Let us know if you ever have a brilliant idea for a Question of the Week topic.
[name]Hi[/name] [name]Linda[/name], I have always been curious regarding the reasons behind parent’s decisions to choose a “typically” masculine name (unisex, gender-neutral or surnames) for their daughters. Some parents wouldn’t even consider traditional names for a girl which really puzzles me. I’m not a fan of this trend at all and it just seems to be getting more popular. When I see posts from prospective parents considering naming their daughter an occupational name (eg [name]Cooper[/name]) it makes me wonder if there will be any boys names left. The boys name pool is decreasing considerably.
Another question of the week: With thousands of wonderful names, why are parents choosing “word” names (eg. [name]Ever[/name]) for a child? [name]Do[/name] they follow the path of celebrities? [name]Do[/name] they want their child to stand out from the crowd so much that they will take any word from any language and make it a name? I don’t understand this trend either.
Thanks for reading my post
[name]Happy[/name] New Year to you and yours
Regards,
[name]Mischa[/name] from [name]Canada[/name]
[name]Both[/name] interesting ideas, [name]Mischa[/name]—thanks!
[name]Linda[/name],
Hm. Interesting! It seems New Years is the time to talk names in my household, and I recently got my hands on a copy of my grandfather’s family history, further sparking the name conversation. Anyway…
(1) I think the “to share or not to share” debate is a common one for expectant parents not just on Nameberry, and everyone has their personal reasons for telling or not telling others about baby’s name before his or her arrival. But, what about fake-out names to settle the issue? Yesterday, someone told me that her dad chose to tell everyone baby would be [name]Earl[/name] for a boy or [name]Earlene[/name] for a girl just to avoid the topic altogether. Her mom chimed in that it resulted in much less drama surrounding their ultimate (much safer) choice.
(2) [name]Say[/name] parents are really hoping for a boy - does that affect how they name their girls? Same goes in a family of all boys wanting a girl, of course. This is something that my own dad just brought up with his own dad, who is the youngest child and only boy in his family. My Grandpa [name]James[/name] “[name]Jim[/name]” had sisters called [name]Sidney[/name] and [name]Geraldine[/name] “[name]Gerry[/name]” - the other two or so sisters had boyish names, too, but I’m blanking. Interestingly, a similar trend is found in Grandpa’s mother’s family - his mom, [name]Birtie[/name], had a sister called [name]Montie[/name], which is pretty masculine, and then a sister called [name]Lucy[/name]! Hm.
Those are my ideas!
L
I would like to second both of [name]Micha[/name]'s ideas. They are both things that I wonder about.