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Baby names

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

Original poster

James as a girls name?

135 replies

CaitlinEJ · 22/06/2019 17:01

Hi all,

I met a little girl called James the other day, at first I thought it was weird but now I’ve got to know her it’s really cute and suits her. I’ve heard of a few other girls names James and I was wondering what everyone thought of it as a girls name?

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JazbayGrapes · 30/11/2022 21:30

Ridiculous. One a second thought, why not Clive or Gary?

JazbayGrapes · 30/11/2022 21:28

Isn't there a famous female cook called Jack?

she identifies as non-binary

Gummibär · 26/11/2022 15:31

I think today anything goes.

Isn't there a famous female cook called Jack?

soulinablackberrypie · 25/11/2022 18:57

I love the name James, but I don't think I like it for a girl. I don't think of Jamie or even Jaime as a girl's name either, although I'm aware they have been used for girls occasionally.

KirstenBlest · 23/11/2022 10:02

@TheBirdintheCave , can you imagine a thread where the OP said she didn't like any boy's names and was asking if Isabella or Martha was ok for a boy?

KirstenBlest · 23/11/2022 09:58

@AllyCatTown , if you are old enough to remember thev1970s, you will be familiar with Jaime as a girl's name. The Bionic Woman was Jaime Sommers (Lindsay Wagner)

TheBirdintheCave · 23/11/2022 09:23

If you wouldn't call a boy Isabella then don't call a girl James.

This whole trend stems from the idea that in order to be seen as strong and powerful a girl has to be like a boy which is just ridiculous. It's the reason I hate films and books that pander to that stereotype. Take Gravity for example. It's got a cool female astronaut as the main character but what's her name? Ryan. Or Star Trek Discovery with a female main character. What's her name? Michael 🙄(Discovery also gets bonus rage points for calling 'Michaels' best friend Sylvia and portraying her as a bit of a cowardly wet blanket).

It needs to stop.

AllyCatTown · 23/11/2022 08:58

Are people genuinely naming their girls Jaime? I thought that was a typo for Jamie but see it a few times throughout the thread.

I don’t think James sounds as bad as some men’s names but I don’t like the trend of moving men’s names over to women because it doesn’t happen the other way and there are fewer choices for boys’ names anyway

KirstenBlest · 22/11/2022 14:53

@NeverSayFreelance , Jaime is Spanish for James

DangerousAlchemy · 21/11/2022 21:50

TurquoiseAndPurple · 22/06/2019 19:11

Absolutely love it as a middle name for a girl. Also love Rose as middle name for a boy! (I have heard both)

Rose as a boys' middle name?! You having a laugh? Are you perhaps from the US? 😂 Why do parents want their kids to get horrendously bullied? Names like Jaxon are bad enough nevermind James for a girl etc 🙄🙄🙄

Luredbyapomegranate · 28/01/2022 10:31

It's so much a boys name in the UK

She would be forever 'James but she's a girl' - I don't think it's the same as Dylan as a PP suggests, because that's a much less common name.

It will a pain for life, probably piss her off, people will assume her parents wanted a boy...

So no.

HangingOutTheOldLoveLetters · 27/01/2022 10:49

I wouldn't call a girl Abraham either. Or a boy for that matter.
If you want to be fresh don't pick an old style patriarchal name.

HangingOutTheOldLoveLetters · 27/01/2022 10:46

It's derived from Jacob. It smacks of having no knowledge of your own culture.

HangingOutTheOldLoveLetters · 27/01/2022 10:44

I just think, why?

MGMA · 27/01/2022 10:43

An unpopular opinion maybe but I love James for a girl. I don't think it should be the job of a parent not to name a child something they could be bullied for but the job of a parent to raise their children to not to bully and a teacher to not blame the parent for the name but to stop the bullying when they see it. My name is Georgina but have always been known as George and love it, was also never bullied for it 🤷‍♀️

hannahfaith · 15/06/2021 16:40

Love James for a middle spot on a girl.

Penelope James is high on my list

RosieGirl27 · 31/05/2021 23:45

I love it for a girl, but it is my sons middle name 😂 my first name is unisex so it is also my second sons middle name and I actually love Jaime for a girl...

Tillygetsit · 31/05/2021 23:25

I strongly dislike this for a girl. Good grief! There won't be any soley boys names left soon.

xprincessxjanetx · 31/05/2021 17:07

No, to me it is far too masculine to be a girls name. Jaime, yes, James, no.

TatianaBis · 31/05/2021 11:12

Quite apart from the feminist angle, why do people copy celebs? I find it so cringe.

ElderMillennial · 31/05/2021 11:03

I quite like it

sashh · 31/05/2021 10:15

There is also actress Michael Michelle. Names do often swap frm male to female.

Shaun/shawn is a girls' name in the US and I know a few Madisons, which means son of Maud but the ones I know are female.

Shirley is/was a male name until Charlotte Bronte used it. Big Daddy's real name was Shirley (and as a life saver he saved my aunt's life in Blackpool)

John Wayne was a Marion, Dr Hillary Jones was the only male at his interview for uni because the uni was attempting to attract more females and inadvertently asked him to the women's interview - or something similar.

Marguerite2000 · 31/05/2021 09:30

@JemimaJoy

Well I like it. But MN HATES boy's names on girls for some reason 😂 posters get so mad when they're suggested!
I think most people just think of the kid having to go through school/life with that name.
SemperIdem · 31/05/2021 01:06

It’s the internalised misogyny that goes hand in hand with naming girls traditionally male names that is disliked.

JemimaJoy · 29/05/2021 12:32

Well I like it. But MN HATES boy's names on girls for some reason 😂 posters get so mad when they're suggested!