Fowey - boy or girl?

[OneAliCat]

As in the Cornish town. Pronounced Foy. Considering as a middle name since the place is special to us.

Would you think of it as male, female or gender neutral?

But who are these people who will be mispronouncing it? Apart from the registrar when you register the birth and presumably the person who officiates at the wedding - who will ever need to say the middle name? I couldn't even tell you the middle name of my BFFs child! I even forget half the middle names of my own lot - and the fact that all my kids have three middle names comes as a complete surprise to people.

If you love it, and it's a middle name, go for it (I know it's pronounced Foy because I used to live near there though...)

Definitely a name for a buoy.

My mum hated her middle name and when she was young pretended she didn't have one. Why would you do that to a child? You wouldn't have Newquay or Bodmin as a middle name so why would you have Fowey? It's not a name, it doesn't sound nice and it has nothing to do with your child.

Just awful.

But places names are sometimes used as names, and the fact that some sound cumbersome as names, doesn’t mean that others don’t work. Foy is a well known surname, and using family surnames in the middle spot for either a boy or girl is tradition in some families so sounds fine in the middle spot - even with a different spelling. Fowey fits the single syllable trend for current middle names and sounds like other names; Joy seems to be increasingly popular for girls in the middle name spot.

This!

or people would automatically spell it Foy, and then s/he would would have to correct the spelling.

I’d assume Boy. But it’s terrible either way, sorry.

Lovely place, and I did know how it's pronounced! However, it's a place name, not really a name to used as a first or middle names. I do agree with others though, if it's used as a middle name, how often in life will your child actually have to correct people for mispronouncing it?! Rarely. It would be different if it was a first name or even a surname. I personally think it sounds more male though.

Why not choose some actual Cornish names instead?
https://gocornish.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/personal-names.pdf

I prefer Looe.

Could be worse…Scunthorpe! 😂

Not only will the child have to spell it every single time, they'll also have to explain why. Is it where the child was conceived? 🤨

But places names are sometimes used as names, and the fact that some sound cumbersome as names, doesn’t mean that others don’t work

Exactly. Florence, Sofia, Harris etc are all place names that are also used by people. If the name has meaning to the family, why not?

I think it is fine for either, as a middle name.

I don't particularly like it, but then we all like different things, right? But I'd say it sounds more masculine to me, and would be better as a middle name just because it has huge potential for being mispronounced.

It's a place name. Why not use Cornish? It could go well with many last names.

I'd assume boy, but it will be pronounce foe-ee at first.
Also foy sounds very much like a nick name.

I wouldn’t assume it was a name, it’s a place.

Nope

Rubbish. I'm English and know full well it's pronounced "Foy".

How about "Tywardreath" or "Ponsanooth" as alternatives!

Great for either as a middle name.

Sounds male to me but like others have said; it's a place name, why not call them Manchester?

1. Manchester isn’t a meaningful name to the OP and her partner
2. Just because some place names don’t work as names, it doesn’t mean none of them does. Iona and India are established names; Mull and Nepal aren’t

Because Manchester doesn't have the same meaning to the op! What's so hard to understand?

I'd much rather have a meaningful and memorable middle name than a boring filler middle name.

Rather have Scunthorpe than Jayden