Wally? Have I gone mad?

Recently my partner suggested [name_u]Wally[/name_u] for our baby due in [name_u]June[/name_u]. I said I liked it for a boy, but he said, “and why not for a girl?”

There is ‘[name_f]Molly[/name_f]’ and ‘[name_f]Polly[/name_f]’ and ‘[name_f]Dolly[/name_f]’ so why not [name_u]Wally[/name_u], I guess? Similar sound, absolutely!

The more that I think of it, it’s starting to grow on me. But I could also just have massive baby brain… The only thing I know I’m not a huge fan of is the spelling. [name_u]Wally[/name_u], on its face, is very masculine to me. Maybe Wali? [name_u]Wallie[/name_u]? [name_m]Walli[/name_m]? Walleigh?

Have I lost my damn marbles? Honest thoughts, folks.

Sorry, I don’t love it. If we could think of a longer name for it to go with as a nickname, that’d be ok, but not on it’s own. My reasoning is that it’s a well established boys name that’s literally unheard of on girls, so for me, would really only work if we could think of a name for it to be the nickname, so that she could go by the longer name if she wanted to.

I just did a quick nameberry search and couldn’t find a girls name I really like starting with [name_m]Wal[/name_m]. There was [name_f]Walda[/name_f], [name_f]Waldina[/name_f], [name_f]Waleria[/name_f] (sounds like Maleria??), and [name_u]Wallie[/name_u]. Maybe [name_u]Wallie[/name_u] is more doable, because it looks like [name_f]Callie[/name_f] and [name_f]Hallie[/name_f]?

What about [name_f]Winnie[/name_f]? I think [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] is beautiful.

But the more I look at [name_u]Wallie[/name_u], the more I think … maybe … . It also makes me think of [name_m]Wall[/name_m]-E the boy robot.

Sorry I’m not more enthusiastic! I’m not a big fan of boys names on girls or gender neutral names (my one exception being [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] on boys).

I’m not really a fan but I get what you mean by it being similar to popular girl names so maybe it’s just because I’m not use to it

What about spelling it like [name_f]Molly[/name_f], [name_f]Polly[/name_f], [name_f]Holly[/name_f]

  • Wolly

I want to love it but unfortunately I’m on the fence. On one hand, I can see where you’re coming from. It’s similar enough to popular names that it theoretically should work. But I’m just not sure it does. It’s a no from me, but if you love it, use it. :slight_smile:

[name_m]Just[/name_m] a quick cultural note if useful…

In the UK ‘[name_u]Wally[/name_u]’ is a softer way of calling someone a fool or an idiot. It’s also slang for a pickle. It is known as a name in the books Where’s [name_u]Wally[/name_u] (the UK equivalent to [name_m]Waldo[/name_m]), but that’s the only time I’ve ever heard it as a given name and not a nickname for something like [name_m]Walter[/name_m] or [name_u]Wallace[/name_u].

If you really love the name, I’d go with the [name_u]Wallie[/name_u] spelling!