Unisex/Gender neutral names - opinions???

[thecatisdead1]

I mean names like
Charlie
Alex
Billie/Billy
Cameron
Cassidy
Chris
Ellis
Esme
Jamie
Jess/Jesse/Jessie
Peyton
Ronnie
Randi/Randy
Sam

And any other ones you can think of.

Are they just girl/boy names mascarading as the other? Does it really effect DC if the have a name that people may think are the other gender?

Ah, and Kim - I think of it as male, because I know one, but I guess also often female.

Ditto Mika (I know both M & F versions - not sure where the name comes from, though).

Bunty, Rowan trees grow to 15 metres tall!

www.naturescalendar.org.uk/wildlife/factfiles/trees/rowan.htm
as the above says

"Beware of the many cultivars and hybrids that are planted in streets, parks and gardens" - which do not grow as tall; many people assume that Rowan trees stay the height of the ones they see in supemarket car parks etc.

Either gender, it's a lovely name.

I know a girl called James, which I though was a little weird at first, but it quite suits her.

Ooh interesting thread -we're contemplating Jude for a girl (full nam Judith, family name).

I'm a bit worried everyone might think she's a boy even though it sounds very feminine to me.

I know 3 little Jude's all boys, aged 5, 2 and 2. my friends mum is also a Jude though... Tricky one...

Jude definitely a boy's name, I know 2, but I also know a Judith who is called Jude or Judi as a nn.

My brothers gf is Jude

My youngest is Indy, although as he is only 4 months old we have no idea if having a unisex name will disadvantage him.

I know a female Jude, presumably a Judith but she is a Jude and couldn't ever be anything else.

Thanks vividginger ; I know the native rowan is not the sad little supermarket car park tree. Sorbus aucuparia is still a lot smaller than the average British woodland tree though, and known for it's blossom and fruit, so doesn't seem very masculine to me.
However, each to their own. I know a boy called Stacey..

Love Stevie and frankie for girls

My name is unisex I hate it. no it hasnt affected me at all!! you know apart from when i hae some smart allick try to tell me that their computer says im wrong about being MRS when I arrived for a residential thing to find I had been put in the mens area when I receive letters to MR and when people ask me if I know about Lonnie Donnovan (yes I do no he is not good why are you mentioning a singer most people below 30 wont have heard off and really are better of not knowing off)
its also mildly annoying when I have people look at me go " oh your a girl" well yes last I checked..

please dont do it.. no it hasnt shaped my life but its a pain in the proverbial. It was one of my huge no gos when we picked names NO unisex names

Maybe there's a difference between a truly unisex name, though Lonnie, and one which is most normally associated with one sex?

If you're a boy named Sue, everyone is likely to assume you're a girl. If you're a man named Rowan, or a woman called Sam, its not quite the same.

Have realised that no-one has mentioned one of my favourite unisex names - Robin/Robyn.

Agree with Lonnie - avoid it if you can. Some of the now popular nature names are less obviously gendered, but the child is still saddled with a name that some people will automatically assume belongs to the other gender.

I have met men called Tracy, Leslie, Kimberley, and Hillary - all of them have have bulked up at the gym and act very tough - school must have been hell!

Not all the names you listed are unisex, the parents however may be 'original'.

I met a 10 month old baby, dressed in blue trousers and plain top, called Sam, I actually had to ask was it a boy or a girl, there was no way I could tell. It was a girl.

It would have helped if she had either been dressed in girly clothes or had a girl's name.

I have a Robin. She gets dressed in red, orange and green. I really don't care if people think she's a boy at first meeting.

Patsy is a common name for men in Ireland. I went to school with a male Lauren. It was years later before I realised it was more common as a girls name.

I really don't like gender neutral names. I have a fairly common name generally used for girls, but in some areas it is a boys name as well. I did once get put in the boys' register at secondary school. It was quite humiliating (I was 12).

If people must use neutral names why not make sure the middle name is obviously for a girl/ boy, like Ashley Elizabeth or Eden John, so there is no confusion.

Bunty, each to their own as you say :)
Stacey for a boy, hmm!

I like Robin and Rowan; most other gender neutral names are hideous (I have one myself so know this)

I know a 40 yo man called Stacey. You have to have a strong personality to get through life with that sort of name. Robin was always a boy's name when I was growing up, but I only know girls under the age of 15 or so, usually Robyn.

I don't get this 'getting put into the girls part of the school' - surely that is why there is a question asking for a child's gender. Lots of foreign names may be ambiguous as to the gender, hence the question.

Shortened forms of full m/f names ok (e.g. Sam, Jo, Jude)

but I find that full names that are unisex just tend to be a bit odd or boring sounding or just a bit made up. They are just never particularly nice sounds.