Theo for a girl?

[HallieHufflepuff]

Hello Mumsnet,

DH& I are TTC and we really like the name Theo for a girl or a boy.
Also thinking Theodore or Theodora on the birth certificate but would mostly refer to them as Theo.

Haven't told anyone that we are TTC, nevermind our baby name thoughts. I am just wondering what people's thoughts are on our name?

I doubt it will make any more difference to you than it did to my mother but ...
it's my name and it's a right pain. I have spent my whole life dealing with it. It's still going on. I still have to explain.

Correcting people - Your child will spend her life doing just this. From the very beginning, most people will assume your child is a boy. When my daughter was born, I named her an obviously feminine name. The midwife called and assumed her name was mine and I had a baby boy called Theo.

• you are lucky that Theo is a more trendy boy's name lately; when I was a child NO ONE had ever heard of it at all (what kind of a name is that? where did you get that name?). And the kids at school called me Pee -o. (pee = wee) or the 'O'.

Later, potential employers and other business people will ask to speak to Mr ... and then, when you explain , they say 'oooh, I thought you were a man'. It's sooo cringe!!! Your first interaction with most people is essentially telling them they were wrong. No matter how tactfully you tell them this the fact remains that they feel embarrassed and awkward. It's not a good way to start. If it said Henry on the form, you'd assume a man and when the woman on the other end had to explain her full name is Henrietta, you'd still feel a bit tricked.

Please choose a name your child does not have to explain or spell. At a minimum, if you are totally in love with Theodora, please use Thea (Theer in southern British) as the short form.

@HallieHufflepuff

Ok, noted that if Theo was a girl, people might assume that she was a boy if they had not met her and only seen her name.

I do like Thea also. Would love to hear more thoughts on this.

Of course people thinking she is male may work to her advantage when she's at work...

Theofania is a Greek girls name.

Not quite the same but I have a female Leo (short for Leonore). She's only 4 but no issues with anyone struggling with her sex so far.

I say go for it if you like it @HallieHufflepuff.

Love Thea for a girl and Theo for a boy. Hate Theo for a girl, sorry, I hate the trend for using boys names for girls in general.

It's such a common boys' name at the moment that I think it would confuse a lot of people to hear it's a girl rather than a boy. Thea is lovely and less common than Theo. Or Cleo if you like a name ending in o?

Theo short for Theodora is fine.

I like Theo but l thought it was a male name. Plus where l live no one (apart from me) can say Th, so it would be Feo

Cleo?

No!

The female version is Thea. Please don’t make your daughter have a lifetime of correcting people’s spelling of her name / answering the question “why do you have a boy’s name?” It’s a latin name’s ending and the ‘o’ is there to indicate male, that’s literally what the ‘o’ is there for.

Honestly if I met a girl called Theo I’d think her parents were idiots.

Theo or Teddy I would 100% presume was a boy.

Thea or Dora I would 100% presume was a girl.

All lovely names so it's up to you whether you want ease for your child over your own preference I guess? I don't say that in a snarky way, I just think that's genuinely the difference in outcome.

If you love the name Theodora then Thea or Dora will make their life a bit easier logistics wise than the alternatives. That's why I would go for one of those.

Theo is lovely for a boy.
Agree with PPs that you shouldn't use it for a girl.
Thea or Cleo are both good options.

She will spend her life having to experience. Please don't do this to her

Theodora can be Theo or Dora.

Love Theo for a girl, hate it for a boy. Dora isn't great though.

@Skysblue Thanks for calling us idiots that's a bit much.

@youvegottenminuteslynn Some good points, thank you.

Change your own name to Paul for six months and see how you get on with a name which is typically masculine. I can absolutely foresee you running into the sort of problems described by @tarheelbaby.

I wouldn't necessarily think you were idiots but I'd probably think you wanted a boy or that you were somewhat attention seeking.

OP I'm female and have a traditionally male name. I've had all the same experiences as tarheelbaby I had "But that's a boy's name!" all the time growing up, letters addressed to Mr and people on the phone expecting a man.
I just got used to it though and I rolled my eyes a bit but I can't remember ever getting upset about it.

I love my name and I wouldn't change it, I like it being a bit different. I guess you don't know how any future child will handle it.
I think Theadora is lovely and she could always tell people it's Thea or Dora if she preferred that to Theo as she gets older.

I like Thea for a girl and Theo for a boy.

It would be really annoying to have to constantly explain that you had a boys name. I love both Thea and Theo but can't distinguish between th and f and v so always get them wrong!

I love Thea. I'm not that keen on Theo but it's deff a boys name

Also love Dora

No. Don't. I am a woman who was given a man's name and I can tell you it's a pain in the arse.

What @Skysblue said 💯 % it's so tiresome explaining your name.

Thea is beautiful, please choose that.

With some posters saying about their experiences growing up. Do you think children born in the next few years will still have these issues?

It's 2021, do people still assign genders to names?