To wonder why it's OK - even considered a positive thing- to give girls names that are traditionally considered boy's names but....

[BertrandRussell]

.......not the other way round?

We have a boy and a girl Eden at ds nursery

Surely the problem with Beau is that unless you and the baby daddy are certified foxes, what if they turn out to be pug ugly? You wouldn't call your child 'genius' and pray for some decent GCSES would you?

I think parents to be should really think of the name.

It's not you who has to put up with the name for the rest of your life.

Seneca Having lived with MacKenzie for 21 years and having to spell it every single time I feel so sorry for children who not only have it as a first name, but also have a creative spelling.
Doesn't JK Rowling have a Mackenzie, or did I make that up?

Mackenzie is a surname, but so are Shannon, Lindsay, Morgan, Taylor, Reilly and various other names accepted as first names.

"I also love Kelly for a boy but it's a typical girls name."

I went to school with a boy named Kelly. It was actually originally a male name and means warrior

Lass Bo Derek was born Mary Cathleen & given the stage name Bo, along with a makeover, by her then husband, thus those using Bo Derek as an example of justification for calling a girl Beau are ill informed wrong & it's still very much a boy's name.

I know 2 women called Senga - one in her 50's & one in her 30's... bloody awful name for anyone IMO but it's definitely a girls name.

Senga is Agnes backwards, definitely a female name.

Oh how my linguistic teeth would itch if there was a boy called Ella! As bad as girls called Beau.

Why? Because names can't be appropriated?

Beau is handsome in french(a gendered language as well). The female version is Belle. They are obviously adjectives not nouns but hey ho.
Beau also was a popular name in America after the civil war. It was a boys name,short for (the very male) general Beauregard.
Either way it's a male name. If you want to name your girl as such,go ahead ,but it doesn't make it female just because you said so or you want it to be.

Neveah/heaven and sky are gender neutral names.

Thomas is a surname....

So Beau was a male French name and because of that would make the Op's "linguistic teeth itch" if used for a girl?

I'd say she doesn't have any linguistic teeth. The one thing linguists know that others don't is that languages evolve and change and this is their beauty. Prescriptive language is the remit of fools and teachers (not synonymous). Descriptive language is what almost all linguists study. The Decline of Grammar is a brief and interesting read.

If you want to name your girl as such,go ahead ,but it doesn't make it female just because you said so or you want it to be.

Linguists would argue that if many do, it does. If "I" do, it may.

Thanks for the etymology. Always interesting.

I don't like the trend of "boys names for girls" and wouldn't call a girl William any more than I would call a boy Felicity or Amanda.

I think a lot of the "unisex" names have fallen out of fashion, I had both Lesley and Leslie in my class growing up, but you don't come across many babies with those names now. We don't do the whole "pink for a girl and blue for a boy" thing in this house anyway.

"The one thing linguists know that others don't is that languages evolve and change and this is their beauty"

Yes. But Beau for a girl and Ella for a boy are not example of evolution and change. They are-or would be- examples of language being wrongly used. As the linguists amongst us will surely know, there is a difference.

And just to add my name to the chorus of saying Mackenzie is a popular girl's name in Scotland - not in my part it's not. I don't know any personally and the one person I know who was given the name lives in Berkshire. Popular Scottish girls names round here are things like Isla, Kirsty, Eilidh, Flora..

The "surnames as first names" i've come across living in Scotland are mainly for boys to be fair and are things like Blair, Murray, Muir, Brodie, Bruce, Scott, Cameron, Campbell, Forbes, Grant, Fraser - and all have been used for so long that they're as much a first name as a surname.

"The "surnames as first names" i've come across living in Scotland are mainly for boys "

Well, surnames often originated from boys' names so that makes sense.

Yes. But Beau for a girl and Ella for a boy are not example of evolution and change. They are-or would be- examples of language being wrongly used.

Why is this the case?

As the linguists among us would know, this is an argument that's been raging amongst linguists for 100s of years if not more and one that is no closer to being answered.

For example, 'literally' now has a dictionary definition of it's old antonym. Linguistically fascinating. Is it being used incorrectly or has it evolved into its antonym?

At what stage can Beau ever be used as a name for a girl and it stops being wrong and has instead evolved or do you believe names will stay gendered for eternity as misuse is simply that?

And in France don't they use a lot if Marie like Jean - Marie. For years I thought it was a female name

And in Spain too - more traditional naming patterns have Jose, Maria or Jesus as parts of the double name so you have Maria Jose (girl) and Jose Maria (boy). And don't get me started on calling girls Inmaculada Concepcion...

MacKenzie is a popular girls' name in America, often shortened to Kenzie.

"At what stage can Beau ever be used as a name for a girl and it stops being wrong and has instead evolved"

When the meaning of the word changes from a masculine adjective. That could happen. As you say, language evolves.

The patriarchy.