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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Finley...for a girl

61 replies

Baguettes · 03/07/2015 19:28

What do you think?

Middle name would probably be Grace (but open to suggestions!)

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FriendofBill · 04/07/2015 19:59

I know a female Finley, suits her well.
I think it's a super name.

littleostrich · 04/07/2015 13:22

I think you'd have to be brave to use it as it's not generally seen as a unisex name. But part of me does think it could be a unisex name and may actually be quite nice on a girl. It's just that a lot of people will disagree and she may end up resenting it.

My name is unisex in terms of how it sounds, but the spelling is considered to be female. However there have still been occasions throughout my life where people have got it wrong, reading my name and mistakenly thinking I am male. As an adult I don't care, but one year in primary school my teacher wrote her new class list and put me on the boys list. I had to stay there for the whole year and felt embarrassed every day when she did the register and my name was read out with the boys. It didn't traumatise me or make me dislike my name, but it was embarrassing and something to consider. A Finley would encounter the mistakes a lot more often than I did.

reuset · 04/07/2015 11:29

I'm all for the unisex names, though is rare the boys poach the traditional girls names. I'm undecided about this one, sorry.

ShuShuFontana · 04/07/2015 11:17

i'd say meh...and I was all for the Sydney for a girl name thread!

It's just not one of those names iyswim.

What about Finty?.....Judi Dench's daughter, that's a similar name.

ThroughThickAndThin01 · 04/07/2015 11:16

I know a Finley girl, teenager, it's just her and I don't give her name a second thought.

silveroldie2 · 04/07/2015 11:13

Why would you do that to your daughter?

sweetpeame · 03/07/2015 21:46

Hmmmm, no. It isn't the most masculine sounding name I'll grant you but it is widely considered a boys name and she will spend a lot of time being mistaken for a boy/man.

Stoppissingonthefloor · 03/07/2015 21:29

I quite like it! It's not a particularly masculine name anyway. My name is Rory though so I'm all for girls with boys names!

ashesandfire · 03/07/2015 21:09

no, just no

florascotia · 03/07/2015 20:36

Finlay (nearer the Gaelic spelling) or Finley is a Scottish/Irish name meaning 'white/fair warrior'. It originated as a male personal name - it was the name of Macbeth's father. By around 1500, when surnames began to be more frequently recorded, it was being used as a surname, and it's still quite a familiar surname in Scotland and places where Scots settled. Following the Scottish custom of naming a second son after his mother's family (I don't know whether this was traditional in Ireland, as well), Finlay became used as a first name again, but always for boys.

To my mind, this makes it an odd choice for a girl....

Sansfards · 03/07/2015 20:11

I like it, it does sound unisex

SevenEleven · 03/07/2015 20:04

I worked with a lady who had a DD named Finley. Out of all the names available, I wouldn't pick it for a girl myself, and you even said yourself you wouldn't want people to hear the name and assume she was a boy.

wigglylines · 03/07/2015 20:00

Funnily enough DS's middle name is James too :)

If it doesn't bother you go for it!

wigglylines · 03/07/2015 19:59

Several names with Fin in them here

Some of them are pretty obscure!

Delfine
Finnia
Josephine
Josefin
Sarafina
Stephanie
Zafina

Original poster
Baguettes · 03/07/2015 19:54

indomitable I get what you mean about the reconfiguration. But I guess I'm worried about assumptions upon someone reading / hearing Finley and assuming a male.

Hmm.

OP posts:
Indomitable · 03/07/2015 19:51

I prefer Finley to Fynnea (which I want to pronounce Fine-ear)

Original poster
Baguettes · 03/07/2015 19:50

Funny enough I hate the name Finley / Finlay for a boy. My brain is a bit fucked at the moment I think. Hopefully that will resolve itself before this baby arrives and needs naming.

OP posts:
BlueBananas · 03/07/2015 19:49

Oh good Grin

Indomitable · 03/07/2015 19:49

I know a girl Finley. She's lovely. On first meeting it was an interesting name, but now it's just her.

In my experience any past experience/preconceptions of a name are quickly dispelled and reconfigured to include a new person.

If you like it, do it. I think it's lovely.

Original poster
Baguettes · 03/07/2015 19:48

Fin-ee-ah

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Original poster
Baguettes · 03/07/2015 19:48

Me too...I think we're saying the same thing! Grin

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BlueBananas · 03/07/2015 19:47

It's pronounced Finn-eah the last syllable to rhyme with Mia/Tia/Leah
But I think it could be pronounced Finn-ay-ah too
...I'm rubbish at phonetically spelling stuff, hope that made sense Blush

Original poster
Baguettes · 03/07/2015 19:46

Ok, I'm convinced. Definitely no. Back to the number one choice (which is a proper girl's name) Grin

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Original poster
Baguettes · 03/07/2015 19:44

blue That is pretty. Is her name pronounced Fin-e-ah?

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Lunastarfish · 03/07/2015 19:44

As a child I always thought Finley was a girls name because there was a female character called that in home & away. However, it is now a rather popular boys name (I know 3 under 3) and people will assume she is a he.