Robin for a girl

[FantaHouse]

DD is due in 8w.

I love the name Robin (as in the bird) but DH thinks it's Robyn for a girl and Robin for a boy.

I hadn't known that. I thought Robyn was just an alternative, American?!, spelling.

I thought Robin was for boys and girls. I'm really not keen on the y spelling. Not sure why!

DH is persuadable but would DD spend her life correcting the spelling if we go with Robin?

I've never met a British female Robin/robyn but it's usually a y in the USA where it's quite a mainstream name. I know quite a few Robin's in the U.K., all male

I (mid 40s) grew up with a female Robin named after her grandmother Robin - it's a lovey name

The TV series you speak of was ‘V’ and Robyn was a daughter of a member of the vigilante group. I was obsessed with the show and it’s where I as a 14 ish year old, first heard ‘Robin’ as a name; I thought it was beautiful and at 32 had a daughter who is named Robyn.

She has to spell her name, “Robyn with a Y” so I would guess that either spelling demands this.

Robynne is another alternative.

Hello! I have a 19 year old girl called Robin. It was a very popular name for girls in the 1930's. Im not keen when people assume it's Robyn or worse Robynne, it sounds very American, but generally she's called Bob anyway, so it doesn't matter!

@FantaHouse

Traditionally that was the case I boy, y girl but for a long time now (40 years) I've seen them the other way, in fact one friend in his 80's is a 'y'

i dislike the y spelling, but love the 'I' spelling, it feels like an entirely different name !

go with 'I' & love her name Either just expect to get some people using y & shrug or keep correcting them. It's not a big deal.

best wishes for a good birth for you & Robin xx

Such a beautiful name! I always thought it was Robyn for a girl and Robin for a boy. Whatever the spelling your dc will be blessed with a beautiful, timeless name.
ETA: I always wanted to be called Robyn - it’s so classic and suits young and old plus I love that it’s gender neutral.
Also robins are my favourite bird…..so many pretty robin-related gifts too eg I recently bought a circular stained glass decoration with a robin on it

Well, if you're choosing it as a name in reference to the bird* it's spelt Robin. Why should girls have to spell it incorrectly? 🤷🏻‍♀️ We don't have Rowan and Rowyn or River and Ryver.

*Robin as a given name was originally a Medieval diminutive of Robert.

I have a Robyn and people assume it's with a 'y'
I still adore the name

Your husband is right.
I know a Robyn who is 11. And a Robin in his 50s. Not overly used.

I know quite a few people with unusual spellings of their names and it's been a bit of a burden.

What, like Claire or Clare, and Lyn, Lynn or Lynne?

What, like Claire or Clare, and Lyn, Lynn or Lynne?

They aren't unusual variations though, so people generally will know to check 'is that Ann with an e' or 'Catherine with a C or a K' rather than just spell it the usual way incorrectly. I know quite a few female Robyns, until I read this thread I hadn't ever heard of a female Robin so I've learnt something and will know to ask now.

I don't actually care what spellings people use. I'm just passing on in response to the OP's question experiences of working with a lot of people, who even as adults get pissed off at their names being constantly misspelt. Even worse the poor Karen who's name was pronounced 'Care-en' , never ever had it correctly pronounced the first time (although I know this thread is about spelling not pronunciation).

I think our rationale for going with the y spelling was partly that it looked better written down with the middle name that starts with an I that way, and there was an element of us living in Nottingham and not wanting to make it a massive opening into teasing about Robin Hood.

Plus it was well cute when she was little and she would distinguish between "Robyn person and robin bird"

As for spelling - people will fuck up anything. I've got the less common variant of a name that's three letters long and people still spell it wrongly.

Robyn for a girl. It's a lovely name.

Your dh os correct

I know three female Robins and one is in her 80s.

Robin is neutral, Robyn I think emerged in the Uk in the 70s as a feminine variation. In the US I think Robin was always the norm for girls eg Robin Wright

I prefer Robin, it’s a lovely name

It was not

Robin was popular for girls in the 20s and 30s eg Robin in the chalet school books

Before that it was used as a diminutive of Roberta as well as Robert

There’s nothing new or American about it

We're also considering the name for our baby girl but would spell it Robyn. Like others I would assume Robin was the spelling for a boy.

I think it's lovely. Great name. Trends and spellings in names change, there is plenty of precedent. Robin in the Strike stories for example.

I have a name used for girls and boys and the sky hasn't fallen down and I haven't been permanently harmed by misgendering or explaining.

I have a boy Robin but I think you could use it with a girl too.

Traditions can be broken, otherwise we'd still be living in the Stone Age :)

You can be a rebel if you want to OP.

With the bird, both males and females are called Robin : )

Thankfully I deterred DH from naming son Thor.

He could not be less of a Thor if he tried.

He's a perfect Robin though.

The female Robin in my year at school was Irish (that was about 25 years ago). She was lovely. I think either work for a girl. Robyn for a boy might get some teasing.

Robyn for a girl

Love Robin- It’s a unisex nature name to me ( like River, Rowan etc ). I’ve never understood the Robyn spelling- it’s like dated Kathryn, Jayne etc and looks to me like people wanted to stick a Y in there for the fun of it and makes the name look far less classic or elegant imo.

Robin for a girl was by no means common, let alone popular, in the UK during the 20's or 30's. In fact it would have been considered extremely unusual. The dearth of women called Robin in that age group, of any societal class, would attest to its rarity, regardless of the Chalet School books.