I think the name [name]Ashley[/name] is so cute for a boy. I’ve never liked it for a girl, it sounds shallow to me. But I just love it for a boy. I started Gone With The Wind and I love it even more! What do you guys think? Is it usable or will it become usable for a boy? Or should I just keep it on my GP list?
I actually really like it for a boy and I have a teenage family member named [name]Ashley[/name]. He doesn’t go by [name]Ash[/name]. He’s very boyish too. Honestly, the kids in his peer group, since they grew up with him (and with people with much weirder names like boys named Jamolly etc) they really don’t seem fazed by it. They’re all used to it. It’s only the adults who seem to make faces at it.
I think it’s handsome and actually find it much fresher and cooler on a boy nowadays.
[name]Love[/name], love love!! I had 3 males named [name]Ashley[/name] at my high school. It makes me think of gone with the wind. I prefer it on a male.
I love it! I vastly prefer it on a male than on a female, and would use it in a heartbeat.
I think it would be a cruel name to give to a son. Once a name becomes popular as a girls name, it comes across as very effeminate on a boy. If you are going to use, seek out some grown male [name]Ashley[/name]'s ask how much they like their name.
I knew a woman who named her son [name]Leslie[/name] as it was originally a boys name and was in her family tree. I spoke to him when he was in his early 20’s and he told me he grew up hating his name because he was teased mercilessly for having a girls name. At 18, he dropped use of his first name and went by L. [name]David[/name] xxxx for then on.
I love [name]Ashley[/name]. To me it is a boy’s name and I cannot see it on a girl.
I love it! Though I’d prefer the spelling [name]Ashleigh[/name], for a boy. I’d never call a girl [name]Ashley[/name]. ^^
In school I knew a boy [name]Ashley[/name] and now I’m friends with a girl one (though her nickname is [name]Sadie[/name]) so I can see it on both genders. There’s nothing wrong with using [name]Ashley[/name] as a boys name because it is a boys name. 
[name]Ashley[/name] has pretty much always been a boy name this side of the pond. It’s usable but I think it’s really dated now though. [name]Ashton[/name] seems to be the modern alternative
I went to college with a male [name]Ashley[/name] (and a million female ones). To be honest, no one ever thought, “oh, he has a girls’ name” He was just [name]Ashley[/name]. He did go by [name]Ash[/name] a lot, but many of the female Ashleys I know also go by [name]Ash[/name]. I think it’s very handsome on a boy.
I love [name]Ashley[/name] exactly for a boy! The Gone With The Wind association is fantastic (I happen to love all the names from the book…And [name]Clark[/name] [name]Gable[/name]:))
For a girl it’s pretty 80-s but timeless handsome for a boy. [name]Ashton[/name] is also lovely but just think how refreshing Asley will sound in the sea of Ashtons… I would be thrilled to meet to a little boy named this, really!
I don’t think it’s a total GP, it’s just 50/50 unisex like [name]Shannon[/name], [name]Aubrey[/name] and [name]Paris[/name]. All that names sound more unpredictable and fresh on a boy though.
I’d love to see it go back to the boys.
I really like it, and growing up in the deep South, I knew several… however, I think it has went to the girls camp (unfortunately)… so I personally would not use it for a boy.
I also really like it for a boy. I don’t think I would personally use it however since it is dominantly used for girls now a days. I just wouldn’t want people to automatically assume my child was a girl. I have 3 friends named [name]Ashely[/name] that are girls and graduated from high school with 6 (I’m an 80s kid). We are expecting a boy as well and love the name [name]Finley[/name], but wont use it for the same reason. So many people here in the states are using it for a girls name and wouldn’t want the gender confusion.
I STRONGLY prefer [name]Ashley[/name] on a boy to a girl, and I’d love to see it make a comeback on boys, but I’d also be prepared for some faces and comments if you do choose it for a boy.
Honestly, it would be cruel to give the name [name]Ashley[/name] to a boy. Yes, it was a very handsome masculine name at one time, but at this time, it is a feminine name.
It’s been one of my favorites for as long as I can remember
All of those arguments can be made for any boy name. And for all these boy names people are giving their daughters. Those are also the excuses some give against certain “ethnic” names. Any and every name under the sun has teasing potential. You could name the kid [name]Robert[/name] and he’d still be teased. I wouldn’t give up a perfectly fine name over fear of other people’s ignorance.
And I didn’t come from a small community. I came from a diverse, international community. Boys with names like [name]Courtney[/name], [name]Kelly[/name], [name]Shannon[/name], and etc were not teased, nor were kids with names like Abessi, [name]Ranjit[/name] or Evgeny. It was not the end of the world when we had [name]Loren[/name] (boy) and [name]Lauren[/name] (girl) in the same class. It also wasn’t life ruining when a substitute teacher spent the whole day calling [name]David[/name] “[name]Ashley[/name]” because he was sitting in (girl) [name]Ashley[/name]'s assigned seat.
I worked with a male [name]Ashley[/name] for a while back in my university days. He went by [name]Ash[/name] always, his nametag just said [name]Ash[/name], I didn’t even realise his name was [name]Ashley[/name] until I happened to see his driver’s license one day. I do think it might be difficult for some boys to wear, but [name]Ash[/name] is a fairly handy unisex nickname, so it’s not going to traumatise him or anything. I personally prefer [name]Asher[/name], though.
I really like it on a boy. I especially love the nn [name]Ash[/name].
Honestly I prefer it on a boy, but do some careful scrutiny of the type of community you live in and how long you’ll live there. I wouldn’t worry too much about his adult interactions with others as an [name]Ashley[/name], it’s the early years that lead to loving or hating your name. If he’s a self confident adult [name]Ashley[/name], he’s not going to give a hoot what the teeny boppers say about his name, or the times when people will assume [name]Ashley[/name] is a girl. If he had a troubled childhood, and battled his peers over his name from early on, he’s going to enter adulthood a lot less sure of himself, and hating his name. Obviously you can’t guarantee he’ll never get teased as a child or teen, but I think most of us can get a pretty good feel for our community, large or small. Start reading the birth announcements. Get a feel for what his peers will be named, look around and explore how established gender roles are, etc.
I met a male [name]Lindsey[/name] as an adult (after knowing half a dozen female [name]Lindsey[/name]'s) and he was the epitome of cool. I’m serious, this guy has his picture in the dictionary by the word “cool”. I doubt he got teased a day in his life. Self confident, creative, open minded and tolerant, and very well adjusted.
I’m also done to death with the train of thought that boys with effeminate names will struggle all their lives, but girls with masculine names will succeed; girls “stealing” the boys names, and the names then becoming tainted and unusable by boys because :shockgasphorror: people will think he’s a girl! People, this is coming from us, not from our children. Yes, if we continue to follow these antiquated beliefs about gender roles, they will continue. If we stop passing on this nonsense, eventually the tide will change. Not for our generation, maybe not even our children’s generation. But their children? Yes. They may just live in a much more tolerant world than we do.