Finley... For a girl?

[Coffeeandafag]

There was one on home and away about 25 years ago dh likes it, is it just silly? For a girl that is, it's popular round here for boys.

You're within you're right to call a daughter Finley. I wouldn't do it myself though. Just like I could call my son Elizabeth, but I sure as hell am not going to!

I think Finley is lovely for a girl.

I also like Flynn and Quinn for girls.

Well Percy is better than Phoney, I suppose.

Traditional boy girl names, rather than ghastly made up Hollywood ones- late 19th early 20 th century:-

Evelyn
Jocelyn
Sydney
Hillary
Robin

I love it! But I have a dd with a 'boys' name so may be biased.

It's silly to say names are for boys or girls, names are names. Obviously it would be unkind to call a son Lucy but less traditional names don't really have that association.

Words they are all ghastly who wants a baby named friggin Sydney

Also words, you realise Home and Away is not 'hollywood' it's an Australian soap hahahahah

This will out me to those who know, but when I had my last child I was determined he/she would be a name beginning with Fin. Finbar for a boy, Finola (or the correct Irish spelling which I now forget) for a girl.

I had a boy, but you might like to consider Finola for a girl. It is a 'proper' girl's name.

It seems all boy to me because it always seems to be shortened to Finn, which is so masculine. But, as a whole name, it's not quite as masculine sounding.

Flynn is more masculine, to draw a comparison to a similar name.

I always assume Finlay is a girl due to the Home and Away connection.

I have worked with a female Ryan and Taylor before.

Electricfly I think you mean fionnuala ? It's a really old irish name but IMO as someone with a lot if family and friends in Ireland including about 15 aunties it's a really old fashioned name I wouldn't like it for a child now bit like calling her Mavis??? But each to their own I suppose !

My dd who is 3 has a name that is unisex but is much much more common in boys.

When she was first born it was annoying people automatically assuming she was a boy. Health visitors not looking at their notes properly and automatically referring to dd as a he also made me glare at them after a while.

On her prescriptions it clearly states F yet our local pharmacy kept printing Master on the label despite me correcting them.

If you can cope with all above then go for it but tbh i now wish i had given her a more definate girls name rather than a unisex but having said that i do love her name

Jude is also for boys and girls. Also have come across Dara for both. I like Finley for a girl. But it's not common around here for boys or girls so no association.

Dylan is a male name, in Welsh mythology he was a god of the sea. Welsh people don't call girls Dylan. Flyn is Irish and means son of a red haired man. These are not unisex names.

Does it really matter though what is 'traditionally' male and female, why can't things change, there's no law against it ! Hilary used to be a male only name. Someone must have thought ooh I'll use that for a girl then it became normal.

Also painted I've never been to Wales and prob never will go so if I had a daughter named Dylan what would it matter ? I'd get silently judged by all the Welsh people who happened to come across her ? None of my business what they think of her name !!

Your baby, your choice, of course.

But male/female names are not just a matter of tradition. As previous posters have said, names - like other words - do have meanings. Finlay is an English version of a Scotttish Gaelic name that means 'fair-haired warrior'. It came into use at a time when almost all warriors were men. So it was generally understood to mean 'fair-haired fighting man'.

Of course 'there's no law against' people using words in a way that does not fit in with their meaning. If they liked, people could go around calling red things blue. But why would anyone want to?

Hilaria as a girl's name is at least 2000 years old. It was used in Ancient Rome. It fell out of fashion as a female name for centuries before being revived.

Well a man can call himself a woman if that's what he feels he is, dress and live as one ! So why can't someone call a baby girl Dylan ?! Your rhetoric is baffling

Simply because of its meaning! Call your child what you like, as you said it won't have any impact on you will it

i dont like a boys name for a girl, but how about something with a male sounding shortening?

Stephanie - Stevie
Francesca- Frankie
Samantha - Sam/Sammy
etc

Hayden! Was thinking yesterday I love it for either sex.

@painteddrives dylan can also be from the old Irish word dealan-de that means butterfly or a Scottish Gaelic word that means lightning. Also there is the girls name peony. The flower was named after a male God but girls get called peony all the time. I have know girls and boys with the name dylan where I grew up in the uk so it's always been unisex to me.

Completely different name though Winnie. I understand that names cross over BUT certain names have very definite male or female meanings. Why call a girl a name such as Flyn, I met one, when it means son of a red haired man. Maybe I'm just out of touch, my DCs are adults and know the meaning of all their names. The world would be a dull place if we all thought the same😀

If two words have different origins and different meanings, can they genuinely be said to be the same, even if they sound vaguely similar?
I'm not being confrontational - that's a genuine question.

The Welsh male name Dylan means something like 'great tide' and is traditionally pronounced Dullan in Welsh, but Dylan in English.

The Scottish Gaelic for butterfly is 'dealan-de' (fire of God) and is pronounced something like 'djyellan-DAY': www.snh.org.uk/gaidhlig/audio/dealan%20de.mp3
The Scottish Gaelic for lightning is 'dealanach': pronounced approx 'djyellANach' forvo.com/search/dealanach/

Also, if a name is used for boys 20 times more frequently than it's used for girls, does not that make it, 'by custom and practice' , a boys name? If it doesn't, then what does?
Again, I'm honestly not being confrontational. Am just interested in words and how they work.

In 2015, there were 158 boys named Dylan in Scotland, and 7 girls.
www.nrscotland.gov.uk/filesstatistics/popular-forenames/2015/babiesnames-15-tab4-all-first-names-alphabetical-order.pdf

Did the parents of those babies think they were giving their children a Welsh name meaning 'great tide' or a Gaelic name derived from either 'lightning' or 'butterfly'? Or were they thinking of Bob Dylan or of something else altogether?

those were just the meanings i got from an irish name website and i was also just saying how where i grew up in the uk ive always known dylan to be a unisex name having known both genders with that name kind of like robin is a unisex name. any way i forgot to answer the ops original question if finley is listed at unisex it should be ok to use. i dont know why everyone has a problem with unisex names. if you want a longer name and use finley as a nickname maybe a name with fin in it like serafina.