We all know there are plenty of girl names derived from boy names (Charles > [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], [name_u]Daniel[/name_u] > [name_f]Danielle[/name_f], [name_u]Joseph[/name_u] > [name_f]Josephine[/name_f], etc.) What about names in the opposite directions? I can think of [name_m]Emil[/name_m] from [name_f]Emily[/name_f], and I’m sure there are some more examples, but there are also a lot of named that originated for girls and have no male equivalent. Let’s pretend you want to name your son after their mother or grandmother, for example.
How would you masculinize some girl names? Which do you think have potential?
Of course, plenty of “girl” names could be used on boys or originally were, no diss on those! I just saw someone mention [name_f]Lilium[/name_f] as a boy’s name, and my name being [name_f]Lily[/name_f], it got me thinking.
This is a fun idea and something I haven’t thought about a lot!
On the [name_f]Lily[/name_f] theme, I know Lilio is usually considered the masculine version of [name_f]Lilia[/name_f], rather than the other way around!
Also…
– [name_u]Emmett[/name_u] is derived from [name_f]Emma[/name_f]
– [name_u]Marie[/name_u] and [name_u]Maria[/name_u] (when used as masculine names, if that counts)
– Cătălin which is a Romanian boys named derived from [name_f]Catherine[/name_f]
Plus a few masculine names coming from goddess names like…
– [name_m]Dmitri[/name_m], [name_m]Demetrius[/name_m], etc all come from [name_u]Demeter[/name_u]
– [name_m]Artemio[/name_m], [name_m]Artem[/name_m], etc all come from [name_u]Artemis[/name_u]
(and probably more I’m not thinking of, lol)
It’s not technically the origin, plus it’s a unisex name, but I always think of [name_u]Jaden[/name_u] as coming from [name_u]Jade[/name_u].
I don’t know that these count but
[name_u]Mercer[/name_u] for [name_f]Mercedes[/name_f]
Serephin for [name_f]Seraphina[/name_f]
[name_m]Aurelien[/name_m] for [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f]
Sabinus for [name_f]Sabina[/name_f]
[name_u]Carmine[/name_u] for [name_u]Carmen[/name_u]
[name_m]Isidore[/name_m] for [name_f]Isis[/name_f] (it means gift of Isis)
Aldar for [name_f]Alda[/name_f]
Alino for [name_f]Alina[/name_f]
Amalio for [name_f]Amalia[/name_f]
Aracelio for [name_f]Araceli[/name_f]
[name_m]Astraeus[/name_m] for [name_f]Astraea[/name_f]
[name_m]Caledon[/name_m] for [name_f]Caledonia[/name_f]
Evangelino for [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f]
Gracielo for [name_f]Grace[/name_f]
Jader for [name_u]Jade[/name_u]
Lidio or [name_f]Lydian[/name_f] for [name_f]Lydia[/name_f]
[name_m]Clement[/name_m] / [name_m]Clemente[/name_m] might be the base form but I imagine it as a masculine option for [name_f]Clementine[/name_f] / [name_f]Clementina[/name_f].
Same goes for [name_m]Eugene[/name_m]. I consider it the masculine version of [name_f]Eugenia[/name_f] and not the other way around. [name_m]Felix[/name_m] to [name_f]Felicia[/name_f] and [name_f]Felicity[/name_f], and [name_u]Cecil[/name_u] to [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f] / [name_f]Cecilie[/name_f].
I met quite a few elderly men of Cuban and other Spanish-Caribbean background with names like [name_m]Monico[/name_m], [name_m]Margarito[/name_m], [name_m]Paulino[/name_m] (rather than [name_m]Paul[/name_m] or Pablo). I heard it was an old-fashioned practice and that its mostly frowned upon among the younger generations, precisely because its considered “girly”.
I think Teresio from Teresa, Sofio or Sofiano from Sofia, Vittorio from Vittoria, Eliseo from Elisa, Doroteo from Dorotea, Anastasio from Anastasia, Saro from Sara, Arianno from Arianna, Maddaleno from Magdalena. Italian has a lot of these rare choices and hidden gems
Check the many masculinisations of the following names too:
So I think that applying any of those to feminine names would probably work. For example:
Lillian to Lillius
Elizabeth to Elizabethan (said like the word!)
Sophia to Sophien
Olivia to Oliven
Isabelle to Isabellus
In terms of male names that derived specifically from female ones; there aren’t that many, and most have already been mentioned. I’m sure it differs from country to country but in Europe, by and large, female names could be derived from male names, but rarely the other way around because - sexism. Female names are fairly diverse now but back in the day male names were predominantly the more diverse of the two, so a lot of female names stem from that but, again, not so much the other way around.
Having said that, there are a few interesting male equivalent names, or coincidentally similar, that have fallen out of fashion like Daphnus (Daphne), Wilmot (Wilma), Cymbeline (Cymbelina), Euphemios (Euphemia), Agathon (Agatha), Celestin (Celeste), Dorotheos (Dorothea), Silvius (Silvia), Theodorus (Theodora), Felicius (Felicia), Lucretius (Lucretia), Seraphin/Seraphinus (Serafina) etc.
