[name]Kaley[/name] today. [name]Said[/name] just like kay-lee. He felt very strongly that it shouldn’t bother me because he’s never met a girl named [name]Kaley[/name] even though he knows it’s a girls name. Then he talked about how [name]Kaley[/name] is sort of just an updated version of [name]Kelly[/name], which is a boys named traditionally.
I was just wondering what your thoughts were since you very rarely see girls names on boys.
That’s interesting! [name]How[/name] old was he? And at least he doesn’t let it bother him!
Interesting. I am glad he is confident in his name. Only a matter of time before he meets one of the many [name]Kaylee[/name]/[name]Kaley[/name]'s out there.
I have a friend with a boy [name]Kaylen[/name] (her ans her dh liked the name [name]Calen[/name] but changed the spelling). Her little guy is always being confused as a girl.
I don’t remember what season, but I was watching [name]America[/name]'s Got Talent once and there was a tapdancer (male) named [name]Kaley[/name] as well! I thought it was so strange but he didn’t seem to mind at all. No one in the audience even batted an eyelash.
If I met someone [name]IRL[/name] who was male with the name [name]Kaley[/name] I’d be surprised, too. But at least he knows the meaning and origin of his name so he can combat all the people who ask “Isn’t that a girls’ name?”. Good for him!
I have a friend that named her son [name]Tarin[/name], which is all girl to me. She is extremely defensive about it and he is always assumed to be a girl. I think it’s got to be tough on a little guy to be named a girls name. Why do that to your child?
It’s odd, but then again I think naming a girl [name]Elliot[/name] is odd. I just wonder what do you name your next child? You’d have to give your daughter a really frilly name or your boy something unisex… It really limits your options otherwise no one will know the gender of your child!
I would never use it on a boy but I like the kid’s attitude.
Edited for privacy.
I think boy’s have a different sort of confidence and I’m so pleased that he can pull of being called [name]Kaley[/name]. I know of a guy named [name]Kayleigh[/name] too and he’s never had any problems and never been picked on for his name. I do think it’s easier for guy’s to wear so called “girls names” than girls to try and pull of a name like [name]Elliot[/name], [name]Logan[/name] or [name]Dylan[/name], which are traditionally male.
[name]Kaley[/name] has always been a GP of mine for a boy! I love it!
[name]Kaley[/name] was 25ish I think. I just found it so interesting!
I also met my first real life [name]Ulysses[/name] in one of my classes and he wore it so well! I also met a Pakhim (pah-keem who wanted to go by [name]Patrick[/name]) and [name]Jesus[/name] who said “It’s hey-zus but you American always say [name]Jesus[/name] and gets seem to get it, which is stupid, so call me [name]Jesse[/name].”
Also, this was the first time I’ve had one of the weirdest names in a class. My Abnormal Psychology class is full of girls named [name]Brittney[/name], [name]Jennifer[/name], [name]Lauren[/name], [name]Brianna[/name], etc… and [name]John[/name], [name]James[/name], [name]Mark[/name]… The weirdest girls in order (in a class of 30) were Tashira (tuh-sheer-uh), Tutoria, and [name]Angel[/name] (me). The only out of the ordinary boy name was [name]Fernando[/name].
Interesting day for names 
At around 25, [name]Kaley[/name] would have been a low 600-700 ranking name for girls back then. It also didn’t rank in the top 1000 until 1985. I just wonder if anyone really thought of it as a girl’s name back then in the same way they do now.
This is a bit like [name]Chelsea[/name] really. It’s not like [name]Chelsea[/name] was traditionally a girl’s name until it became popular in the 80s and 90s. It was actually more a boy’s name although rarely used.
I met a kindergarten-aged male [name]Sage[/name] at the park the other day. He had such long hair I thought he was a girl at first! Always throws me for a loop when boys have a girl’s name and vice versa.
[name]Sage[/name] is unisex though. [name]Darcy[/name] on your boy’s list could be considered more of a girl name than [name]Sage[/name] based on popularity alone.
I think this is a good example of how having the “wrong” gendered name, bothers totally unaffected observers far more than the actual wearer of the name. In my experience, this young man’s reaction is pretty typical of someone who shares their name with people of the opposite sex.
I think [name]Kaley[/name] is one of those modern new age names that are unisex anyway. Some may be popular for one gender but totally work for the other. It’s not like [name]Mary[/name] or [name]Anna[/name], which are feminine by definition.
I agreed with @tinabina that he has a great attitude, but learning that he’s about 25 makes me wonder if he would feel the same had he been born within the past 10-15 years. Being a male [name]Kaley[/name] born when the name ranked in the 700s for girls would have to be a different experience than it would be for a male [name]Kaley[/name] born today when [name]Kaylee[/name] is #36.
[name]Kaylee[/name] would have still been around the top 50 though while he was around high school. It’s similar to my being named [name]Chelsea[/name]. [name]Just[/name] breaking out around the time I was named, then becoming a popular girl’s name.
His attitude doesn’t surprise me that much. It’s what I see with most guys in a similar situation. It’s mostly people who have no experience of this kind of thing like the people on boards such as these who are the ones who bemoan about how terrible it must be for a boy with a “girl’s” name. It is only made awkward by the kind of attitudes that presupposes it is terrible.
I’m not bemoaning the miserable fate of the Boy Named [name]Sue[/name]–because I don’t believe it’s a given–and the only thing I’m presupposing is that being generationally separated from the biggest influx of female Kaylees might have had an impact on shaping his attitude.
[name]Just[/name] as your feelings have been shaped by your experiences, my own experiences with my ex have shaped mine. He was named [name]Shannon[/name] at the height of the name’s popularity for girls, and he was named after a grandfather who was given the name when it was far more rare and more recognizably unisex. Their feelings about the name could not have been farther apart.
I think it’s interesting how we have no problem to give “boyish” names to girls but when it comes to “girly” names on boys we become really careful. Associating boyish qualities with girls is fine, but girly qualities with boys for many people is just not okay.