I wouldn’t call traditionally male names on women a “trend” when [name]Hemingway[/name] named his heroine “[name]Brett[/name]” and F. [name]Scott[/name] [name]Fitzgerald[/name] named a main female [name]Jordan[/name] in the 1920s. It’s like calling flower names a “trend” because a few celebrities have Violets and Poppies. You have to look at naming conventions with a larger lens.
There is nothing tacky about a unisex name (Lady [name]Brett[/name] [name]Ashley[/name]? Yeah, not tacky.) There is such a thing as personal preference but particularly with surnames, they’re only ascribed to boys or girls based on cultural & regional preference. Ask a person who is latino, [name]Angel[/name] is a straight-up mans name. Ditto with Eastern Europeans and the name [name]Sasha[/name].
There aren’t “rules” of naming. There is personal preference, there’s tradition that you may wish to adhere or ignore, there’s regional custom. But to say there is a right and wrong way to apply a name to a person is ridiculous to anyone who has ever read a book.
Not loving [name]Spencer[/name] for a girl, but I knew a few male Spencers growing up. I actually still think boy names for girls is cute. I love the name [name]Dylan[/name] for a girl, as well as [name]Tyler[/name] and even [name]Declan[/name] (although couldn’t figure out how to spell it for a girl). We are shying away from it though, as we don’t want our daughter to have the same name as boys in her class. If it is a less common male name, maybe like [name]Spencer[/name], it would probably be fine!
If we name girls [name]Spencer[/name], why not have a boy named [name]Scarlet[/name]? [name]Scarlet[/name] can be a very masculine name, with ‘scar’ emphasized and a rough and tumble nickname. The day I meet a boy named a traditionally female name, I will embrace male turned female names.
But, honestly, I understand the feeling. I adore [name]Ezra[/name] on a girl- I don’t see how by its sound it can be considered masculine. But it carries more feminine qualities than [name]Spencer[/name]- ends with an ‘a’, rhymes with [name]Ella[/name] and [name]Emma[/name], etc.
As a girl with a boy’s name, let me tell you right now that it sometimes gets annoying when people go “That’s a boys name!”
But honestly, I love have a ‘masculine’ name and after the first time I meet someone, they start to see my name as being part of me, and not defined by my gender.
I personally don’t like [name]Spencer[/name] for a girl. [name]IMO[/name] it’s too masculine and she will be teased. I normally don’t like boy names on girls at all. The only exceptions to that rule would be [name]Sawyer[/name] and [name]Rowan[/name]. In the end, she’s your daughter and it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks. If you really like [name]Spencer[/name], then go for it.
It depends on the name for me! I don’t discriminate against names because they used to be for boys and are now for girls (on the Y!A forum, you will get in so much trouble for liking any -son name on a girl, even recognizing that [name]Kelsey[/name] and [name]Lindsey[/name] are now primarily girls’ names) but I don’t like boys names for girls BECAUSE they are boys names for girls. It all just depends on the sound of the name. I like [name]Rowan[/name], [name]Sawyer[/name], [name]Blake[/name], [name]Logan[/name], and [name]Blair[/name] on girls (probably more that I can’t think of right now)
I don’t like [name]Spencer[/name] for a girl but I don’t like it for either gender, and I don’t think she’ll be teased because [name]Spencer[/name] is one of the more accepted unisex names that isn’t completely surprising for either gender. It’s not like the boys named [name]Maria[/name] or the girls named [name]Joseph[/name]. [name]Jane[/name] is a great middle name with it though!