The James for girls hype

[candlelighttt]

I see more and more people using James as a middle name for girls. I first heard this name when it was used by celebrities to name their daughter a few years ago. Now I see it come up on multiple threads and forums.

What do you think of it? I am still too new to this trend so haven't really made up my mind about how I feel about it.

I think it's a boys name

Just think of it as really American.
I think in the UK you’d deffo assume it was a boy.

Maybe it would help more women be considered for higher paid roles in the work place if we call them James, John, Matthew etc 😉😬

It’s a boys name always will be. That said however I remember meeting a baby girl Robin back in 1992 and obviously I didn’t say anything but I remember finding it really odd and thinking “Thats a boys name.”. Now a days Robin/Robyn is more predominantly a girls name. Therefore in 30 year down the line who knows.

It's a boys name. Used years ago by an actress but she changed it to Jamie.

james is a cool name for a girl, i can see ppl doing alternate spellings tho like "jaimes" or something like when u call girls "jaime"

I don't like the way choices for boys names keep getting whittled down because they become unisex and then predominantly girl's names.

It pisses me off because it's another example of "male as the best" - higher status, more interesting, better. Boys names are used for girls and it's oh so cool but girls names are never used for boys. No-one is starting a thread about making their boy Emma or Jayne.

Boys names become unisex, unisex become girls names, because once a name is associated with girls no-one will touch it for a boy.

@SirSamuelVimesBlackboardMonito

It pisses me off because it's another example of "male as the best" - higher status, more interesting, better. Boys names are used for girls and it's oh so cool but girls names are never used for boys. No-one is starting a thread about making their boy Emma or Jayne.

Boys names become unisex, unisex become girls names, because once a name is associated with girls no-one will touch it for a boy.

This. No-one's calling their sons Elizabeth or Arabella.

I like Jamie for a girl

Beverley, Evelyn, Shirley, Alexis... and now James.

Boys name. But then I had a (Woman) friend whose middle name was Stephen.

Fully agree with some PP. Some boys names I like have completely become girls names and absolutely unusable. I do hope that doesn't happen to James as it's a great name for a boy.

Ashley (still acceptable in the UK for a boy I think)
Shannon
Cassidy
Dana

I actually think when you say it out loud, it can sound quite nice for a girl.

It’s just too well established as a boys name for me to ever consider actually using it as a girls name tho.

Lindsay and Lesley are also names I would associate as female

To be honest if I saw it as a middle name I would assume it was a family surname being used as a middle name.

I think of it the same as using Sarah as a first name for a boy.

I’m still annoyed that this has happened to Aubrey.

There is something really naff about James for a girl. Very 80s somehow.

James is the most popular default middle name for boys. I don't see it as a girls name at all.

James is a boys name, always has been and always will be.

I weirdly love it for a girl. Isn’t it in a friends episode where Rachel puts it on the table as ‘James...but only if it’s a girl’ and Ross vetoes it? That’s the only time I’ve ever heard it and I really like it.

I could never get used to calling a girl James.
Maybe because it's my brother's name and I know so many males called James. It would be like being introduced to a boy called Kate.

Maybe because James sounds quite soft? Not very 'strong' or masculine?

Great, so girls are soft and weak, and boys are strong and hard? Ffs.

People will assume James is a boy as much as Daisy or Poppy are assumed to be girls' names?