The recent topics about the gender of names [name]Elliott[/name] and [name]Bellamy[/name] elsewhere on NB led me to this one… and wow! There are definitely two camps on this on.
For the record, names like [name]Ashley[/name], [name]Leslie[/name], [name]Lindsey[/name], [name]Dana[/name], [name]Kelly[/name], and [name]Shannon[/name] that are being considered ‘girly girl’ names now are actually originally boys names. And the Biblical [name]Micah[/name], [name]Ezra[/name], and [name]Noah[/name] were all originally dudes, but have been co-opted as girl names more recently. And yeah, I prefer them as boy names (especially the ones with Biblical namesakes).
So although [name]Ashley[/name] might come off as a girly-girl name now, it was once the ‘[name]Dylan[/name]’ of its day.
And while I personally don’t like the ‘new’ style names formerly boy now girl names like [name]Mackenzie[/name], [name]Addison[/name], or [name]Emerson[/name] (I think they are more suited for boys) its the parents’ decision to name kids whatever they want.
I think the bothersome thing about this issue to me, is the same general bothersome issue that I have about baby gender roles anyway. Girls have a lot more options because if a little girl wears shorts, plays with cars, and has a boy’s name, practically no one will bat an eyelash these days. Which is great!
BUT, heaven forbid if a little boy wears pink, or even purple, plays with doll and is named [name]Lindsey[/name]. People freak out!
While I’m very glad and thankful that women have a lot more freedom to cast off the lace-encrusted, feminine domesticity shackles of the past, I am irritated that people cannot wrap their heads around doing the same thing when it comes to gender stereotypes for boys.
I HATE that everything for baby boys is sports and trucks and dinosaurs, and that everything for girls is pink and princess and flowers. And sometimes, there is literally no gender neutral merchandise in a store – it becomes a game of ‘hunt for the green, yellow, and brown things’ within the separate boys’ and girls’ sections.
Anyway… sometimes I am tired of boy’s names being stolen by the girls just because I’m tired of it, and I like old fashioned names. But I also have no probelm with the idea of a girl being named [name]Felix[/name] or [name]Nico[/name], so i guess I’m crazy.
[name]Just[/name] because a name ends in an ‘a’ or seems very feminine doesn’t mean that you’re going to have a girly girly daughter, just like if you name your son ‘[name]Dana[/name]’ that doesn’t mean he’s going to be a girly-boy.
Must most of all, I guess I’m tired of the parents of boys feeling like they can’t name their son anything remotely feminine because people might think he’s a sissy, or they might tease him, etc. etc. And it’s not necessarily the parents’ fault for feeling this way – no one wants their kid teased! – but society’s for constantly pushing these silly roles on us from before we’re even born!
Boys get teased more for that kinda thing than girls, and society has a lot harder time dealing with a boys with a softer feminine side than with girls with a rougher boyish edge.
: P