My H and I have been toying around with [name_u]Winter[/name_u] as our boy choice for our [name_u]December[/name_u] baby. I really love the simplicity, sound etc.
A couple close friends who I love to run names by have given feedback that it is either a) too trendy or b) only belongs on a girl. I still can’t shake it!
Thoughts?
It might be more common for girls, but i actually think that it’s so thoroughly a noun that you can absolutely use it for a boy. When people hear “winter” they think of the season, not the baby name, kwim? It evokes snow and sweaters and pine trees and holidays, not the image of a girl. I’m not usually a fan of especially noun-y, or especially gender-neutral names, but it seems that [name_u]Winter[/name_u] is an exception!
And while it’s not as unusual as, say, Aethelstan, it’s not [name_m]Jackson[/name_m] either. If it works for you, then i give you my official go-ahead. For whatever that’s worth!
Sorry but I agree with your friends. [name_u]Winter[/name_u] is very feminine to me. For one, all the other season names ([name_f]Autumn[/name_f], [name_f]Summer[/name_f]) are girl names, so it just kind of makes sense that [name_u]Winter[/name_u] would also be a girl’s name. Second, it lends itself to the nickname [name_f]Winnie[/name_f], which is also a girl’s name. Third, all the [name_m]Winters[/name_m] I’ve met have been little girls, so I can’t really picture it on a boy.
I know one [name_u]Winter[/name_u] who 2 years old (girl) and a [name_u]Wynter[/name_u] who is also two. I think from association the name may seem feminine. But as far as the word - it is a season and has no gender so if you like it use it!
Thanks ladies, I guess I do feel like it is a noun and therefore inherently neutral, I am just not sure how I feel about [name_u]Winter[/name_u] turning out to be like a man being named [name_u]Ashley[/name_u] or [name_u]Leslie[/name_u].
@pansy, it’s funny you mention the other seasons because in my mind the rationale was that since girls get the other seasons, at least one has to be for a boy! 
So many names today are gender neutral. Why not winter? [name_f]Remember[/name_f] Old [name_m]Man[/name_m] [name_u]Winter[/name_u]? It’s more about the kid then the name. My husbands name is [name_u]Karsten[/name_u], which is more common for males but it looks feminine and a lot of people mistake it for [name_f]Kristen[/name_f]. He still turned out to be a good guy who likes cars and electronics (typically more masculine hobbies). If you like it I say go with it. If your are looking for winter themed names I also like [name_u]Hunter[/name_u], [name_u]North[/name_u], [name_m]Branch[/name_m], Chill, Colden,[name_m]Crispin[/name_m], blaze, Darke, and [name_u]Frost[/name_u].
The only time I’ve seen [name_u]Winter[/name_u] used in real life was on a guy, and it was his middle name. I don’t think it’s particularly masculine or particularly feminine.
I only know of one person with that name and it’s a girl. I believe it’s the voice of the [name_f]Sophia[/name_f] character on “[name_f]Sofia[/name_f] the First”.
When I read the title of this I thought for a moment I was in the girls forum! To me, it is very feminine. Perhaps the name [name_u]Frost[/name_u] for a middle for a winter boy?
I think it seems very feminine, but I understand the appeal. I think an awesome substitute would be [name_m]Winters[/name_m]. Very handsome and more of a masculine feel
I like [name_u]Winter[/name_u] on a girl personally.
I like [name_u]Winter[/name_u] on a boy.
While the nn [name_f]Winnie[/name_f] seems feminine, [name_u]Win[/name_u] seems masculine to me.
I say if you like it, go for it.
While I first think of the name as feminine, I can totally see a boy rocking [name_u]Winter[/name_u].
[name_u]Winter[/name_u] seems feminine to me. I like the suggestions of [name_m]Winters[/name_m], which seems much more masculine. I also liked [name_u]Frost[/name_u] and [name_u]North[/name_u].
I do not find [name_u]Winter[/name_u] feminine at all. Actually most of these responses are surprising to me. I personally prefer [name_u]Frost[/name_u], but I think that [name_u]Winter[/name_u] fits in very nicely with [name_u]Vesper[/name_u] as long as you don’t mind the two matching endings. Good luck! =]
I do not think [name_u]Winter[/name_u] is too trendy, and I love that you plan on using it on a [name_u]December[/name_u] baby! It is a pet peeve of mine when people use seasonal/month/time/day names on babies not born at that time (i.e., baby girl [name_f]April[/name_f] whose birthday is in [name_f]September[/name_f]). However, I do automatically think of it as a girl’s name. That isn’t to say I can’t stretch to imagine [name_u]Winter[/name_u] on a boy (though I have a hard time with [name_f]Summer[/name_f], [name_f]Spring[/name_f], or [name_f]Autumn[/name_f] as masculine) but it would definitely be a stretch.
Never considered [name_u]Winter[/name_u] on any baby nor have I ever met anyone with this name so I don’t attach a gender to it. I’ve known men named Wind and [name_u]Wynn[/name_u] so I don’t see a problem with [name_u]Winter[/name_u]
Funny, how some people randomly assign gender to words. They usually say ‘I know a girl with this name’ but that’s a lame reason.
Definitely a girl’s name. But I just googled “names that mean winter” out of curiosity and found this:
[name_m]Martin[/name_m] (English, French, [name_m]German[/name_m], Scandinavian, Russian, Romanian, Czech, Slovak, Slovene, Croatian, Hungarian, Bulgarian, Finnish)-From the [name_m]Roman[/name_m] name Martinus, which was derived from Martis, the genitive case of the name of the [name_m]Roman[/name_m] god [name_m]MARS[/name_m]. [name_m]Saint[/name_m] [name_m]Martin[/name_m] of Tours was a 4th-century bishop who is the patron saint of [name_f]France[/name_f]. According to legend, he came across a cold beggar in the middle of winter so he ripped his cloak in two and gave half of it to the beggar. He was a favourite saint during the Middle Ages, and his name has become common throughout the [name_m]Christian[/name_m] world.
Other boy’s names that have a touch of “wintery-ness” about them: [name_u]Finn[/name_u], [name_m]Liam[/name_m], [name_m]William[/name_m], [name_m]Jack[/name_m] ([name_m]Jack[/name_m] [name_u]Frost[/name_u]!), [name_m]Erik[/name_m], [name_m]Johannes[/name_m], [name_m]Augustin[/name_m], [name_m]Bertram[/name_m], [name_m]Asher[/name_m], [name_u]Rowan[/name_u], [name_m]Andrei[/name_m], [name_m]Alexei[/name_m], [name_m]Nikolai[/name_m], [name_m]Lucius[/name_m], [name_m]Crispin[/name_m], [name_m]Alec[/name_m]; anything Scandinavian, Russian or Gaelic sounds wintery and brisk.
Actually, one of my daughter’s middle names is [name_u]Winter[/name_u] but I find it appealing for a boy as well. [name_u]Winn[/name_u] is cool and [name_u]Terry[/name_u] is fine too.
@lilycecelia: why Russian names sound wintery? I know it’s a cold country in comparison to USA but they do have boiling summers too! 
(And I used to live there)
@axps123: really that irritating? My daughter was born in spring with middle name [name_u]Winter[/name_u]; except for her birthdate everything in her is so winter-ish and snowy and when I do her portraits and drawings, I usually do them winter themed. That’s my vision of her. In my opinion, name should reflect personality, not just time of birth.
Thanks for all the feedback!
Still kind of baffles me that this is now a feminine name to most people, maybe since what’s her name [name_m]Richie[/name_m] used it? But I am keeping it on my boy list (nn [name_u]Win[/name_u]) because I still love the idea of it on a little [name_u]December[/name_u] boy!