I am aware it’s traditionally a masculine name. I have a feeling it’s not used enough for people to automatically think it’s not a girl’s name though. And people name their daughters [name_u]Ryan[/name_u] and [name_u]James[/name_u] nowadays so why not [name_m]Ansel[/name_m]? Phonetically, I think it sounds gentle and not ‘strong’ enough to be exclusively male. BUT… I am not a native english speaker so that is why I am asking your opinion! In french it sounds very cute yet not overly girly, and my family thinks so too. But she will most likely grow up in the United States and don’t want her to hate her name and be made fun of… Thanks so much for your help!
Anyone has an opinion?
I like the name, but not on a girl.
A very cute name and I don’t see why it can’t work on a girl!
Strictly speaking, [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] is a surname, so it can go either way. While I do think it could work well for a girl in theory, I am failing to warm up to it for some reason – perhaps just because I love it on a boy. I do think it is a viable choice for either gender, though.
I only like it for a boy (and I definitely hate the [name_u]Ryan[/name_u] and [name_u]James[/name_u] going to girls in any way, sorry!)
I like it, but I immediately think of [name_m]Hansel[/name_m] and [name_f]Gretel[/name_f]. It [name_m]WILL[/name_m] be spelled incorrctly (which is not necessarily a bad thing) and will be assumed that it is a boy.
Everything about this post makes me sad.
I think [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] has a nice sound, but is firmly masculine to me. There is an on-the-rise actor named [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] Elgort who is getting more and more high-profile roles, so I would think that about 10 years, [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] might have been okay on a girl, but it’s probably not as appropriate now as it might have been if the actor hadn’t been in the Divergent series, and then The Fault in Our Stars.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] because others name their daughters [name_u]Ryan[/name_u] and [name_u]James[/name_u], doesn’t mean everyone should, LOL.
I would say that it’s too masculine, and should stay a boy’s name, but that’s just my opinion.
Deep sigh.
I agree with this. It’s not because people do it that we should do it. Definitely not an excuse. And it’s not because a boy name is soft enough but still “cool and strong for a girl” that it is a reason to use it for a girl. I don’t see why [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] is more okay than [name_m]George[/name_m]. They are both boy names.
I’m actually [name_m]French[/name_m] and I think [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] is terrible on a girl, sorry 
We all know about [name_m]Hansel[/name_m] and [name_f]Gretel[/name_f] in [name_f]France[/name_f], we all know [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] is a boy.
This trend makes me sad, first for the history and respect of the names/cultures/languages, then because I do think it’s not easy everyday to wear a boy name (correcting people, being called Mr for every Phone call, on every letter, e-mail, etc), but also because it’s absolutely not feminist.
So I would definitely not do it as a first name. Sorry for the negative comment.
Funnily enough, as a kid I liked Anzel (Ansel with a Z) on a girl. I’d say it’s pretty gender-neutral considering the fact it’s not popular enough on the masculine spectrum and it doesn’t automatically scream boy.
Also, I didn’t realise that “traditional” meant “correct, right, moral” (sorry to sound rude, but people seem to be conflating “what it should be like” with “what it used to be like.”) If Ansel was already a common girl’s name most of the commenters opinions on it would be much, much, much different.
I’d go for it. You love it, ignore the negativity. It works just finein the USA on a girl.
“What it should be like” is an opinion - a valid opinion that everyone is entitled to have. Your argument here is not only coming across as rude, but it also sounds a bit like you’re actually invalidating the opinions of those who you disagree with.
And for what it’s worth - even if [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] was a common girl’s name, I’d still prefer it for a boy. [name_m]Just[/name_m] like I do with the names [name_u]Addison[/name_u], [name_u]Hadley[/name_u], [name_u]Emerson[/name_u], [name_u]Aubrey[/name_u], [name_u]Jamie[/name_u], [name_u]Taylor[/name_u], [name_u]Spencer[/name_u], [name_u]Mackenzie[/name_u], etc.
I love [name_m]Ansel[/name_m]! [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] was actually one my top 3 choices for my son. It is all boy to me. But if you’re into naming girls boy names, go ahead and use it. I’m just really not into using boy names on girls.
The implication being that Americans are so ignorant and disrespectful of other cultures that we don’t (and shouldn’t?) bother to do something as simple as acknowledge that [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] is a man’s name in the culture from which it came. As Americans, we can (and should?) arbitrarily bestow masculine names from other cultures on girls because we personally find them cute and girly. NICE.
Rereading what I wrote, I guess I did come across as condescending or salty. I apologise. I should have clarified better that the opinion itself is perfectly fine to have. I actually don’t mind that some people are traditional. Opinions and differences make the world go around.
My (obviously not written clearly enough) point was [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] isn’t even that common even for a boy, outside of the top 1000 I think. It’s not like the names [name_m]William[/name_m] or [name_m]Charles[/name_m] or [name_u]Michael[/name_u], and so assuming people will think the baby is a boy is extreme to me. (And when I said that other thing about girl names, I was thinking common like [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f], [name_f]Sophia[/name_f], [name_f]Ava[/name_f], clearly feminine names, not unisex names that were originally boy names. I meant to say I felt like if a lot of unisex names were really traditional, common girl names, more people would love them on a girl, not that people would swoon over it if it was a common unisex name that leans girl)
Anyway, I find debating on the intentions and wording of someone’s statement in a completely different person’s thread to be completely off-topic…
All I can think of when I hear [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] is [name_m]Ansel[/name_m] Elgort as [name_m]Augustus[/name_m] Waters (and his abs).