Why do people give boy names to girls but NEVER EVER the other way around?

General Name Discussion
1

Hello fellow berries,

I would like an answer to a question that has been keeping me up for a while, I’ve never started a thread before but this issue bothered me to the extent that I could no longer take it, of course I did extensive research on the topic but never found a satisfying answer.
No other issue, not even stupid made up names like [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f], pretentious names like [name_u]Reign[/name_u] or Royalty, brand names like [name_f]Chanel[/name_f] or just ridiculously spelled names like [name_f]Ryleigh[/name_f], (I could go on for hours about my pet peeves but that’s a different topic!) gets me so angry like this one, so I just had to ask!
But before I do ask my question and of course give my own humble opinion on the topic, a little warning:
This thread may include crude language and highly opinionated, politically incorrect views, expressed in the most obnoxious way possible, so if you’re easily offended, don’t read!:wink:

Now, without further ado… Why do people give boy names to girls but NEVER [name_u]EVER[/name_u] the other way around?

I just baffles me when dumb celebrities give their daughters names like [name_u]James[/name_u] and even dumber sheeple of fans follow that ‘trend’. I just read a thread in which a mother-to-be expressed how adorable it would be if she named her little girl [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] (which literally means, [name_m]SON[/name_m] of [name_m]Jack[/name_m]!).
I’m always irritated when I meet a girl named [name_u]Max[/name_u] or [name_u]Drew[/name_u] and my first thought always is: “Well, the parents really must have hoped for a boy! Gender disappointment much !?”
I really, and I mean for the life of me, don’t understand how any parent can think that this is possibly a good idea!
[name_m]Just[/name_m] like I don’t get why people name their kids [name_m]Jermajesty[/name_m], [name_f]Porsche[/name_f] or Airwrecka! But at least these people are consistent when it comes to their baby-naming-ability-insufficiency! (I think that should be be the official term for the condition people suffer when giving their kids dumb names! I don’t care if that’s not even a real word or concept, try saying that 3 times fast!)
While there is a huge double standard when it comes to people who give boy names to girls, these same people would never ever consider giving a girl name to a boy, at ‘best’ the boy will get a Unisex name (limited as they may be, even I have to admit that there are legit unisex names that really do work for both sexes!) or, if the parents are really bold, they’ll give their son a name that, while now considered feminine, used to be a masculine name in the first place! ([name_u]Ashley[/name_u] and the likes of it!)
And this double standard really angers me to no end. Especially since the reasoning behind this trend seems to be some sort of empowerment.
Which makes no sense to me at all, and here is why!

Why does giving your daughter a male name empower her? I don’t get it.
The message you’re telling her is not, girls are just as good as boys! (which of course they are!)
The message your sending is, boy things are cool and strong, and girl things are weak and silly, so I’ll give you a boys name to make up for the fact that you’re just a girl!
In short, you’re doing the complete opposite.

Then I read the argument that we shouldn’t force gender stereotypes on children, which, when done correctly, I utterly agree with.
But what do I mean by ‘done correctly’?
I mean that you should allow your daughter to dress the way she wants and allow her to play with WHATEVER toy she chooses.
When she wants to have her hair cut short, dress in only trousers, get dirty in the mud and play with monster trucks, fine! Let her do it.
But if she prefers to wear pink, play with [name_f]Barbie[/name_f] dolls and asks for Ballet lessons, then that’s also fine!
And you know what else it means?
It means letting your boys play dress up and have a doll house if they so wish to.
Again why is it ok and considered ‘cool’ for girls to do ‘boy’ stuff but if boys do ‘girl’ stuff they are considered wimps?
I would judge a mother who dresses her daughter all in pink, only lets her play with dolls, teaches her that all that matters are good looks and of course sets unrealistic standards of beauty upon her and forces her to be a princess, when all she wants is to play in the mud, just as much as I would judge a mother who does, at all cost, the complete opposite, when all her daughter wants, is to play with a [name_f]Barbie[/name_f] doll.
Let the kids play with whatever they choose. Girls AND boys alike.
I find that most children are a mixed bag anyway.
My almost 4 year old nephew has a toy kitchen and always ‘cooks’ me some ‘dinner’ whenever I visit, he also has a doll house he really LOVES to play with , that doesn’t make him weak or a wimp. He’s just a kid.
You know what else he has? A toy toolbox and a toy power drill. He loves going around and drill imaginary holes with it, so much so he once took his fathers real power drill when Dad was just turning around for a moment and drilled some actual holes the wall! And that doesn’t make him a tough macho man either. Again, he’s just a kid!
Me personally, I love dressing up in beautiful gowns just as much as I like getting dirty at the barn when taking care of the horses and riding those 1.000+ lbs animals and I also used to shoot targets at the shooting range. What does that make me?

And then of course there is the idea of doing away with all gender identity altogether. Gender neutral. What does that even mean? Does it mean that men and women should be treated equally, that we give them the same opportunity, don’t discriminate against either and don’t force stereotypes on them, that they don’t want to have forced on them, that boys and girls can choose what to do with their lives, without being judged? If so, I’m all for it.
But if it means that we pretend there is no ‘male’ and ‘female’ in the first place, that there aren’t any physical and mental differences (let’s just be honest, women are just smarter than most men!) between men and women, well then that’s just denying basic human biology and I will never get on board with with pseudo-intellectual anti-science beliefs.

And again with the hypocrisy, it only goes one way around.
Women trying to prove they can be just as good as men.
Shouldn’t that be a DUHHH position (for lack of a better term!)
Of course we are just as good as men.
We can play football. We can be fire fighters. We can be doctors. We can be soldiers.
We can and should do anything we want to.
But we don’t have to be men to do it.
We don’t have to act like them, dress like them or behave like them.
We are just as good as men because we are women and not because we are like men.
We should embrace our femininity (whatever that means to you) and be proud of it.
And when you give your daughter a boys name you demean that message and subconsciously tell her she can only ever be as good as a boy if she also acts like one.
Instead of fighting an outdated perception of what it means to be a woman, you’re proving it a thousand times over.
If you really wanted to make that point, then wouldn’t it be just the other way around? Shouldn’t you be giving your son a girls name isntead ?
But you’re not gonna do that, are you?
I’ll be waiting forever for all the little boys called [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], [name_f]Rose[/name_f] or [name_f]Lily[/name_f].

I’m really sorry if I’ll offend anyone but I really want an answer to that question. Thanks in advance.

2

Because its much more socially acceptable to be a masculine/“strong” girl, than a feminine/“weak” boy, in essence. People want their girls to be strong, and we’ve been indoctrinated into thinking men are stronger than women, so people give their girls masculine names. Women are still seen as being weak, and people don’t want to give their sons weak names. As far as I can see, those are the reasons.

3

Because in a lot of ways we see male as the default set. You can start with words like mankind and go further to how we often title an imaginary person a “he” when we talk about something. Being male is socially acceptable and seen as normal. Giving a girl a boy name, the parents gave her a name that was considered strong. (Because strong is often associated with male-ness (I won’t argue how wrong that is))
A girl with a boy name is seen as strong.
A boy with a girl name would be considered weak.
This shows our own scr**ed up social conducts and ideas.
[name_m]Man[/name_m] are the default, they are strong.
Girls are special, they are weak.
I don’t think parents think about how giving a girl a boys name isn’t giving a girl a strong name but putting down the idea of being a woman. Giving girls a boy name just means that it’s more important that the name sounded strong than anything else. I never understood why girls names are considered weak. Because some of them are frilly and long? Who said that was a bad thing? Who said that this can’t be a strengths in its own way?
In our society there is one acceptable definition of strength. And we forget that there are different kinds of it. Being a woman isn’t weak. A frilly, three-syllable name isn’t any weaker than a male one-syllable name. It just has a different strength about it.
But to come back to the question… it is a lot more socially acceptable to be a man than to be a woman

4

I think it’s the same reason women often wear pants but mean rarely wear dresses- it’s easier and more socially acceptable to aspire to masculinity than femininity. I wrote an article on my blog (you can view it here) a while back on the subject.
Personally, I don’t have a problem with a female [name_u]Finley[/name_u], as long as her brother is [name_u]Mackenzie[/name_u]. That is, I think it’s fine for names to be unisex, but only if it goes both ways. I’m wary of the thought process behind naming a daughter [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] and then rejecting [name_u]Jordan[/name_u] for a son for fear of gender confusion. In my opinion, gender-neutral names are great, as long as they aren’t a subtle expression of valuing masculinity over femininity.

5

I think I’m more aggravated by the fact that once popular boys names like [name_u]Whitney[/name_u], [name_u]Vivian[/name_u], [name_u]Ashley[/name_u], etc; are no longer considered acceptable for boys because they are “feminine”. I’m okay with the idea of naming a child because you like the name but to give your daughter a “male” name to show them they are strong, I find that odd. A name does not define a person nor should you allow it to. You can name your daughter [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] and have her be just as strong. You are feeding into the thought process that men are stronger than women. I read a post once where this lady said she gave her daughter a male name to “help her get a job faster because businesses don’t care when they see a female name”. It boggled my mind.

[name_m]How[/name_m] about we just name our kids what we like, not what we consider acceptable? At the same time, let’s not discriminate. Let your children be who they are and develop their own personalities. I have seen kids throw and take their lives away after being forced to be someone they are not.

6

I’m going to speak as someone who loves masculine-leaning names. Personally, it’s just a preference. [name_m]Even[/name_m] as a kid, I really wanted to have a more masculine/ gender-neutral name (hence why my username is “[name_u]Nic[/name_u]” and not “[name_f]Nicole[/name_f]”).

I have [name_u]Emerson[/name_u] on my list, a name that I absolutely adore for a girl. The “son of [name_u]Emery[/name_u]” meaning didn’t occur to me until I really looked into it, but by that point, I was hooked on the name, and I couldn’t wrap my head around using it for a boy. I figure, [name_f]Alison[/name_f] and [name_u]Madison[/name_u] are pretty common feminine names, [name_u]Emerson[/name_u] fits right in. Not to mention, [name_f]Em[/name_f]- names pretty trendy for girls ([name_f]Emma[/name_f] and [name_f]Emily[/name_f] are pretty much stuck in the top 10 most popular girl names list), so it being seen as too masculine just never crossed my mind.

[name_m]Jackson[/name_m] is a bit strange, since it is sooo traditionally masculine, but I could see how someone who find it charming on a girl. A parent who chooses to use it for their daughter might do so hoping she’ll stand out from a class full of Emmas and Sophies. Same reason why they wouldn’t choose it for a son. It’s so common for boys.

I’ve personally never heard of someone saying that they’re naming their daughter a traditionally masculine name because they want her to be strong, but if that’s the case, then I agree, that’s pretty ridiculous. My personal philosophy is names are just signifiers and not inherently gendered. Calling a rose a brick won’t make it any less delicate, just like naming a girl [name_u]James[/name_u] won’t make her any less feminine, or naming a boy [name_f]Rose[/name_f] won’t make him any less masculine.

[name_u]Winter[/name_u] and [name_u]River[/name_u] come across as feminine to me, but I like the idea of them on boys. I considered using [name_f]Rose[/name_f] for a boy to honour a family member who suddenly passed away, but negative associations-- unrelated to gender-- put me off from the name. I like the idea of [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] for a boy (the meaning is “free man” after all), or [name_f]Alison[/name_f], or [name_f]Lily[/name_f], but they’re just not the names for me, for boys or girls. There’s really nothing wrong with feminine-leaning names, a lot of them are absolutely stunning! I just love names like [name_u]Tyler[/name_u], [name_m]Brendon[/name_m], and [name_m]Connor[/name_m] for boys, and I hate the feeling of having to justify also liking [name_u]Emerson[/name_u], [name_u]Bradley[/name_u], and [name_u]Elliott[/name_u] for girls. That being said, if I change my mind on, say, [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f], you’ll be sure to see it on my list.

I’m certain that we will reach a point where boys are going to be given feminine names, and I’m certain people will be talking about it the same way they do about girls being given masculine names. I’ve definitely seen a push against masculinity, and I bet we’ll be hearing someone naming their son a traditionally feminine name like [name_f]Lily[/name_f] because they want him to be more emotional, or nurturing, or whatever. But, at the end of the day, people will choose the names they want to choose.

Sorry if this is all over the place, and doesn’t totally answer your question. I just wanted to share my perspective as an insufficient-baby-namer who probably would consider [name_u]Max[/name_u] or [name_u]Drew[/name_u] for a girl :wink:

7

I personally hate it as well. Most names are unisex to me, so when I think about this it makes me upset. Personally I think all names can be for any gender besides the obvious such as [name_f]Victoria[/name_f] or [name_m]Henry[/name_m].

[name_m]Favorite[/name_m] names for boys or girls: [name_u]James[/name_u], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_u]Ashton[/name_u], [name_u]Jayden[/name_u], [name_u]Finley[/name_u], [name_m]Lincoln[/name_m], [name_u]Drew[/name_u], [name_m]Zander[/name_m], [name_m]Caden[/name_m], [name_m]Huxley[/name_m], [name_u]Luca[/name_u], [name_u]Phoenix[/name_u], Bohdi, and [name_m]Callum[/name_m]

[name_m]Favorite[/name_m] names for girls on boys: [name_u]Aubrey[/name_u], [name_u]Whitney[/name_u], [name_u]Bailey[/name_u], [name_u]Courtney[/name_u], [name_u]Cameron[/name_u], [name_u]Riley[/name_u], [name_f]Zelda[/name_f], [name_u]River[/name_u], [name_u]Quinn[/name_u], [name_u]Winter[/name_u], [name_u]Harper[/name_u], and [name_f]Claire[/name_f]

My son name is [name_u]Elliot[/name_u] [name_f]Crystal[/name_f] for the record.

8

I’m in the ‘each gender is equal but different’ camp. I in my opinion there is no reason a female should aspire to be a male, or vice versa. We are different, that that’s fine. It’s more than fine, it’s something to celebrate.

I would never think of naming a girl a traditionally masculine name, and would never imagine naming a boy with a traditionally feminine name.

Interestingly, certain names from my culture have been gender-swapped by those who don’t know any better, yielding people to believe that certain names are gender neutral, when they are actually very not.

9

There is a very gross double standard when it comes to this. To be honest with you, I don’t understand it. In my opinion, there is NOTHING wrong with a girl [name_m]Lincoln[/name_m] and there is NOTHING wrong with a boy [name_f]Iris[/name_f]. There’s also NOTHING wrong with a girl [name_f]Anastasia[/name_f] or a boy [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m]. But, as a parent it’s not YOU that’s living with the name, it’s your child, and to risk their safety or feelings (bullying mainly) because you decided to be a trailblazer isn’t fair. But it also isn’t fair to treat your kids differently due to basic, irrelevant biology. Ugh.

I just hate it.

10

I agree with this, I am a very strong [name_f]Aurora[/name_f] :slight_smile: ! I don’t need a ‘male’ name to validate that. Girls are just as strong as boys and we shouldn’t push the agenda that girls need to become masculine to become strong or worthy. Femininity is worthy and strong. I am proud of my name. I have a princess name, I wear dresses, and I will kick your a$$.

11

I agree, most names are unisex to me too. Except ofcourse names that sounds too girly or too boyish, etc [name_f]Hailey[/name_f], [name_m]Roderick[/name_m], [name_m]Caleb[/name_m], and [name_f]Rosie[/name_f].

It’s disgusting that people think [name_u]Aubrey[/name_u] on a boy is weird, but [name_u]Denver[/name_u] on a girl is fine. They’re both perfect for either gender!

My favorite name for a boy is [name_u]Brooklyn[/name_u] and my favorite name for a girl is [name_m]Simon[/name_m].

And I just don’t like those overly girly names like [name_f]Amelia[/name_f], [name_f]Emelia[/name_f], etc, but [name_f]Emily[/name_f] is cute.

12

If a girl can be [name_u]Jamie[/name_u], why can’t she be [name_u]James[/name_u]?

Few people out there are actually going to saddle their children with over the top, gender-swapped names just to poke at society and stroke their own “forward-thinking” pride, most who use [name_u]James[/name_u] & [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] & such for girls will do it just because they like the names. And if they name their sons similar names, then what’s wrong with that? Maybe that’s just their naming style. Everyone has different preferences, and it’s not up to us to tell them their wrong. The same goes if someone wants to give their son a traditionally feminine name.

However, I really don’t think “feminine” & “masculine” names are the issue. A name is a name. What’s more important is raising the children bearing those names to be empathetic, caring, thoughtful individuals who can change society’s perception of what is “weak” & what is “strong”. Teach them to be strong, but gentle. Both girls & boys. The best way to do that? Lead by example.

13

I’m sorry to play the devil’s advocate here, but you could say that this bias could be explained linguistically. English is a bit of an outlier as a European language, in many ways - but particularly because it doesn’t have grammatical gender. Nearly all the languages the personal names we use come from do, and this has affected the formation of the names. This means that for the majority of names, their gender is an inherent part of their make-up. To a [name_m]French[/name_m] speaker, calling a boy “[name_f]Emilie[/name_f]” would be like calling him “une garçon”, which is nonsense as well as not being grammatical. I would argue that it would be just as nonsensical and ungrammatical to name a boy [name_f]Emily[/name_f] over here, as the language may have lost its gendering, but the names haven’t.

However, the plot muddies a bit when you start dealing with boys names on girls. Most languages have a convenient system of creating feminine forms by just adding a suffix. You take [name_m]Paul[/name_m], you add an e, and paff, you have [name_f]Paule[/name_f], which is a girls’ name. English simply doesn’t do this (unless you’re in 19th century [name_f]Scotland[/name_f]). So in the Middle Ages, all the girls whose Latin name was [name_f]Philippa[/name_f] went about day-to-day life being called [name_m]Philip[/name_m]. This wasn’t “gender-bending” - it was just that [name_f]Philippa[/name_f], like Philippus, had been rendered into English as [name_m]Philip[/name_m]. A more well-known example is that of [name_f]Hilaria[/name_f] and Hilarius, which both became [name_u]Hilary[/name_u] in English.

Similarly, it could be argued that [name_u]James[/name_u] (yes, [name_u]James[/name_u]) is the English form of both Jacobus and [name_f]Jacoba[/name_f], that [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] is the English form of both Alexandrus and [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], and so on. However, when the Latinate versions started being used, the original English forms fell out of use for girls (except in the case of [name_u]Hilary[/name_u], for example). So perhaps [name_m]Alexander[/name_m] on a girl is out of date now that we use [name_f]Alexandra[/name_f], but I haven’t encountered much use of [name_f]Jacoba[/name_f], so [name_u]James[/name_u] is perhaps still a valid choice for a girl!

However, this argument doesn’t mean that we can appropriate any male name we choose for girls… the feminine form of [name_u]Evan[/name_u], for example, is [name_u]Si[/name_u]ân (or [name_u]Shan[/name_u]), so we have no excuse to name our daughters [name_u]Evan[/name_u]!

14

To answer your question we have to sadly recognize that we live in a misogynist and chauvinistic world where not only women are oppressed but men are too, with the deep rooted notions our societies have of femininity and masculinity. The latter specifically is different if you think about it when it comes to perception. Women are born women, no one has to prove that and it’s why it’s so difficult to break with what is expected of us as women, things that should be natural like giving birth, maternal “instincts”, being a caretaker, . Masculinity however is something that you’re not necessarily born into. Of course there are many expectations, but they are ones you have to gentle, sweet and physically and emotionally fragile. Men however have to constantly be proving themselves men throughout their lives, things like being womanizers, suave, protective, strong, capable, breadwinners, authoritarian… It is why people say masculinity is fragile. [name_m]Little[/name_m] things like a longer hairdo or wearing a pink shirt, crying or being a fan of [name_u]Whitney[/name_u] [name_m]Houston[/name_m] are enough for a guy to be teased, taunted and looked down upon for being “effeminate”. It’s such a horrible thing.

People don’t have much trouble with girls carrying unissex or traditionally male names because in this day and age women have been gaining more and more space socially and sometimes, even subconsciously, parents choose a historically masculine name in the hopes that she will be perceived with some characteristics of what are expected from men: capability, strength, confidence and authority. Of course this isn’t the rule to every case but I suspect it’s one of the biggest reasons.

For a heterosexual man to have a unissex name that in popularity leans more towards feminine or is openly a historically female name (like [name_f]Anne[/name_f], [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] or [name_f]Jane[/name_f]), it’s socially mortifying and emasculating. A big fat no no. For instance, my sons are called [name_m]Peter[/name_m] Nightingale and [name_m]Bruno[/name_m] Hummingbird and you can’t imagine how much criticism I’ve received for giving my sons “girly” middle names. Well, technically they are not girly names, they are bird species but that’s just how much are society has these gender “ideas” so deeply ingrained. Think about how there are little girls out there named after a variety of Nature names, especially flowers, like [name_f]Lily[/name_f], [name_f]Iris[/name_f], [name_f]Rose[/name_f], [name_f]Violet[/name_f], [name_f]Poppy[/name_f]… Should flower names have a gender? Should bird names or tree names? Why do boys get named stuff like [name_m]Colt[/name_m], [name_u]Hunter[/name_u], [name_m]Dagger[/name_m] (!!!), [name_m]Brick[/name_m] and not girls? These are notions that have socially and historically been constructed and perpetuated from generation to generation.

I don’t know if I managed to answer your question well enough, but in my opinion it’s something VERY worth debating and I think names are a wonderful starting point and pretense. When people ask me why I’m so hooked on names even if I’m not about to name a child (or pet or plant or anything) it’s because names and how we see and consider them are a powerful indicator of how our society works/worked.

15

Honestly, I think you’re reading way too much into people’s choices and trying far too hard to force your political agenda on to others.

I find there are far more important issues in women’s rights than what parents are naming their children, and I find it laughable that so many people are this bothered by it.

Why are you not kept up at night by the fact that around 62 million girls are being denied the right to an education because they’re female?

Why are you not so bothered by the fact that girls are being forced into marriage as children almost every 2 seconds, that you decide to make an attack thread about that?

Why do you not get this upset on the internet about the fact that the leading cause of death among girls 15-19 is pregnancy/childbirth?

Or, how about the fact that some girls who are actually allowed to attend school are forced to share bathrooms with male students, with no safeguards in place to protect them from rape or assault?

But no, your priorities seem to lie with what people choose to name their children.

16

Contrary to popular belief, parents can name their daughters [name_u]Sawyer[/name_u] or [name_u]Quincy[/name_u] without being wicked misogynists. This thread is ridiculous. Would a boy named [name_f]Isabella[/name_f] have a harder time of it than a girl named [name_m]Jacob[/name_m]? Absolutely. Does this say something troubling about our society? Indeed it does. However, there are far more pressing issues in the fight for gender equality than whether or not someone is giving their daughter a masculine name. I find all this ranting very ironic coming from a community of people who’ve been so quick to label names like [name_u]Wren[/name_u], [name_u]Winter[/name_u], and [name_f]Willow[/name_f] girl’s names when in fact there is little historical precedence for this and no reason why they should have to be gendered at all. Additionally, when a poster does ask about a traditionally feminine name for a boy, they are generally met with a chorus of negativity and concerns about how sharing his name with women will affect the development of his masculinity. Come on, guys. Make up your minds here.

17

I like [name_u]Cheyenne[/name_u] on a boy.
I like [name_u]Stevie[/name_u] on a girl.
And that’s all I have to say about that.

18

I hear you!

I think the real reason is that it seems hip to a certain kind of person/namer.

I’ve asked literally hundreds of students over the year if they would have liked to have been named other gender names and they have all reacted with horror.

I think people who want to name their daughters [name_m]Arnold[/name_m] and their sons [name_f]Mary[/name_f] (yeah, right) should change their own names, not saddle their children with PC baggage.

And obviously I am not talking about names like [name_u]Riley[/name_u].

As for why no males named [name_f]Trina[/name_f] or [name_f]Sadie[/name_f] — girl names perceived as weaker, would harm the boy in their eyes. Why they can’t see that a female [name_m]Archibald[/name_m] might suffer is beyond me.

19

This thread has gotten way out of hand. Nobody is saying that it is misogynist or wrong to name a girl a traditionally male name, nor is anyone attempting to get you or anyone else to name your little boy a traditionally girl name.

NOBODY is saying that naming girls ‘masculine’ names but not naming boys ‘feminine names’ is as bad or as big of a problem as girls not having access to education, or are being forced into marriage or any other problem like this. Nobody WOULD say that, because that is ridiculous. But it is okay to have a discourse on double standards in society, and this is a noticeable double standard whether you think it matters or not (and you’re allowed to think it does or doesn’t.)