Boy names are so difficult. It's upsetting to see so many boy names now being tried to use as girl names. When you don't want your child to be 1 of 4 In a class, it sucks to now think a girl may share the name too. Carter? Darien? Aiden? Aren't there enough girl names to go around? Ugh.
I'm sorry I just don't get this. I understand not wanting your kid to share their name with too many kids in their class, but why is it somehow worse that your son share a name with a girl?
I don't think she is trying to say it's worse just that it makes it more likely that your child with share a name when people are making more names unisex
Exactly. And I hate the "I love unisex names!" excuse, because no you don't. Until names like Ava, Ellie, and Madelyn start getting used for boys, you just want to assign masculine names to girls. (General you, not any you in this conversation).
You name your kid whatever you like, but just because someone is having a girl does not mean they have to name them something ultra feminine sounding to make other people happy. Who decides what is a boy or girls name? I'm just curious about that opinion and thought it warranted asking considering you included the names that previous posters listed as possible girls names so you were clearly talking about their choices bothering you.
(To be clear, I am neither advocating for making up names or using unisex names, I just don't think it's any of my or anyone else's business what someone chooses to name their kid)
Is it bad I haven't even started to think of names? It actually kind of freaks me out since it will be with them their whole lives and what if the name I pick doesn't suit them? Ahh the whole thing makes me anxious is it okay to wait and find out sex because the idea of choosing two names is really overwhelming!
Is it bad I haven't even started to think of names? It actually kind of freaks me out since it will be with them their whole lives and what if the name I pick doesn't suit them? Ahh the whole thing makes me anxious is it okay to wait and find out sex because the idea of choosing two names is really overwhelming!
Boy names are so difficult. It's upsetting to see so many boy names now being tried to use as girl names. When you don't want your child to be 1 of 4 In a class, it sucks to now think a girl may share the name too. Carter? Darien? Aiden? Aren't there enough girl names to go around? Ugh.
I'm sorry I just don't get this. I understand not wanting your kid to share their name with too many kids in their class, but why is it somehow worse that your son share a name with a girl?
I don't think she is trying to say it's worse just that it makes it more likely that your child with share a name when people are making more names unisex
Exactly. And I hate the "I love unisex names!" excuse, because no you don't. Until names like Ava, Ellie, and Madelyn start getting used for boys, you just want to assign masculine names to girls. (General you, not any you in this conversation).
You name your kid whatever you like, but just because someone is having a girl does not mean they have to name them something ultra feminine sounding to make other people happy. Who decides what is a boy or girls name? I'm just curious about that opinion and thought it warranted asking considering you included the names that previous posters listed as possible girls names so you were clearly talking about their choices bothering you.
(To be clear, I am neither advocating for making up names or using unisex names, I just don't think it's any of my or anyone else's business what someone chooses to name their kid)
Hi, lurking name nerd again. And allow me to prefess this with I am but a passing hobbyist, and as such am both not an expert nor infallible.
So, most western languages, romance languages being the most pronounced like to gender words. I.e. La cucina vs El Pollo, there's nothing inherently feminine about kitchens, and chickens come in both sexes, but language doesn’t care, in part because it means to reinforce values and meanings of when it originated.
Now then, why does it matter if someone names their daughter Ryan, a masculine name which means "little king"? On an individual level, it doesn't. But no child exists in a vacuum, they are part of society and it's interactions. Let's look at some historical name usage quick.
Let's look at Ashley and Madison. Both traditionally masculine names, not particularly popular ones, but certainly recorded. In 1880, the first year the SSA started tracking names given to babies, 8 boys were named Ashley, and 22 were named Madison. The first year Ashley was recorded for a girl is 1917, with 5, it completely disappears for girl usage until another 7 in 1938, and consistent recording in 1941, 6 girls to 54 boys. Usage for both climbs (Gone With The Wind) in 1964, Ashley for girls surpasses Ashley for boys for the first time, 180 vs. 110. Usage for both sexes continues to climb until 1980, when the boy usage peaks at 746, and then it continues to steadily decline, reaching a low of 16 in 2012. Girl usage peaks in 87 with 54,840. It doesn't drop below 10,000 a year until 2008 and it still ranks in the top 100. Madison meanwhile was first recorded for girls in 1970 at 6. Consistent recording started in 1984 (Splash) with 42, funnily enough for both boys and girls. Boy usage peaked in 95 with 269. Girl usage peaked in 2001 with 22,158. Last year, 10, 247 girls were named Son of Maud compared to 40 boys.
What this shows us is that when a masculine name starts to gain popular usage with girls, it falls off usage with boys. It shows us that as a culture we want our girls to have "masculine" qualities, but worry if our sons show "feminine " qualities. Many times I've seen people on these boards say in response to someone naming their daughter Charlie, Reese, Addison, etc that they like "strong names". Are only men strong? Of course not, it's a preposterous statement. Yet, when we give our daughters names their grandfathers had over their grandmothers, are we not telling them this? Are we not reinforcing that Jessica is less desirable than James, that Audrey is not as capable as Aubrey, that we value women so little that we don’t even give them feminine names, we give them names we deem not good enough for our sons.
Naming is my favorite and simultaneously least favorite thing in pregnancy. Seriously. I can't even start picking. And since I'm not finding out the sex, I have to come up with two solid ideas. And my other kids have some relatively unique (but totally real... in case you're worried) names... so I'd really like it to "match" theme. Kwim? Like... nobody wants one kid named Lilith Starchild and then the next one is just Frank. (I was having trouble coming up with examples....)
Re: Names!
You name your kid whatever you like, but just because someone is having a girl does not mean they have to name them something ultra feminine sounding to make other people happy. Who decides what is a boy or girls name? I'm just curious about that opinion and thought it warranted asking considering you included the names that previous posters listed as possible girls names so you were clearly talking about their choices bothering you.
(To be clear, I am neither advocating for making up names or using unisex names, I just don't think it's any of my or anyone else's business what someone chooses to name their kid)
Evelynn Louise
Ivy Jean
Boys are another story. DS is Owen. We've thrown around:
Wyatt
Bryce
Henry
It's hard enough naming one boy - I told my husband he can name them if they're twin boys
You name your kid whatever you like, but just because someone is having a girl does not mean they have to name them something ultra feminine sounding to make other people happy. Who decides what is a boy or girls name? I'm just curious about that opinion and thought it warranted asking considering you included the names that previous posters listed as possible girls names so you were clearly talking about their choices bothering you.
(To be clear, I am neither advocating for making up names or using unisex names, I just don't think it's any of my or anyone else's business what someone chooses to name their kid)
Hi, lurking name nerd again. And allow me to prefess this with I am but a passing hobbyist, and as such am both not an expert nor infallible.
So, most western languages, romance languages being the most pronounced like to gender words. I.e. La cucina vs El Pollo, there's nothing inherently feminine about kitchens, and chickens come in both sexes, but language doesn’t care, in part because it means to reinforce values and meanings of when it originated.
Now then, why does it matter if someone names their daughter Ryan, a masculine name which means "little king"? On an individual level, it doesn't. But no child exists in a vacuum, they are part of society and it's interactions. Let's look at some historical name usage quick.
Let's look at Ashley and Madison. Both traditionally masculine names, not particularly popular ones, but certainly recorded. In 1880, the first year the SSA started tracking names given to babies, 8 boys were named Ashley, and 22 were named Madison. The first year Ashley was recorded for a girl is 1917, with 5, it completely disappears for girl usage until another 7 in 1938, and consistent recording in 1941, 6 girls to 54 boys. Usage for both climbs (Gone With The Wind) in 1964, Ashley for girls surpasses Ashley for boys for the first time, 180 vs. 110. Usage for both sexes continues to climb until 1980, when the boy usage peaks at 746, and then it continues to steadily decline, reaching a low of 16 in 2012. Girl usage peaks in 87 with 54,840. It doesn't drop below 10,000 a year until 2008 and it still ranks in the top 100. Madison meanwhile was first recorded for girls in 1970 at 6. Consistent recording started in 1984 (Splash) with 42, funnily enough for both boys and girls. Boy usage peaked in 95 with 269. Girl usage peaked in 2001 with 22,158. Last year, 10, 247 girls were named Son of Maud compared to 40 boys.
What this shows us is that when a masculine name starts to gain popular usage with girls, it falls off usage with boys. It shows us that as a culture we want our girls to have "masculine" qualities, but worry if our sons show "feminine " qualities. Many times I've seen people on these boards say in response to someone naming their daughter Charlie, Reese, Addison, etc that they like "strong names". Are only men strong? Of course not, it's a preposterous statement. Yet, when we give our daughters names their grandfathers had over their grandmothers, are we not telling them this? Are we not reinforcing that Jessica is less desirable than James, that Audrey is not as capable as Aubrey, that we value women so little that we don’t even give them feminine names, we give them names we deem not good enough for our sons.
Food for thought.
Little boy due July 31st 2016