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

Chequered

Maxwell is a little too masculine. Maxing nn Max maybe? Congratulations on your little girl.

Maxine not Maxing!

Maxilly
Maxanna
Maxabelle
Maxanne

blackandgreen - a lot of us aren't concerned for the reasons you suggest. It's more as chequered says. Giving a boy's name to a girl is not gender-neutral or unisex; it's labelling a child of one physical sex with a gender-signifier traditionally - and currently - associated with another. What sort of message does that send? I'm all for names that don't signify any gender, so that children won't be labelled or constrained by a name. But I really don't see the logic behind swapping gendered names - especially, as previous posters have said, when traditionally female names are not usually used for boys. It just devalues the feminine.

However - and this is a serious question - do people who give boys' names to girls foresee a future when all names will have lost their traditional gender association? Will boys in future be called 'Rose' or 'Daisy' or 'Evangeline',? If those people genuinely do see themselves as pioneers , then that's a bit different. But as this thread suggests, that time is probably not here yet.

I think putting all these rules on what is expected of certain genders is the problem. If I want to call my daughter Reece and dress her entirely in pink with frilly socks then I will. I'm not limiting her by giving her a traditional male name in the same way as I'm not limiting her by dressing her traditionally girly. People should push the boundaries. I'm all for calling my son Pixie.

But isn't that rather the point? 'Pixie' is gender neutral. In stories, pixies can be male or female or neither.

As yet - and yes, things can and do change - names such as 'Rose' and (ahem) 'Flora' are still widely perceived as feminine. I'm not saying that's the right thing for people to do, and I'm certainly not making rules, but I honestly do think that it is , for the moment, current naming practice.

To be more positive, it's genuinely good news that children you teach are so open and accepting about names.

I have a girl cat called Maxwell, I thought it was pretty gender neutral when I picked it but EVERYONE thinks she’s a boy, I correct them once and when they inevitably call her a he again I just leave it because she’s a cat and it really doesn’t matter.

I know someone with a very generic, common male name (like James) and has spent her life correcting people that she is not a Mr. Or the female version. She is a very confident individual but even she gets frustrated with having to correct people.

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

This makes me think you are a GF. Because this thread is nothing to do with non binary or trans.

Sorry but I think Maxwell is about as feminine as Brian.

I know a lot of Jamie’s who hate their name because people assume they’re male at first.

I know a girl Blair. How about Toni?

What about Dave?

Also you must remember that baby name websites make it all up.

I saw one that listed Artaith as a Welsh name. It means torture/suffering. It's not a name. Nor were many others that had just been plucked from the dictionary and listed as names, hundreds and hundreds. They're mainly bullshit. Same one indeed listed loads of names as both male/female when they weren't, made up nonsense bland 'meanings' - much loved! Shining! Gift! Etc.

Load of old cobblers.

Exactly fizzy

I was looking at baby names with my sister on a popular site, some of the ‘unisex’ Polish names on there are certainly not!

The moral of the story is never to ask a question if there's only one answer you want to hear.

I have heard of Ryan for a girl. Can’t remember where, but think it must have been an American tv program. I don’t like it all that much. Don’t hate it though.

Maxwell and Ruaridh are Scottish boy names to me, so I’d find it quite surprising to meet a Scottish girl with either of those names tbh. My friend is Frances (she goes by something else now) and she hates her name as people always thought she’d be a boy when she was introduced.

I like names which can be unisex, like Evelyn, Kelly, Robin and Rowan or longer girl names which can be shortened to something more boyish;

Leonora - Leo
Aurora - Rory
Georgiana - George
Alexandra - Alex
Harriet - Harry

If you’re set on Max for short, then maybe Maxine, (I don’t really like it tbh, but you might).

I quite like the ‘surnames-as-first-names’ thing for girls though. I actually prefer it for girls than boys for some reason. They aren’t traditionally ‘boy’ or ‘girl’ names anyway, so they’re fair game for either imo.

The thing about wanting to pick a unisex / gender neutral name is that it always seems to be girls being called traditionally male names ime. You never hear of boys being called girl names.

Maximiliana is pretty.