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?

Reuset you'd be amazed at the amount of people these days who don't know who Shakespeare is never mind Lysander!

DD's 1&2 have only had the pleasure of his company from my collection as it's never been part of their English curriculum.

Shakespeare is part of the GCSE English curriculum. But

But there is also character called Lysander in one of Jilly Cooper's sagas.

The Lysander was an aircraft much used by SOE in World War II to infiltrate agents into Europe, so a cool name by any definition.

I'm in Scotland & neither of them have had any Shakespeare at school so far... one is 15 (3rd year) & the other almost 17 (5th year).

I on the other hand did The Merchant of Venice & A Midsummer Nights Dream... my 14yo self wanted to call any subsequent daughters Portia (not as unusual these days) & Hippolyta

What about the name Ashley? Sounds like a girl's name but I know a few male Ashleys

This thread is giving me a headache. Name your kid whatever you want. Some names are matter of taste,some names are a matter of stupid.

P.s. Sorry i brought up Beau being used as a boys name but in bloody AMERICA. After the Civil War. In France it was and still is an adjective. But i guess some people will read what they want to read if it suits their rhetoric.

I know male and female Ashleys in the US, too.

Both of my boys have names that are also names given to girls. Neither have been bullied about it.

Fuck are they traditional girls names? Like Sarah or Eva or Sophie or whatever?

There is a big difference between names that are also given to girls and girls names......

And Lulu passim is actually Lucian-a very definitely male name.

Sorry to reopen the cab of worms that was the Beau debate but WHAT?! There are people calling their daughters Beau?! I found it bizarre enough the couple of times I've encountered it as a male name but the wrongness of its use for a girl is off the scale. That's not appropriating a male name, it's just having a deliberate tin ear for any linguistic nuance or meaning whatsoever.

Yep, Minty- a couple of hundred girls last year and 300 boys.

I got a lot of shit from old gimmer relatives over ds2's name as it's 95% used for girls in this country. Before he was born anyway, no one has said anything since. He's been mistaken for a girl a few times but generally there are no crazily raised eyebrows if I correct them. Ds1's name is about 75% used for girls in America, but mostly boys here. Both names are very old, not place names and not "surnames for first names".

minty Ex wanted to call ds1 Beau if he had been a girl. There was a little girl of the same name in the movie "signs" and that's where he got the idea. not that I would have allowed it

What is the name, fuckit?

I love francie and josie mil had videos and tapes used to make me howl

Derail alert - In regards to ds1 name we hadn't realised the shakespeare thing - altho i did shakespeare for gcse and a level i never did that play. Once when i was in a shop a very well spoken horsey lady came over and winked saucily and said 'i love Jilly Cooper too' and i was baffled till months later someone mentioned the man who made women jealous. DH worked for a US company who all thought he was named after the plane and occasionally people burst into song about Hector and Alexander!

I also have a classical name and i use a shortening. When i grew up the name i use was always female. But now i hear it more commonly for boys (also a shortening of something else i assume). In fact when i worked 8 years ago i would arrange meetings via email and people would be surprised when a women turned up. Particularly in some countries they were quite irritated and once said they wouldn't have agreed to the meeting without 'my boss there' when they saw i was female. They even rearranged the meeting table to move me from the head seat as it wasn't right a woman sitting at the head, and they made me get out my business card to prove it was really my name.

Yes I know :) it's just funny when it happens in lidl.

Ah yes, i feel your pain. My name was used in a popular 80/90s sitcom and every time i introduced myself i got a comment. Once i was a plus 1 at a wedding (full of cunts) and i found another plus 1 with a name that was currently in the charts. We got sloshed together while hiding from the huge group of blokes bellowing 'oi where's Rodney' and 'ALICE ALICE WHO THE FUCK IS ALICE' at us. Bonding over name misfortune.

What about the name Ashley? Sounds like a girl's name but I know a few male Ashleys

A boy's name or a surname which has been appropriated for girls. Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind is a man.

It's in the same ball park as Tracy, Stacey and Case you.