular on boys still.