So I’ve noticed more and more parents are choosing to use [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] for their baby girls. What do you think?
I definitely dislike it, and I’ve never seen a parent choose it for a girl befor
I don’t like [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] for a girl either, and haven’t come across any girls named [name_m]Elijah[/name_m]. That being said, I can see why people think it has a feminine sound. And if it became more commonly accepted and used for girls, decades from now it’d seem surprising that someone even had to ask. I’m sure people thought it was weird that girls were being named [name_u]Jordan[/name_u] and [name_u]Riley[/name_u] when people first started using it for their daughters, and now it’s just normal. Now even people who don’t like unisex names themselves would think [name_u]Jordan[/name_u] and [name_u]Riley[/name_u] are perfectly usable for girls.
I can’t say I’ve noticed this, but I suppose I can just about see it crossing the female like. There are lots of [name_f]El[/name_f]- names that are traditionally boys’ names being used on girls at the moment. It’s not much different really to [name_f]Eliza[/name_f].
A thousand times no. I don’t know anyone using [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] for a girl anyways.
I know a girl in her 20so named [name_m]Elijah[/name_m]. Nice girl. Can’t stand her name.
I don’t see any problem with it. The rendering of names is purely social and changes over time. Many names that were once exclusively used for boys are now regarded as gender neutral or even leaning feminine. ([name_u]Whitney[/name_u] is a strong example of the second.)
While there are some names I may personally prefer on a particular gender, I don’t have a any stake in someone else’s choice and I’m not going to get bent out of shape over it. [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] is a nice name, why would it be less nice on a girl?
The only drawback, and this brings me back to the example [name_u]Whitney[/name_u], is that names that cross over do have a risk of taking a major dive on boys charts. This is a cultural issue though, because so many people are concerned with expressing anything “feminine” on boys. I think that’s a toxic mindset, but it’s still where we are at currently. There’s a reason I’ve only every met one boy named [name_u]Whitney[/name_u], and it’s a real shame.
I think that’s bizarre.
[name_m]Elijah[/name_m] is a MALE biblical figure.
I’m personally not a huge fan of the trend.
I prefer [name_u]Elliot[/name_u], [name_u]Ellis[/name_u] or [name_u]Ellison[/name_u] for a girl.
I can see why. [name_f]Imagine[/name_f] that [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] and [name_u]Asa[/name_u] in the Bible swapped names. Maybe [name_u]Asa[/name_u] would be super popular for boys now and [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] would be plausible for girls. But since [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] is such a prominent male Biblical figure (and in the top ten for boys), there’s an issue with it crossing to the pink at this time for me.
For some reason male biblical names ending with an “a” sound are being used for girls in droves (ie [name_u]Micah[/name_u], [name_u]Asa[/name_u], [name_m]Ezra[/name_m]). I know that the A-ending frequently indicates a feminine noun, but those names are still all boy for me. Although I don’t see anything wrong with wanting to name a daughter after a biblical male, I feel like most couples are choosing those names based more on the sound of them.
It has a very feminine sound so it makes sense. I think it’s fine!
[name_m]Say[/name_m] it ain’t so!!! Parents: STOP using boys names for your baby girls.
To me it seems strange, since the Biblical prophet [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] is male. I would probably think her parents just thought the name sounded nice and didn’t know or care about its religious significance.
So many lovely feminine girls names… I’ll never understand why we have to steal from the boys’ list to name our girls! Boyish names on girls isn’t my style. I grew up with a boy [name_u]Addison[/name_u] and only knew boy Addisons all through childhood and now everyone has a baby girl [name_u]Addison[/name_u]!
I have to disagree with this. These days we tend to take names at face value, as just a combination of sounds and associations that are relative to time and place, but you can’t separate a name from its etymology.
Most languages have grammatical gender: to take an obvious example, the name [name_m]Julius[/name_m] couldn’t be feminine because in Latin it is constructed as a masculine, following the rules for the declension of masculine nouns. [name_f]Julia[/name_f] is the grammatically-feminine equivalent, just as filia is the feminine equivalent of filius. Nearly all names we use today in English can be traced back to a source where its gender was meaningful.
[name_m]Just[/name_m] as we respect language rules when we speak and write, we should respect them in the way we use names.
[name_u]Whitney[/name_u] is different from [name_m]Julius[/name_m] (or [name_m]Elijah[/name_m]) since it is a surname; the majority of English surnames are gender-neutral. All surnames can technically be used on both boys and girls (this includes the likes of [name_u]Percy[/name_u], [name_m]Gordon[/name_m], etc., which many would be outraged to see used on girls).
unpopular opinion: I dont care one iota about a names etymology because I find the institution of grammar and language as a whole to be problematic and a place of privilege SO - [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] is fine on a girl in my book. And no, I wont be discussing my unpopular opinion any further on a name board so you will just have to take it for what it is.
I think I probably put my opinion too strongly. What I meant was, that if another language and culture has put in place its rules and traditions for how a name should be used, I don’t think we should negate its prerogative to do so. Names that derive from English like [name_u]Whitney[/name_u] or [name_f]Ivy[/name_f] could theoretically be appropriate for either gender, but there are more things to take into consideration for names that come from Hebrew, Latin, Greek, etc.
I’m really sorry if my previous post was too extreme - please consider this one instead!
So for reference I haven’t met any baby girls named [name_m]Elijah[/name_m] but I’ve seen at least 2 recent birth announcements for girls named [name_m]Elijah[/name_m]. I couldn’t find a number for USA births but I’m sure if you had more patience then me you totally could.
I really appreciate your opinions just remember to be respectful guys! 95% of you are but just a few of you are straddling the line a bit