Why are girl names easier?

Of course it’s not universal, but it seems to be a common experience that it’s easier to find, to like, to agree on, etc … girl names than boy names. I have come up with some possible explanations, but I’m not fully convinced of any of them. Which of these do you personally find true for you? Or is it something entirely different that I didn’t think of?

Girl names are easier because…
  • … there are more girl names
  • … they are easier to make up (= most things that end in -a, -een or -ley could pass as names)
  • … they don’t come with negative associations as often as boy names
  • … I have higher standards for boy names
  • … I am a girl
  • … I want to have/see myself having (mostly) girls
  • they are not
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As a woman I just find it easy to relate to girl’s names. I can imagine how it might feel to be called [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] or [name_f]Juliana[/name_f] or [name_f]Persephone[/name_f]. But boy’s names are a different world for me, culturally. It’s harder for me to gauge if a name like (for example) [name_m]Caesar[/name_m] is different in a good way or just too different. I have heard that boys are more likely to be teased about unconventional names than girls, which is a concern. Also, anecdotally, men seem to care less about having a “common” name than women. I have heard from many women who dislike their common names but comparatively few men named James/William/Thomas seem to be bothered by their name’s popularity.

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Personally I’m the opposite. I find boys names much easier because I can find more names that fit into the ‘familiar but underused’ category. I think this is because, at least near me, lots of people use the same group of boys names.
However, I find people are braver with girls names and there are a bigger pool of those names being used. So I find it hard with girls names to get a more uncommon name, that has few associations.
This could just be to do with where I live though, and that I come across lots of names with my work.

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I’m going to say that it’s because girls names are easier to make up (I’ve made up many, though some are more namey than others, and the only boy name I’ve made up that I like is a bit girly and very hard to spell), and partially because I’m female. (I don’t look at boys names much as I’m not naming real people).

There are boys names I like and I would like to find more.

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For many years I found boy names easier, but in the past year I’ve had a lot more trouble with them. I think this is because for me, it’s very important for my names to feel objectively beautiful, and there are more girl names that are beautiful to me than boys. I look at my girl name list and I’m wowed at the loveliness of [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], [name_f]Evangeline[/name_f], and [name_f]Cornelia[/name_f], but when I look at my boy names, they just feel more flat and not like the names of my children. It’s a totally subjective struggle, and one that I’m trying to work past by exploring new types of boy names. I think a big part of my issue with boy names also stems from the fact that many of them aren’t as sentimental to me. They have lovely meanings and connections to things that I enjoy, but nothing can compare to a name like [name_f]Lucy[/name_f], which is both beautiful and a name that appears in so many of my biggest life influences.

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I’m the opposite, I find boy names 10 times easier than girl names. When it comes to making lists and finding ones I love, anyway. I think my master list is about 2/3 boys and only 1/3 girls.
When it comes to naming a real child, on the other hand, I found / find it much easier to name a girl because the options are more limited. There’s only a handful of names I could actually see myself using on a daughter, whereas for boys it seems the possibilities are endless. I tend to be more consistent when it comes to girl names as well. The names I love the most for girls stay my favorites for a very long time. And it’s not that I fall out of love with my favorites for boys, I just keep discovering new ones that I love. This very rarely happens to me with girl names.

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I think, for me, it’s mostly because I’m a girl. I relate to the names. I personally know friends with the names. I’ve heard experiences of girl’s and why they do or don’t like their name. I don’t hear guys talk about their names as much. I haven’t heard discussions about their opinions on their names often. I find a lot of the girl names I like flow better too. It feels easier for me to match a middle name to a name ending in A than N or S or O like most of the boy names on my list!

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I think for me, a reason why girl names are easier is because I never worry about names being “too masculine” for girls, but I often worry about names being “too feminine” for boys, which gives me pause sometimes!!
Really makes me think about ingrained societal ideals surrounding gender, and I’m working on moving past notions that names can be too much of one “gender”!!

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I guess it depends on what you mean by “easier” but I have a much harder time having strong opinions about girls names, and I guess just tend to find boys names more interesting. I’m not sure why but I’ve always felt really irked by boys names I when I dislike them, whereas with girls I usually don’t feel as strongly even if a name isn’t my favorite. It also kind of goes the other way where I have a few boys names I really love and would have a hard time letting go of/not being able to use, but for girls names even when I really like them, I don’t have as strong an attachment or even feel as excited in general. I have a hard time finding girls names I love even if there are more I don’t mind.

I think a big part of it is that I’m pretty masculine presenting for a girl and (with some exceptions) can more easily envision gender neutral or masculine leaning names on myself, and just find boys names more relatable in a way even when they aren’t things I’d actually want to be named. I remember having stronger opinions on girls names when I was younger and into more feminine stuff. Also I’m attracted to guys which probably makes it easier to judge what names feel attractive.

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I think a big part of it is that there are more options for girls’ names. [name_u]Or[/name_u], at least, there were when I was growing up. Now that I have kids, their friends who are boys have just as wide a variety of names as their friends who are girls - so, perhaps, that is changing and will make it easier.

Personally, naming a boy was harder because my husband works in a very strongly male-dominated industry. So almost every boy name I suggested he would shoot down, because he works with someone who has that name! Girls names were not as much a problem because he just doesn’t know as many women. :rofl:

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I’m actually so interested in this, because I genuinely feel like girls names are so much easier to like and more appealing on the whole than boys. The variety feels endless for girls, and I like and pick up new girls names from a wide variety of sources and contexts.

Some of it is probably people being braver when it comes to girls names, but I just think they often sound better tbh. I also find there’s more interest and intrigue for me when it comes to girls names. A positive association or appealing image is much easier to come by or conjure up. With boys I’m much pickier and they can end up too harsh, masculine, bulky, boring, big etc. very quickly.

That being said, my boys are much easier to organise than girls. I’m incredibly set on my boys. They rarely change, and all sound distinct from each other. If there’s a choice between similar sounding names, there’s usually one I love a lot more or an easy solution. I don’t have lots of specific images for them, so middles are pretty easy to slot in. [name_f]My[/name_f] girls on the other hand are constantly changing. [name_f]My[/name_f] top 3 are pretty consistent, but there’s about 4 different names vying for #4, I can never decide if some names are too close, there’s always a fight between middles I want to use, and whether they fit the vibe of the first. It’s so messy :sob:.

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I think it’s almost certainly mostly because most name nerds are female and feel more connected with both female names and imagining hypothetical future daughters. I don’t know about anyone else, but I personally find boys’ names actually easier to like but harder to love. I have a broader range of boy names I could see myself using, but no clear front runners, whereas for girls I have a handful that I really love and would honestly have a hard time choosing between, and then there are actually a lot more girls’ names I don’t like much. So I actually think I might have higher standards for girls’ names, actually.

Basically, if I had a baby tomorrow, if it was a girl I’d have maybe four names to choose from, and it would be a hard choice. (And the main issue would be not getting to use the others). And if I had a boy, I’d have to narrow down from maybe 10-15 names, which would also be a hard choice but for different reasons.

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Its a little bit that when I first got into names I was convinced I would have only girls and even now my hupothetical sibsets lean more heavily towards girls, and a little bit that there are way more girl’s names I like. I can’t quite decide if I have really broad taste in girls names, am really picky about boys names, or both. I wouldn’t really call it “having higher standards for boys” even though i voted that option because it isnt that i actually have more criteria for boys names, i just don’t like as many of the sounds that are common for boys. I also really like a lot of very classic boy names that i already have personal associations with and can’t actually use. If i had more unusual taste in boys names id probably have an easier time.

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