[name_f]Every[/name_f] time someone asks about masculine names on girls, I feel like they have opened a can of worms. Not blaming the OP, of course, I think it’s actually a really interesting question, but people have such divisive opinions it’s hard to discuss it. Having said that, I have a lot of opinions and will make this unnecessarily long, so bear with me.
First off, it’s important to remember many of the names that are unisex today, were exclusively masculine before. Names like [name_u]Elliot[/name_u], [name_u]Morgan[/name_u], [name_u]Quinn[/name_u], [name_u]James[/name_u], were well-established boy names, while now they are gender-neutral. [name_m]Even[/name_m] names that were exclusively masculine and are now mostly known as girl names, like [name_u]Ashley[/name_u], [name_u]Hillary[/name_u], [name_u]Allison[/name_u], [name_u]Lesley[/name_u], etc. When was the last time you questioned a girl named [name_u]Allison[/name_u] when in the late 1800s it was exclusively male? What I’m saying is, names change, times change. It is not strange to find a girl named [name_u]Dylan[/name_u] anymore. Or a boy named [name_f]Sue[/name_f].
However, the thought that girls can have masculine names but boys can’t have feminine names is very problematic, imo. Giving a girl a frilly, feminine name will not make her less strong, intelligent or capable than if she had a masculine name. Boys will not suffer endless years of bullying if some girls are named [name_m]Andrew[/name_m] or [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]. The belief that masculine names are better just says to me that boy=good, girl=bad; boy=strong, girl=weak. I hate it when people complain about boy names being stolen by the girls. They are not. You just need to overcome your internalized misogyny and accept that for you, a boy needs to have a super masculine name because they need to be super masculine, and being a girl is being weak. A boy named [name_u]Emery[/name_u] can love sports, cars, and all ‘boy’ things. While a boy named [name_m]Richard[/name_m] can love the color pink, wearing makeup and playing dress-up. Maybe just teach your kids to not make fun of people, and teach them to be proud and confident.
Wow. That was way too long. Sorry! I guess what I’m trying to say is that girls are strong, good leaders, and assertive; boys are sensitive, caring and good listeners. The name won’t change the person. Choose the frilliest, most girly-girl name you can, choose the most masculine name you can. Choose a name you love and have a connection to, it doesn’t matter.
Okay Rant over. Now the fun part. I do not like a lot of typicall “masculine” names on girls, but because I don’t like those names. I do not care for [name_m]Christopher[/name_m], [name_m]Richard[/name_m], [name_m]Andrew[/name_m], [name_m]John[/name_m] or [name_m]Thomas[/name_m]. But if I had to pick, I’d chose [name_m]Jack[/name_m], [name_m]Scott[/name_m], [name_u]Mason[/name_u].
What about typically girl names on boys?