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Baby names

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Original poster

Marlowe - boy or girl or either?

80 replies

mamablondie33 · 21/05/2021 15:02

I really like Marlowe for a boy (like the playwright) but I’m seeing it used more and more for girls? Is it considered a ‘girls’ name?

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partyatthepalace · 21/05/2021 18:36

I imagine it became a girls’ name in the US where they are keen on surname names for girls. James and Oliver are Christian names that became surnames (probably as son of...) so it’s not quite the same thing.

Anyway I think Marlowe is getting very popular, and the trouble with surname names when they get popular (Tyler, Ryan, Jenson etc) is they end up with an unhelpful downmarket rep. So I think you missed the boat on this one. There are lots of nice names out there that don’t involve calling your kid MN classics of the Alice and Charlotte type.

Wishingwell75 · 21/05/2021 19:28

I really like it but I prefer it with an E at the end and for a boy. If it was a girl I imagine that people might keep asking "Margot??" 😁

daisypond · 21/05/2021 19:42

Agree with @partyatthepalace

3CCC · 21/05/2021 19:44

My dream dogs name I'm afraid

Hardbackwriter · 21/05/2021 19:46

I know two little girls called Marlowe - I was astonished when I met the first one as DS had repeatedly mentioned 'Marlowe at nursery' and it never crossed my mind that it wasn't a boy's name - I also immediately thought Christopher - so I assumed he'd got it wrong and it was Marla or Maya or something. But then I met the second one, so people around me clearly do think it's a girls' name.

PassMeTheWotsits · 21/05/2021 19:46

Makes me think of Marlo from the wire

AuntieStella · 21/05/2021 19:48

Boy

I don't like surname names much, but they generally work way better on boys. This one makes me think of the playwright

kowari · 21/05/2021 19:49

Surname. Hardly the same as James or Oliver that have been first names for centuries Hmm (were they surnames first then?).

Sloth169 · 21/05/2021 19:56

I absolutely love Marlowe for a little girl (was on my shortlist but I had a boy) but I do quite like ‘boyish’ names for girls, not as keen on it for a boy but not sure why

riotlady · 21/05/2021 19:56

I think it’s pretty unisex to be honest

secretburper · 21/05/2021 19:57

Golden Labrador

Cindie943811A · 21/05/2021 20:02

I haven’t come across it as a first name before and I love it. It has class. Go for it OP.

HumunaHey · 21/05/2021 20:02

@kowari

Surname. Hardly the same as James or Oliver that have been first names for centuries Hmm (were they surnames first then?).
Well either way. They would have started as surnames and became used as first names too or vice versa. Things evolve and change.

It's quite laughable how some people have such a stick up their bums about what qualifies as a name in their rigid world.

Stichintime · 21/05/2021 20:06

Think of it as a boys name. I believe it means medow? ( actually know a girl called that)

flaminjo · 21/05/2021 20:07

Please think carefully about this.

Surnames as first names are very trendy right now

This will date. Think about how fashion dates and ages and quickly becomes naff

kowari · 21/05/2021 20:09

@HumunaHey
The OP was asking for opinions. I see it as a surname, for either sex. My opinion is no more me having a 'stick up my bum' than someone else saying they see it as a name for a boy but not a girl or vice versa. If things change and evolve then any name can be for any sex child surely?

MitheringSunday · 21/05/2021 20:13

@flaminjo

Please think carefully about this.

Surnames as first names are very trendy right now

This will date. Think about how fashion dates and ages and quickly becomes naff

Very much this.

If I met a child called this I would think boy and tbh feel rather sorry for a girl with that name.

321zyx · 21/05/2021 20:16

Neither! - but if I came across a Marlowe I'd assume a boy.

AdaColeman · 21/05/2021 20:22

Have you considered Marlon for a boy @mamablondie33, a very character rich name.

osbertthesyrianhamster · 21/05/2021 20:24

Dog

SamMil · 21/05/2021 20:28

It initially made me think of the town Marlow.

As a name, I think it sounds more like a girl's name to me (maybe because of Margeaux?). But I could imagine it for a boy too, although have never used it heard for either.

drpet49 · 21/05/2021 20:59

It is a town. Not a baby name

IamnotwhouthinkIam · 21/05/2021 21:03

Much prefer Christopher (Kit), sorry. Marlowe has a nice sound but will be likely misspelt, as well as leaning to the girls side of unisex now (thanks to the popularity of similar sounding Margot).

LostInTheLingerieSection · 21/05/2021 21:05

Probably a boy but not sure. I know a girl Harlowe and that influences me towards girl slightly.

Unlike most of MN, I like surnames as first names and it's been 'trendy' for hundreds of years here in Scotland. Also, many many boys names old and new are also surnames - James, Thomas, Jack etc etc.

Anyway that aside it's not a name I love although I can't put my finger on why. Marlo I find nicer.

toolazytothinkofausername · 21/05/2021 21:09

Marlowe- Girl

Milo- Boy