What names do you like that originally started as boy names, but then went onto unisex and now are near enough exclusively used on girls, that you would like to see used on boys more often?
For example, [name_u]Cassidy[/name_u]. Started off as a boys name, then went to the girls and has been pretty much exclusively a girls name since (for example, it isn’t in the US top 1000 for boys, but is in the 300s or so for girls). There’s also [name_u]Darcy[/name_u], [name_u]Addison[/name_u], [name_u]Harper[/name_u], [name_u]Emery[/name_u], [name_u]Aubrey[/name_u], [name_u]Kennedy[/name_u] and [name_u]Meredith[/name_u] that I can think of off the top of my head.
100% think the boy’s need to take [name_u]Whitney[/name_u] back. Absolutely love it for a boy. Edited to add it’s such a shame we don’t really see boys named [name_u]Vivian[/name_u].
Also most -ley names like [name_u]Haley[/name_u], [name_u]Bailey[/name_u], [name_u]Brinley[/name_u], [name_u]Loxley[/name_u], [name_u]Presley[/name_u], etc.
And -son names like [name_u]Addison[/name_u], [name_u]Madison[/name_u], [name_u]Emerson[/name_u], [name_u]Carson[/name_u].
Oh and [name_u]Peyton[/name_u].
Now this isn’t to say that I think these names shouldn’t be used for girls, I just don’t think that their use for girls should negate their usability as boy’s names. I would love to see that notion firmly smashed.
I find this one a little harder to answer in the UK, where the boys-names-on-girls isn’t really such a big thing? A lot of the ones I immediately thought of - [name_u]Cary[/name_u], [name_u]Quincy[/name_u], [name_u]Ellis[/name_u], [name_u]Bellamy[/name_u] - are still predominantly used on boys.
Anyway, that doesn’t answer the question!
I think I’ll go with [name_u]Darcy[/name_u], [name_u]Shiloh[/name_u] and [name_u]Marlow[/name_u]/[name_u]Marlowe[/name_u] - I’ve no problem with them being used on girls, it would just be nice if they were still seen on boys too!
I also think it would be interesting to see [name_u]Piper[/name_u] considered for boys too maybe?
Sorry this rambled so much around the actual question
[name_u]Skylar[/name_u]! I’d love to meet a guy named [name_u]Sky[/name_u], I find it so handsome. Also:
[name_f]Briar[/name_f]
[name_u]Bryn[/name_u]
[name_u]Carmen[/name_u]
[name_u]Cary[/name_u]
[name_u]Cassidy[/name_u]
[name_u]Delaney[/name_u]
[name_u]Emery[/name_u]
[name_u]Gwyn[/name_u]
[name_u]Jamie[/name_u]
[name_u]Quinn[/name_u] (Genuinely surprising to me this is more female now)
[name_u]Raven[/name_u]
[name_u]Sasha[/name_u]
[name_u]Reagan[/name_u]/[name_u]Teagan[/name_u]
[name_u]True[/name_u]
[name_u]Whitney[/name_u]
I consider these unisex and would enjoy them on anybody, however they would be more striking and memorable for me on a boy. I know everyone has their preferences, but honestly I do get a little agitated when users here say that a name is “girly” because it has greater female usage. While I like certain names better on one or the other too, I’ve also been trying not to perpetuate the idea of a name being “tainted”. It would be different if a name was very historically female, like [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f].
I love a lot of these types of names on boys: [name_u]Jody[/name_u], [name_u]Shannon[/name_u], [name_u]Leslie[/name_u], [name_u]Courtney[/name_u] ([name_m]Court[/name_m]), [name_u]Kelly[/name_u], [name_u]Whitney[/name_u] ([name_u]Whit[/name_u]).
I just looooove [name_u]Sidney[/name_u] on a boy. Also [name_u]Vivian[/name_u] ([name_m]Oscar[/name_m] Wilde had a son called [name_u]Vyvyan[/name_u]), [name_u]Presley[/name_u] and [name_u]Terry[/name_u]. And I know the most awesome guy called [name_u]Shannon[/name_u]!
Omg yes [name_u]Vivian[/name_u]! This name has virtually died for boys in the US and it’s so sad, I would love to meet a little boy named [name_u]Vivian[/name_u].
Hmm. There are names I definitely wouldn’t use for girls…pretty much anything ending in -son, because it means “son of.” But as I thought of other categories, I could also think of exceptions, such as “I’m not a fan of surname names”…but then I think [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] is okay as a fn (although I prefer it for boys rather than girls).
Maybe instead of thinking of whole categories, I can say that there are some names that I just see as boys’ names rather than girls’, either b/c I knew/know a boy w/the name ([name_u]Morgan[/name_u], [name_u]Kelly[/name_u]) or b/c it’s a masculine name in its ethnic origin ([name_u]Morgan[/name_u] again, & [name_u]Dylan[/name_u], [name_m]Llewelyn[/name_m]/[name_m]Llywelyn[/name_m], [name_u]Rhys[/name_u]/[name_u]Reece[/name_u]/[name_u]Reese[/name_u]) or b/c I read a book w/a male character ([name_u]Emory[/name_u]). And I’m sufficiently old enough to have had male Jordans, Traceys/Tracys, Leslies, Danas, & Kellys in either my high school class or in the two classes ahead of me, so for me those are unisex names rather than feminine…but no one is using them on babies now anyway.
I’d love to meet a little boy named McKenzie or [name_u]Harper[/name_u]. So much so that I would’ve considered them for this baby if this baby’s a boy & if my husband hadn’t said no.
Personally, virtually every single one of them. I don’t like unisex names on girls at all, but that’s just my taste. I see [name_u]Ashley[/name_u], [name_u]Whitney[/name_u], [name_u]Madison[/name_u], [name_u]Mackenzie[/name_u], [name_u]Darcy[/name_u], [name_u]Bailey[/name_u], [name_u]Lindsay[/name_u], [name_u]Kelly[/name_u], [name_u]Shannon[/name_u], [name_u]Cassidy[/name_u], as nearly 100% male. Although, for some reason I really like unisex or even “boy names” on female dogs. Not sure why that’s different in my head.
[name_u]Emerson[/name_u], [name_u]Adley[/name_u], and [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] spring to mind…I didn’t realize how many were getting taken over until trying to name our baby boy due in [name_u]June[/name_u]!
I really really really wish [name_u]Evelyn[/name_u] was acceptable on a boy (pronounced as [name_f]EEVE[/name_f]-lyn, not eve-[name_u]LYN[/name_u]). I think it’s so classy and strong, and it’s such a shame it’s basically only used on girls now.
I’d like to see [name_u]Courtney[/name_u], [name_u]Whitney[/name_u], and [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] used for boys again. I’m sure there are others, but these are the ones that pop into my head first. I like them fine as girl’s names, but I would like them to be more gender neutral again.
Most of the formerly boys names that have been hijacked by girls are surnames. To me, none of them are particularly attactive to either sex. They are rather boring and makes me thing the parents were trying so hard to be unique.
Now you find parents hijacking classic male first names such as [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]Dylan[/name_u], [name_u]Ryan[/name_u], [name_u]Noah[/name_u], [name_u]Elliott[/name_u], [name_u]Jude[/name_u], [name_u]Evan[/name_u].
I hope this trend ends soon.
