Maxwell too masculine?

[othership]

I love Maxwell (nickname Max) for our girl, but is it too masculine?
I do prefer more unisex names (Ryan, Rhuaridh, Blair) but worry they might be too masculine

I will state we are Scottish and I had 3 female Blairs at my school as well as 2 males so for me it’s unisex and always will be

Well if you are Scottish then you should know better, I assumed you were in Islington .

And since there are only about 15 girls born each year in Scotland called Blair , it’s amazing that three of them were in your school. Maybe it’s a fashion in your town.

I’d reconsider using Maxine as I’ve never heard of a female Maxwell. Also Mackenzie nn Max might work. Or would the clan association be too much?

And since there are only about 15 girls born each year in Scotland called Blair , it’s amazing that three of them were in your school. Maybe it’s a fashion in your town.

This is not as impossible as you seem to suggest. Pretty much every Magnus, Sigurd, Thorfinn, or Rognavald in Britain will be born in Orkney or Shetland (or have a parent from there).

I’m pretty sure that not everyone born in Orkney and Shetland ( or who has a parent from there ) goes to the same school. That would be a rather long commute.

And I did say that it might be a fashion in her town.

Interesting point about the Viking names. Although in fact Orcadians now call their sons James Matthew Oliver and William.

And the dozen or so baby Magnuses are more likely to live in Edinburgh or the Highlands. But I’m sure they all go to the same school .

It’s such a a great name too.

Sadly I couldn’t find any babies called Sigurd, Thorfinn, or Rognavald to test your theory.

Haha i know of two Magnus's at Watsons in Edinburgh!

See I telt yous

Yes it’s too masculine, because it’s a boys name. These pointless websites will claim every name is unisex to appease try-hard parents who just want their LO to be yoonique

It's very masculine... it's a boys' name!

I do think Maxine is due a revival, though!

I'm really sorry I do not like those names for a girl at all. Max does happen to be one of my favourite boys names though! If you want to go for something that isn't too girly sounding then what about something like Harper?

If you have a girl, why would you want them to be named as a boy? Apart from confusion throughout their life are you not giving a subliminal message that you wanted a boy? Why would you want to,do that to a child when there’s literally hundreds, if not thousands, of girls names.
All this gender neutral rubbish is creating a confused generation. Males and females are different and children need to be taught it’s ok to be the sex they are born with.

Loving the little Gilmore Girl derailment in this thread.

If you want to go for something that isn't too girly sounding then what about something like Harper?

Because everyone will think she’s a fan of the Beckhams, perhaps?

Because it is a boys name. I feel for your daughter. Poor kid.

Crumbs1 - we wanted a girl. We are happy she is a girl. “All this gender neutral rubbish” is not rubbish at all for many people across the world, sex and gender are two very different things. Here’s hoping your children themselves are not non binary or trans as I imagine it wouldn’t be pleasant to come out to such a backwards parent.

User71017 - I would think the fact she will be brought into a loving family, have a happy childhood and be allowed to reach her full potential would be more important than her name and is more important than your poor judgement.

I’ve had more than a few messages saying this board isn’t the place for unisex names so I think I’ll be removing myself soon and going elsewhere.

I’ve had more than a few messages saying this board isn’t the place for unisex names so I think I’ll be removing myself soon and going elsewhere

I don't think that's true. There have been some really good unisex name threads.

But MN does tend to call out bullshit.

So listing boys' names and insisting that they're unisex was always going to get a sensible response.

If you want to be "yessumed" there are LOADS of places where everyone will nod along with any nonsense.

OP but Maxwell is not a unisex name?!

Or do you define a unisex name as a name that someone somewhere has once used for a different sex than the one it is used for 99.9% of the time?

Blake Lively called her daughter James - would you say that’s a unisex name? If you found someone on the internet had called their son Emily, would you think that’s unisex?

Max can be unisex, but Maxwell isn’t,

This is going back to a point made earlier:

In Scotland (and I think in the USA as well) children were sometimes given family surnames, especially the mother's maiden name, either for sentimental/family pride reasons, to 'keep the name going', or with an eye to inheriting from a rich older relative. Or sometimes simply because it was 'tradition'.
Usually, the mother's maiden name was given to the second son, as his first name. (The first son was traditionally given his paternal grandfather's first name.) But if there was no son, the name might be given to a daughter instead. That's understandable. I do, however, find it rather puzzling to choose a traditionally male name for a girl for any other reason. As previous posters have said, there are genuinely unisex names, if you wish to avoid gender-labelling.

I do think it’s interesting that when we talk about “gender neutral names” we are always talking about using traditionally boy’s names for girls.

We are never talking about using traditionally girls names for a boy.

I’m sure someone will point me in the right direction if I’ve missed it but I’ve never seen a thread suggesting eg Arabella or Mary or Jennifer for a boy.

Why not? It’s no different from suggesting Maxwell for a girl.

would think the fact she will be brought into a loving family, have a happy childhood and be allowed to reach her full potential would be more important than her name and is more important than your poor judgement.

So why canvass opinion from a bunch of randoms on the internet if you’re so convinced that, not only is Maxwell a unisex name, but that it’s the right name for your female child?

"Mac in this instance means “son of”

So Mackenzie is, by definition a male name. It doesn’t matter how many people use it for a girl, it remains a male name."

Do you feel the same way about Madison?

Because Cavender, misogyny reigns supreme.
Femaleness is seen as 'lees'.Which is why traditionally unisex names, i.e. Leslie are seen as 'wet' and unideal, as soon as they are used for girls.
Which is why this ridiculous American trend for giving girls 'boys' names is viewed so dimly by feminists. Giving women 'male' names and telling them to aim for a male ideal so they can earn more (work more hours, avoid anything pink) is just another way to devalue femaleness, and justify treating women as the 'worse' sex. It's the same old nonsense as when people say 'I can't imagine a Prime Minister being called Annabel'. Erm, why?Because it's a female name, and females are so crap and unprofessional?

OP, are you considering any girls names for your DAUGHTER?

Chequered Quite.

I know a little girl called Elliot-works for her. Although she is sometimes called Ellie🤔

OP call your daughter what you want and don't worry about random opinions of people hiding behind their keyboards. So some people may think she's a boy before meeting her? Is that the worst thing in the world? She may go to school with a boy called Bear, I'm sure the teacher won't expect a cub to wander in. Names are becoming more unusual and often teachers don't 'expect' anything (I am a teacher myself) also, kids are far less cruel than adults. Maxwell will probably have friends called Purple, River and Bruce (I know children with all of these names) and think nothing of it.