Teddy for a girl?

[AyeWhySWIM]

Quick question - which girls' names could shorten to Teddy? I think I like it. May be mad.

I like the idea of some all female groups. I don't care however if boys and girls share name. Or take on Forrin names.

We are in a new world, people!

And yes, women saying boastfully that they are like a man or a bloke like this is better does pee me off.

So nobody would have a problem with naming their son Sophia, then?

But why is suggesting David or Simon for a girl any stranger than suggesting Teddy? David is a boy's name; Teddy is a boy's name. Sophia is a girl's name so if we are all unisex and cool about names' origins what is wrong with it for a boy?

a 'teddy' is an undergarment.
www.marksandspencer.com/silk-teddy-with-french-designed-rose-lace/p/p22233019

It's different to using David etc because I was intending to use it as a shortened version/nickname for a girls' name like Sam for Samantha rather than Sam for Samuel or Alex for Alexandra rather than Alexander! And I've met plenty of male and female Sams, Alexes, Ashleys and Jordans.

The original question was 'which girls' names can shorten to Teddy?' not 'what do you all think about me giving a traditionally male name to a girl?'

If it's helpful I know an Elodie shortened to Eddie. I also knew a girl called Tommi but wasn't brave enough to use it for my daughter

And there are Harrys and Terrys and Lee/Leighs!

Have only this minute realised that both my sons have names that can, in one way or another, be used for girls too!

But I betcha they are actually boy's names that can be used for girls. I can't think of a single girl's name that's also used for boys.....What usually happens is that a boy's name starts to be used for girls and almost immediAtely nobody uses it for boys any more. Perish the thought that anyone might mistake a boy for a girl!

One is a stand alone name for a boy that can also be a shortened version of a fairly rare girls' name though apparently there's one on an American tv show that I don't watch. The other is a very rare name that can be used for either gender on its own or as a shortened version of both a girls' name and a boys' name! Cryptic but as they're both quite unusual names I'm not willing to share them here.

Kerry is used for both males and females.

And as OP said, it's a nickname. I'm sure before the name Alexandra became popular, shortened to Alex, people say "but that's a BOY'S name you can't use that!” And that is equally popular for girls and boys I would imagine. As are Samuel/Samantha, Harold (or more likely Harry alone) and Harriet etc.

Alexandra has been used as a girls name for around 2000 years. The clue to differentiate it from male Alexander is in the ending - in languages based on Latin, or partly on Latin, like English, a final letter 'a' signifies female gender.

Traditionally, the female shortening of Alexandra was 'Alix', not 'Alex'. And for much of the 20th century, the most popular male shortening of Alexander was 'Alec'.

Samuel and Samantha are not male/female versions of the same name. They have different origins. Samuel is from the Old Testament and is thousands of years old. Samantha is a name invented in the USA in the 18th century, possibly based on 'Sam' and Anthea', but no-one really knows for sure. www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-First-Oxford-Paperback-Reference/dp/0198610602#reader_0198610602

Harriet is a female version of Henry, not Harold. It was invented, as 'Henriette', in the 17th century. Translated into English it became Harriet or Harriette. www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-First-Oxford-Paperback-Reference/dp/0198610602#reader_0198610602

Teddy has been used for many, many years as a boy's name. Traditionally, it was short for Edward. www.amazon.co.uk/Dictionary-First-Oxford-Paperback-Reference/dp/0198610602#reader_0198610602 The (relatively recent) female version was 'Edwina'. In early 20th cent USA Teddy was also used as short form for Theodore. The female equivalent (short form of Theodora) was 'Dora'.

Teddy is a widely accepted, international nn for Theodora nowadays. It sounds unisex rather than boyish, a bit like Alex, Sam, Nic, etc.
Personally I wouldn't use it on its own without the long name version as the child may feel it is a bit babyish when they are older.

Tedeus

Theodora

My niece is Dr Sam X. Well, not really X obviously.....!

She has never, ever arrived anywhere where people aren't surprised she's a woman.

I think that once names become genuinely unisex they very quickly become girls only. Because people don't mind giving their girls boyish or androgynous names, but do mind with boys and girlish or androgynous.

Not nicknames, though. Lots of boys are called Alex and Sam, even though they are popular nicknames for girls too. And Chris. Another one is George - it has become a popular nickname for Georgina or Georgia, while still being very popular for boys. Teddy is similar, except for the cuddly toy association.

I have a boy Teddy and my mum wanted to call me Edwina, shortened to Teddy.

Incidentally OP, if I have a girl next she'll probably be Francesca/Frankie, giving me a Teddy and a Frankie...!!

I have three cousins called Richard, Jo and Alex and two of them are girls. I doubt the boy/girl name thing applies much to nicknames.

Ah Hakluyt, you're the one who also reckons no one should use names inspired by geekdom/sf/fantasy even if they're completely normal names in their own right.

It is interesting that girls tend to use boys names and not vice versa, but I'm not sure it's worth going on and on about in a thread where the OP has asked a personal question about a name for her own use. Why not start a thread on it? (or not, I is not thread police, just think it's worth branching it off)

"Ah Hakluyt, you're the one who also reckons no one should use names inspired by geekdom/sf/fantasy even if they're completely normal names in their own right."

I don't think I do, do I? I don't have the slightest problem with Clara as a name. Killashandra would raise my eyebrows......

Theodora again, but I would expect a female Teddy to be Teddie, I think, like Frankie, Stevie, Terri, Toni ? Not sure

My mum had a friend known as Paddy (Patricia). I was used to it but others found it v odd! Teddy is obviously a bit cuter but I don't think I'd do it.

I like teddy for either boy or girl. I actually used to look after a teddy (boy) theo (girl) that's not a typo either, she was theo.

Incidently, I have a relative, Christine and for all her life was referred to as Chris. She had a very senior position at NHS and when writing emails to people she didn't know, she would just sign Chris, but she got so sick of the men talking to her like a male, (she couldn't possibly be so senior and female) she returned to signing her name Christine. Often very wrongly people make powerful judgements about others based just on their name. I think it works both ways, some people refer to my OH as Danny, he hates it because of same reason Chris/Christine, people who didn't know him would refer to him as a girl.

Simple solution, people should stop being so bloody judgemental!

Teddy is cute but there are loads of girls' names. I would choose one of those.

Theodora and Edwina both shorten to Teddy. Absolutely fine for a girl imo.

Personally I prefer it for a girl as I'm not so keen on cutesy names for boys.

But Danny is also (and historically probably mostly) a boy's name, not a girl's name! Obviously there are people called Danielle etc with the shortening Danny/Dani/Danni being used but it's not as if Danny is a traditional shortening that only applies to girls, is it? So I don't know why your husband would be mistaken for a girl. I know lots of Chrises of both sexes and all the Dannies I know (apart from Minogue) are boys or men.

Some shortenings are unisex because they are simply the first syllable of the given name eg Chris for Christine or Christopher, Dan/Danny for Daniel/Danielle, Jo/Joe for Joanne or Joseph.