“Strong”/ unisex girls names

[aprilfools19]

Some that I like are

Alexandra shortened time Alex or Andi
Helena shortened to Lenny
Dylan
Juliet (obviously not unisex but I think it’s strong sounding)
Brynn
Theo
Edie
Ellen

I tend to shy away from frilly very “girly” names as they tend to only suit girly girls. Can you imagine Ellen Degeners or Cate Blanchett or evening someone like Michelle Obama being called Poppy or Daisy? (Nothing wrong with those names- lovely names but I want something that’s more adaptable to all personality types).

temps you’ve worded much more concisely and clearly exactly how I feel! I’m not anti feminine names. I’m just not keen on what I see as “frilly” names. Which again i suppose is subjective. Some of my choices are leaning more towards masculine than strong-feminine but I really like Rowan, Merryn and Kit from your list.

Yeh I agree @FrogsFrogs

Having said that I don’t really like frilly girls names but to me Lily and Poppy arent frilly. Frilly to me means overly long with too many syllables. Genevieve I can’t stand (i know many like it)

I adore the name Robyn (or Robin for a boy.)

My daughter is Rowan but sadly the name does get muddled up with Roman (with an M). Hadn’t appreciated when I chose it that Roman was the fastest rising boy name last year and there’s 2 at our local small nursery. Will pick a less trendy name next time as I hate having to say “Rowan with a W”

Names like Aurora you can use nickname Rory.

Do you like names like Harriet (female version of Harry) or Georgie (female version of George) or Phillipa (female version of Phillip). I personally detest those names as feel as if the male name has just been used but a bit of “frill” added to make it feminine. Actually I do like Harriet so would consider that name
@aprilfools19

frogs not weak. I’ve never used the word weak!! I just think some of the more “frilly” names are much more suitable if the child fits them personality wise. Daisy, ivy, poppy, Susie etc can 100% suit a girl to the ground and be perfect for her. I just think it can also seem mismatched you’re certain personality types. Nothing about being weak! But again maybe this isn’t the right way to think about it. As others have said a child will fit into their name in their own way. I mean look at Ruby Rose- two very “twee” names and she’s anything but! Definitely making me question my own ideas but I’m still not keen on those cutsie named nevertheless

Morgan
Martina (Marty)
Noa
Joanna (Jo)
Josephine (Jo)

Or what about naming her after one of the many strong women in history?

I think basically it’s all very subjective and down to personal taste and associations with particular names. I think some of the names we liked (e.g. Rosa) we saw as ‘strong’ because we linked them to particular people (Rosa Parks) rather than because they had a specific sound.

That said, I definitely shy away from both very long names with lots of vowels and short, cutesy, nicknamey names, both of which have been very popular in the U.K. lately. I’m a teacher and all the Millies/Tillies/Lilys/Ellies/Maisies started to blur into each other after a while!

@PlantPotting DD was very nearly a Rowan but we decided against for this very reason. Still love it though and it’s now her middle name - rowans are my favourite trees.

OP I think it's perhaps a little bit more than a matter of simply being conventional/unconventional. What Frogs says is very true, but also:

Many names have long histories, some going back for thousands of years, and this gives them an identity that is normally perceived as either typically female or male. Yes, you can go against this, but why would you? What message are you sending? (There are several possible answers to that. One of them has traditionally been to do with inheritance - "give the child my name and I'll leave my money to him/her "- or to stop a family name dying out, but another of them is - alas - that you consider boys' names 'better' than girls'.)

Many names also have meanings that are still readily understood by people speaking the relevant languages today. For example, Beau means 'handsome male'. Blair means 'field' or 'meadow' - and it's also become a surname. That's what comes into their mind when they hear those words, not a baby girl. Yes, of course they will soon understand that it's also your baby's name, but (again), why would you do this? What message are you trying to send?

Other names are linked with male or female characters from myths and legends or famous characters from the past. Dylan, for instance, refers to a male mythological water spirit and/or a great poet. People who know about these things will first think of the male in the story or from history when the hear the name, rather than a baby girl. Will that always be to her advantage? Of course, if you're a passionate fan of the poet, then you could use that as an explanation, I suppose...

Please excuse me. I really don't mean to be critical. Your baby = your choice.

Theo is a boy’s name. Thea for a girl.

This is standard but not universal

Theodosia Burr Alston – of “Dear Theodosia” fame from the musical Hamilton – answered to Theo.

What about Pascale? Do you like it?

Do you see names ending in A -typical Latinate ending - as girly/frilly? That would rule out a lot. Do you see names ending inE - typical French ending - as girly/frilly? That also rules out a lot. Names that are diminutives? Like Alison or Juliet? That rules out more. All flower names? All virtue names? Virtues tend to be personified as female. Do you want to rule out all names that are a female equivalent of a male name? Julia? Alexandra? I’d be looking back to Anglo Saxon names. Edith. Ethel.

I absolutely love Dylan for a girl.

Other than that you could try:
Piper
Juno
Billie
Margot
Rosa
Anna.

Dylan doesn’t work for a girl because the pronunciation makes it unfortunate- dull Ann.

Jessie 😬

As a girl with a traditionally boys name I urge you to think of her having to spend the next however many yrs: being called the wrong name, teased at school, have people check “are you sure” and ask what it’s short for etc.....

Kim
Kip
Pip
Merle
Joss

Dale

I like girIs' names that are not derived from a boys' name - for example: Anne/Anna, Astrid, Bonnie, Eilidh, Eleanor/Elinor, Elizabeth, Genevieve, Ginevra, Grace, Grainne, Imogen, Ingrid, Isabella, Lily, Margaret, Mary, Penelope, Rachel, Rebecca/Rebekah, Rose, Sarah, Sigrid, Sophie, Susannah, Veronica, Virginia, Winifred, Zoe.

Some others that can work easily for a boy or a girl:
Ash
Aspen
Blair
Blake
Blyth(e)
Frances/Francis > and nicknames like Frankie
Greer
Hilary
Kit (short for any Cat-/Kat- name, or Christopher/Christian)
Lee/Leigh
Lesley/Leslie
Linden
Lindsay
Morgan
Nico/Nicky (short for Nicole, Nicola, Nicholas)
Rowan
Sage
Sasha
Teagan

[I]n the UK we are more “conventional” with names. Depends what you mean by conventional. Last year in Scotland, the name Evie was more popular than Eva, Eve, and Evelyn combined. Who on earth gives their child the legal name "Evie"? Or Rosie, Annie, Alfie, Archie, etc.? British people, not (primarily) Americans.

Instead of trying to portray ‘strength’ by giving her a name which (in the UK at least) will be assumed to be a boy’s name, why not get some inspiration from strong women, e.g.:
Rosa (Parks)
Ada (Lovelace)
Greta (Thunberg)
Harriet (Tubman)
Amelia (Earhart)
Serena (Williams)
Eleanor (of Aquitaine)
Amy (Johnson)
Elizabeth (Fry - or Elizabeth I!)
Emma (González)

Cyd

Rae

As an Alexandra I wholeheartedly agree

Pip
Billie
Darrell

I know female Dylan and Blakes. I agree all the -ie girls names are very girly and, in my observations, can become a bit of a self fulfilling prophecy. Certainly if I think of all the girls at my son's school who are particularly girly and don't want to join in with football and video games and Physics, they are generally named like this. Sorry if that offends anyone but it is a reasonable generalisation where I live. The ones that are more gender robust shall we say are called things like Eleanor, Anna, Amanda, Claudia and yes a Juliet. I think Juliet very much fits the criteria of being a strong woman's name without having to go down the unisex routes and being accused of giving them a boy's name.

Robyn/Robin
Frankie
Cidonie/Cid
Jaime

All ones that I like