Yesterday I posted a poll on the name [name_f]Briar[/name_f] and which gender you associate it with. Thank you for all your votes! I was pleased to see that, while the votes are still currently rolling in, “Girl” is the clear winner, at 67%. “Boy” has 14%, and “Unisex” has 19% (43 votes currently).
So my question is–why, in 2012, were 188 boys named [name_f]Briar[/name_f] and only 104 girls? Is it because the Nameberry universe is not equal to the outside naming world? I did the math and at these rates, we would expect 223 girls and 69 boys named [name_f]Briar[/name_f].
I know this is just one name, but this phenomenon (if it can be called that) is interesting to me. What are your thoughts on the topic?
It’s pink and rosie (because [name_f]Pam[/name_f] and [name_f]Linda[/name_f] didn’t done a great job) and berries automatically think of girl. [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t listen to us, especially not nameberry, we aren’t reliable.
To me, it sounds very masculine with the [name_f]Bri[/name_f]- as in [name_m]Brian[/name_m] and the -er sound at then end that is so popular right now for boys. Its a thorny type of plant that sounds like a cool nature name for a boy. So I could see why a lot of people would like it as a boys name because of those things. However it has ties to the character Sleeping Beauty which is obviously very “girly”. When she goes into hiding with the fairies they rename her [name_f]Briar[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f] but just call her [name_f]Rose[/name_f], at least in the Disney movie they do, so I could also see why many people especially on Nameberry see it as a girls name.
Huh, I would have thought “girl name” even out there in non-nameberry land, probably because of [name_f]Briar[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f], like the pp mentioned. I don’t think nameberry ALWAYS reflects the real world necessarily, but I wouldn’t want it to. [name_f]Pam[/name_f] and [name_f]Linda[/name_f] try to find what’s new and what’s next, what’s stylish and edgy, what classic names are fresh again, etc. That’s the bread & butter anyway, as I see it. They certainly have good things to say about all different kinds of names. I think they do a fantastic job. The difference in actual male vs female babies born [name_f]Briar[/name_f] is small.
The Nameberry-verse definitely does not equal the kind of people and opinions you’ll come across [name_m]IRL[/name_m]. Berries have unique preferences when it comes to names that no one I know outside of this website share. That said, I think of [name_f]Briar[/name_f] as unisex. Although, the only [name_f]Briar[/name_f] I’ve ever met was a boy in high school and he was really popular.
Berries keep bringing up Sleeping Beauty but how many people [name_m]IRL[/name_m] know her as [name_f]Briar[/name_f] [name_f]Rose[/name_f]? I’d say the vast majority think that her name is simply ‘Sleeping Beauty’. For me, that’s a weak argument for labelling it a girl name.
[name_f]Briar[/name_f] is similar to [name_m]Brian[/name_m] plus it’s a thicket of thorny branches. There’s really nothing feminine about it. It’s unisex but it’s pretty masculine