Page 4 | Fowey - boy or girl?

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RosaMoline · 08/01/2025 11:20

LaDeeDaDeeDa · 08/01/2025 10:13

Why saddle your child who has their own identity with a middle name that many will pronounce incorrectly just because you visited the place and had a good time there?

Would you consider the name Skegness if you had a few marvellous holidays there? I think not.

Could be worse…Scunthorpe! 😂

VeryQuaintIrene · 08/01/2025 11:01

I prefer Looe.

Shetlands · 08/01/2025 11:00

Why not choose some actual Cornish names instead?
https://gocornish.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/personal-names.pdf

Sassybooklover · 08/01/2025 10:59

Lovely place, and I did know how it's pronounced! However, it's a place name, not really a name to used as a first or middle names. I do agree with others though, if it's used as a middle name, how often in life will your child actually have to correct people for mispronouncing it?! Rarely. It would be different if it was a first name or even a surname. I personally think it sounds more male though.

Purplecatshopaholic · 08/01/2025 10:56

I’d assume Boy. But it’s terrible either way, sorry.

Snowmanscarf · 08/01/2025 10:54

KIlliePieMyOhMy · 08/01/2025 10:10

The rest of his or her life saying, "No, it's pronounced Foy!"
Don't do it.

This!

or people would automatically spell it Foy, and then s/he would would have to correct the spelling.

toastofthetown · 08/01/2025 10:53

kate592 · 08/01/2025 10:42

My mum hated her middle name and when she was young pretended she didn't have one. Why would you do that to a child? You wouldn't have Newquay or Bodmin as a middle name so why would you have Fowey? It's not a name, it doesn't sound nice and it has nothing to do with your child.

But places names are sometimes used as names, and the fact that some sound cumbersome as names, doesn’t mean that others don’t work. Foy is a well known surname, and using family surnames in the middle spot for either a boy or girl is tradition in some families so sounds fine in the middle spot - even with a different spelling. Fowey fits the single syllable trend for current middle names and sounds like other names; Joy seems to be increasingly popular for girls in the middle name spot.

boulevardofbrokendreamss · 08/01/2025 10:50

Just awful.

kate592 · 08/01/2025 10:42

My mum hated her middle name and when she was young pretended she didn't have one. Why would you do that to a child? You wouldn't have Newquay or Bodmin as a middle name so why would you have Fowey? It's not a name, it doesn't sound nice and it has nothing to do with your child.

indignantpigmy · 08/01/2025 10:28

Definitely a name for a buoy.

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 08/01/2025 10:28

But who are these people who will be mispronouncing it? Apart from the registrar when you register the birth and presumably the person who officiates at the wedding - who will ever need to say the middle name? I couldn't even tell you the middle name of my BFFs child! I even forget half the middle names of my own lot - and the fact that all my kids have three middle names comes as a complete surprise to people.

If you love it, and it's a middle name, go for it (I know it's pronounced Foy because I used to live near there though...)

1dayatatime · 08/01/2025 10:25

JC03745 · 08/01/2025 10:22

Male
I'm glad you wrote how its pronounced. In my head, I was saying 'Fow-ee' and trying to work it out. So it Roy with an F?

Yes - same as Roy but with an "f".

I think this is the problem and presuming OP lives in England that it will always be mispronounced and you get to become one of those tiresome parents correcting the pronunciation every time.

Marcipix · 08/01/2025 10:25

Yes, it’s Roy with an F.

Looe is just up the road 🤭

researchers3 · 08/01/2025 10:24

Honestly, I initially thought neither! But for a middle name I like it, and agree gender neutral.

JC03745 · 08/01/2025 10:22

Male
I'm glad you wrote how its pronounced. In my head, I was saying 'Fow-ee' and trying to work it out. So it Roy with an F?

Sunnyflow · 08/01/2025 10:21

Why saddle your child who has their own identity with a middle name that many will pronounce incorrectly just because you visited the place

Saddle?

I'd rather have an interesting and meaningful middle name than say Jane or Ann...

AuntieStella · 08/01/2025 10:21

As a middle name, either

1dayatatime · 08/01/2025 10:21

KIlliePieMyOhMy · 08/01/2025 10:10

The rest of his or her life saying, "No, it's pronounced Foy!"
Don't do it.

Exactly you will find always get English people pronouncing it - "Foh way"

Fink · 08/01/2025 10:21

If I saw it written, I'd think boy; if I heard it, I'd think girl (because of the connection to Faith).

I'm not a fan of place names for people, but it's not the worst, as a middle name.

Sunnyflow · 08/01/2025 10:20

Good as a middle name!

Much more original and identitying as some 'filler names like overused James.

Onlyvisiting · 08/01/2025 10:20

OneAliCat · 08/01/2025 09:57

As in the Cornish town. Pronounced Foy. Considering as a middle name since the place is special to us.

Would you think of it as male, female or gender neutral?

I'd probably assume male. But wouldn't thibk of it as a name at all.
I know of the town though so it is very strongly a place name in my head so I might have a biased view!

CollectedStories · 08/01/2025 10:19

I don't think it matters (pronunciation or gender) if it's a middle name.

1dayatatime · 08/01/2025 10:18

LaDeeDaDeeDa · 08/01/2025 10:13

Why saddle your child who has their own identity with a middle name that many will pronounce incorrectly just because you visited the place and had a good time there?

Would you consider the name Skegness if you had a few marvellous holidays there? I think not.

How about Basingstoke?

Sounds rather posh and grand!

RightOnTheEdge · 08/01/2025 10:18

I'd say gender neutral.

I've had my name spelt wrongly all my life and constantly had people say "But that's a boys name!" My kids have a foreign surname that we always have to spell out and is mispronounced regularly.

It's really not the big deal a lot of posters on baby names make out, especially if it's a middle name. How often do middle names get used?

toastofthetown · 08/01/2025 10:18

I’d probably assume boy if I had to choose, but as a middle name it really doesn’t matter so easily gender neutral. I also don’t think pronunciation issues are a big deal for middle names either - they’re not used very often. I like the idea of a middle name that has meaning.