You Can Name a Girl Taylor, but Would You Name a Boy Ashley? Manly Men with "Girl"-y Names
Lately, we've been talking a lot about girls with boys' names. It's hardly a revolutionary practice, but it's the creativity that makes the most current examples noteworthy. These days, Maxwell is pretty much as masculine as a name can be, but that didn't stop Lindsay Sloane from picking it for her daughter. Soon after, Marla Sokoloff named her new baby girl Elliotte (feminine in spelling but not so much in usage).
The general consensus seems to be that it's cool and modern - or at least, acceptable -- for a girl to
have boy name or a boyish nickname, but it's unfortunate for a boy to be "stuck" with a name that is associated mainly with girls. After all, it's nearly impossible to think of a name that made a transition from feminine associations to masculine ones. Generally, once a name gets too girly, it doesn't come back.
Names like Taylor, Peyton, and Morgan are in the middle of a gender shift, but still fairly androgynous. It depends entirely on your personal experience with the name. Other historically masculine names like Ashley, Courtney, or Shannon are rarely used for boys anymore. But why not? Trends change, of course, but is it really necessary to write off these names from boys just because they're also used for girls?
The one-way trend may be unfair to boys, but not necessarily to the advantage of girls. It's the same reason a boy is discouraged from playing with his sister's Barbies, but we understand why a girl would envy her older brother's guns and trucks...feminine things are cool for girls, while masculine stuff is cool for everyone.
It's surprising how many girl names were once entirely masculine. Here's a list of unisex names that you may not normally think of as options for boys and, for context, their (male) celebrity counterparts:
Ashley (reality star/singer Ashley Parker Angel, character Ashley Wilkes from "Gone With The Wind")
Andrea (musician Andrea Bocelli)
Caroll (actor/producer/director Caroll O'Connor)
Cary (skateboarder Cary Hart, actor and classic movie heartthrob Cary Grant)
Courtney (actor Courtney Gains)
Dana (comedian Dana Carvy)
Kelly (professional surfer Kelly Slater)
Lauren/Laurie/Loren (main character Theodore "Laurie" Lawrence from "Little Women")
Leslie (comedian Leslie Nielsen, Leslie "Bob" Hope)
Lindsay (Fleetwood Mac's Lindsay Buckingham, basketball player Lindsay Hunter)
Marion (Marion Robert Morrison, a.k.a. John Wayne, former mayor of Washington, D.C. Marion Barry)
Sandy (baseball player Sanford "Sandy" Koufax)
Shannon (basketball player Shannon Brown)
Stacy (actor Stacy Keach)
Tracy (actors Tracy Morgan and Tracy "Ice-T" Marrow)
Vivian (Def Leppard's Vivian Patrick Campbell)
Other ideas: Beverly, Lynn, Sydney, Brook, Evelyn, Shirley, Meredith, Sal/Sally (short for Salvador)
It's unlikely that even the most progressive parents will start totally bucking the trend by naming their sons Sophia, Kaylee, or, Chloe. (Unless they're looking to emulate Marilyn Manson or Nikki Sixx) Still, there's something cool, classic, and unexpected about a guy named Loren or Kelly, don't you think?
Would you give your son a name commonly used by girls? Do you know any men with "girl" names?
-- K.L.
Related Stories:
Did I Give My Son a Girl's Name?
Is It Selfish to Give My Daughter This Boy's Name?
Where Have All the Boys' Names Gone?
Move Over Apple! Jason Bateman Names His Sweetie Maple
How Dolly Parton Named Rebecca Romjin and Jerry O'Connell's Daughter
