- y vs. -ie, is there a rule?

General Name Discussion
1

I don’t THINK there’s really a [name_m]RULE[/name_m] when it comes to forming a diminutive with -y vs. -ie, but I was wondering if anyone had any opinions/thoughts on the subject. Like, are boys’ names almost -y and girls’ names always -ie for you, or vice versa? Or just when the name could go both ways?

Or does it just depend on how the name looks?

I like to be called Stephie, never Stephy.

In my novel, I have a male [name_m]Donny[/name_m], and female [name_u]Bobbie[/name_u] and [name_f]Annie[/name_f]…

Is -ie more feminine somehow? Does that come from some [name_m]French[/name_m] or other language thing I’m not aware of?

Thanks in advance!

2

For me it’s boys’ names with -y and girls names with -ie, especially when it’s the full name and not just a nickname.
However, there are some exceptions, like Charlie, Alfie, Archie, Ollie which look off as Charly, Alfy, Archy and Olly.
Or Abby & Amy, which look wrong as Abbie and Amie to me.

Maybe the boys’ nns that end in -ie have a longer history of being used on their own while the ones ending in -y have been used mostly as nn before they were seen as full names not as long ago as the others. However that’s just a theory and I would have to put in a little more time to prove it right or wrong.

3

I think it depends. DS2 is [name_u]Olly[/name_u] and never [name_u]Ollie[/name_u], not really by conscious decision but it’s just how it ended up. I think I like it better that way anyways, tbh. Not for any specific reason. I just do.

I think when it comes to [name_m]Robert[/name_m] vs [name_f]Roberta[/name_f]'s nickname (and other similar cases), [name_u]Bobby[/name_u] is more widely accepted and expected for a boy, so [name_u]Bobbie[/name_u] would distinguish [name_f]Roberta[/name_f] as a girl. Another example would be [name_m]Matthew[/name_m] vs [name_f]Matilda[/name_f], [name_u]Matty[/name_u] vs [name_u]Mattie[/name_u].

4

I much prefer the ‘ey’ or ‘y’ endings to names instead of ‘ie’ but it’s not a hard and fast rule for me.

5

Depends on the name and what I think looks best.
[name_u]Jackie[/name_u] is a boy or girl; [name_u]Jacky[/name_u] looks weird
[name_u]Willie[/name_u] for both but [name_m]Willy[/name_m] only for boys
[name_u]Teddy[/name_u] for both; [name_m]Teddie[/name_m] looks odd.
[name_u]Jody[/name_u] for boys and [name_u]Jodie[/name_u] for girls
[name_u]Charley[/name_u] is a boy but [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] could be either