Have you got a unisex name? Does it cause issues?

[birdofthenorth]

If bump is a DD I'm thinking of Jude, with Judith on the bc after MIL, but definitely Jude day to day, until/unless she chooses otherwise.

Just worried in case people assume she's male all the time. If you have a unisex name does this happen and does it bother you? Thanks.

[Mintberry]

Hmm, perhaps this is just me but I've always thought unisex names such as Alex, Sam, Lee etc sound quite good on girls and thought they could get away with it fine.
I'm not sure if it's such a good idea for boys, however. A bit of boyishness is considered fine for girls - even empowering, but anything making a boy sound feminine tends to get picked up on and laughed at in the playground! Unfortunate, but definitely confirmed in my experience.

[amillionyears]

I know a family where all 3 kids were unisex names.
Only problem I can see is that people who dont know the family too well,can never remember how many were boys,and how many were girls.

[NellyBluth]

DD's name is abbreviated to a completely unisex name. We call her by the short version of her name and no one has commented, but then IMO its one of the few very few unisex names which is commonly used for girls and boys and has been very a long time. I have to admit, though, that as I don't dress her in an immediately 'girly' way, I often introduce her by her extremely feminine full name, just to make it clear - after a few times of people looking lost when she was a baby dressed in white and I could see they'd been hoping the name would help clear up the confusion!

My old mw was called Jude. I actually think of it as a girl's name more than a boys.

[Brodicea]

I have a unisex name and it has caused a little bit of confusion - 'oh I thought you would be male' before meeting someone at work, but tbh I quite enjoy that :o)

[LiviaAugusta]

Love the name Jude and think it works equally well for girl or boy. I have a unisex name, although with a slightly different spelling, and like it. I didn't like being told I 'couldn't possibly be called that as it's a boys name' as a child, which happened all the time; I went through a phase of wanting to change my name to Lucy as it was the girliest name I could think of! If you have the name Judith on the bc though your DD can always choose to be called a different variation as a nn if they want.

[BuntyCollocks]

It's not my cup of tea for a girl, love it for a boy, though. However, I'm sure not everyone would like my children's names. DS has a unisex nickname, and DD's probable name is unisex, leaning more toward male. As long as its not ridiculous, I don't see the issue.

[schplappo]

I know two Judes who are women and they don't have any issues with the name.

I have a unisex middle name (at least it is in France but not in the UK) and it has caused me endless embarrassment and having to explain it through my life as my family is not French. I think a British unisex name is fine as long as it's commonly used in a unisex way but definitely steer clear of anything from a country you're not from!

[cerealqueen]

It is a boy's name. Hey jude, Jude the Obscure. Jude whathisname the actor.

[freyamalaya]

Jude is a boys name. Judith is a girls name that gets shortened to Judy/Jude as a nn

[MadBusLady]

No.

I have one and I hated it as a child, and still don't like it (problem compounded by its having an unusual spelling). I wouldn't give any child a unisex name.

[septemberpie]

I know a Jude (male) and a Jude (short for Judy).

My ds has a unisex name but is more commonly used for boys in the UK. A few people have been but as a pp said, you tend to associate the name with the person, male or female. I was a bit worried about it to begin with and nearly changed his name but am very glad I didn't as it is still quite uncommon and I love it!

Go for it OP!

[birdofthenorth]

Thanks all. A mixed response, I am still on the fence! Oh well, think we will be finding out th gender in advance so we can stop over-thinking it!

[NormanTheForeman]

I know an adult female Jude (short for Judith) and two primary school age boys called Jude.

In ds's primary school there were two Taylors in a class - one was a boy and one a girl. Very confusing! And in the same class there was a female Morgan and a female Reece (previously I had only met boys with these names).

I would say she is likely to have people thinking she is a boy if they have seen her name written down but not met her IYSWIM.

[OrangeFireandGoldashes]

I worked with a woman called Judith, NN Jude. The only male Jude I "know" is fairly Obscure.

Narked those figures aren't a simple like-for-like comparison, because Jude is a boy's name in its own right, not usually a NN for something else, whereas there will be more female Judes who were actually christened Judith.

[ripsishere]

I've got a unisex name, so has my Dad, Grandad, G GRandad, GG Grandad, GGG Grandad...................
My DD was not given it the only problem that could have arisen was letters just addressed to X Surname. Since I wasn't often the recipient of a gas bill it didn't happen.
I love the name Judith with the NN Jude. Not keen on Judy.

[GoldPlatedNineDoors]

The only Jude I know is a lady. And I.know a Judy. I wouldnt associate it with a male name.

Go for it.

I want Alex for if I have another girl, but wouldnt use it on a boy.

[MoelFammau]

Our DD is Robin. No issues so far, though we call her Bob and she runs around in her male cousins cast-offs too. We have a very 'whatever' attitude to gender though.

I was constantly mistaken for a boy and while it got a bit old at times, it's not something I was scarred by.

If you like Jude, use it.

[Hawdyerweesht]

I know a Jude, middle aged woman, she was deffo a Judy, she was just trying to be trendy - didn't work

[BackforGood]

Quite unwittingly (when we were naming them) both my dds have shortened names that can also be shortenings for boys names (and, among their generation more usually are).
I don't think it's ever bothered them - if they are there, it's apparent they are girls, and if it's written down, then it tends to be their full name - but I get people I'm talking to looking at me all confused, quite a lot.

I wouldn't give them a full name that was unisex, it's just the way their names seem to have been shortened.

[Narked]

In 2011 Jude was 83rd in boy's name list (England and Wales) with 764 babies named that.

In 2011 Jude was 1438th in the girl's name list (England and Wales) with 21 babies named that.

[FairPhyllis]

I have a unisex name. It is more common as a girls' name in the UK, so I don't have any problems with it there. In the US (where I am now) it is very rarely used as a woman's name, so I do quite often have problems with it - people are always giving me a did-I-hear-that-right look, and they often mishear it as a different name because they are not expecting me to have what sounds like a male name to them. Accent probably plays a part too. It is a right pain, to be honest. But don't let that put you off - you might not get that issue in the UK.

[jenbird]

I know a female Jude. I have always thought of it as a female name.