Kristien

[DizziDoll]

If you saw the name 'Kristien', would you think 'boy' or would you think 'girl'?

My firsts thought would be "I wonder why they spelled that name wrong". Sorry.

I'd think you couldn't spell Christian (a boy)

Or Kirsten (a girl )

Agree with AnythingNotEverything, but girl.

And which name would you think is spelled wrong? This is a pretty common name in the country I am from, but am interested which gender people in the UK would automatically assign to it.

Please don't give your child a name that no one will ever get right. It must be the most fucking annoying think to have to spell your name continuously and yet still see it spelt 15 different ways on correspondence.

Girl, it is a Dutch/Flemish version of Christine.

I'm sure it's the right spelling for your country but it would be spelt differently here

So far I have 1 x girl. Any other opinion on your first thought on gender?

I thought it must be a version of Christine (female).

Kristien for a girl kristian for a boy.. I know at least three Kristians here

I realise it is spelled differently here, but we will return to our country in a few years so the correct spelling there is more important to us. The gender question is what I would like an opinion on.

If you receive a business email from someone called Kristien (entirely possible as the name exists), would you think it is from a man or a woman?

Boy -I work with one

Thanks littlefish and worley

I would assume a boy, because Christian is a boys name and I expect it's the same pronunciation.

I would assume male.

I would think it wad from a female as to me the e makes it look feminine where as an a would make me think male. I would think it was either a version of Christine or a feminine form of Christian.
How is it prn? I would guess at chris-tee-enn

I would assume male as I would sound it as Christian but have it with an accent in my head (not sure which accent). But the -en ending might make me think female... Basically I wouldn't really know so would avoid any wording in correspondence that would indicate male/female and probably google the name if I desperately needed Mr/Ms etc.

Tis a nice name though, in my head it's Chris-tee-enn same as above. How is it pronounced OP?

It looks like a spelling of Kristen or Kirsten to me, but if this is how it is spelled in your home country, obviously it's not too important how it looks here.

It is pronounced exactly the same way as Christine.

I'll come clean. My question is not to name a baby. It is in fact about my own first name, which is a part of Kristien (I am totally outing myself). I am about to become self employed and my name is so hard for people in England to pronounce / spell. My last name is even worse.

So I am thinking of using Kristien as a working name as at least it is pronounced the same as Christine but my real name is still in there somewhere.

Thanks for input!

Haha!! DizZidoll you didn't say you were going to use it for a child people assumed!!! I can imagine then backtracking now!
have you googled it to see how many times it comes up and how? And what gender the people are? I think mnetter a would be surprised by the results and kristien is a girls name :)

But you've still got the same problem, most of us wouldn't have pronounced it Christine, and the majority thought it was a mans name.

Couldn't you just use your own name and put Ms or Mrs? (And possibly a phonetic spelling of you name in brackets underneath it).

I'd hope that not knowing how to pronounce someone's name wouldn't put a person off contacting you, but you never know

But why would it matter what gender someone thought you are?
Sam, Max, Chris, Pat - none of those give someone's gender away.

I assumed female - but dh has an auntie called this.

Depending on how 'serious' your business is, would you consider Kristie and keep your surname as is it? Kristie most definitely looks female and the pronunciation is obvious to people in the UK.

May not work if you feel a diminutive name isn't appropriate for you.

I would assume girl because of the 'e'. That may be wrong but it sounds like a girls name to my ears. Maybe because I have a cousin called Kristen.