Is Nick a boy's name ?

[Maxorias]

So, my daughter has a name that is only female (not gender neutral), but it's only one letter difference and the diminutive is something that makes people assume it's a man's name. Like say I called her Jacqueline and her nickname is Jack.

But that made me think - why do people assume that, actually ?

A Nick would be assumed to be a man but there are as many Nicoles or Nicola as Nicholas. Ditto Steph (Stefan/Stephany), Alex (Alexander/Alexandra), etc.

So why ?

When I was buying clothes for my daughter I was looking at a gender neutral (so I thought...) green print with cute animals. The salesperson asked who it was for, when I said my daughter she looked horrified and said "oh, but girls' clothes are on that side."

All pink and frills, which I loathe 🙄 which made me realize that whenever something isn't specifically "feminine" (ie pink and frilly with glitter) it's by default assumed to be male. And it's the same with names apparently.

Thoughts ?

I would absolutely always assume Steph to be female.

And I’m not sure you’re right that there are “as many” Alexandras as there are Alexanders. I know far more male Alexs and Nicks (I don’t know any female Nicks, but I do know female Nics, so would depend whether I heard it or read it).

I’m with you on the clothes though. I buy so many clothes for my DDs from the “boys” section. Especially in winter when for some reason the girls section doesn’t have any joggers! It’s all leggings. And the girls’ tops were a lot of twee “I’m a princess” crap. Whereas the boys’ section is all a lot more neutral.

Everything @ShesTheAlbatross said.

Well there's more Nick for Nicholas or Nick on its own for a bit than girls being called Nic. Although I do know a girl called Nic (for Nicola).

So that's why people assume boy

I think it's just a case of the most common one to that person. For example Ashley can be a boys name but is often viewed as female because there are more ashleighs.

my DD (12) still prefers clothes from ‘the boys’ section because they seem to be more practical and also aren’t all (in her words) shorts that show her bum - she’s slim and tall but doesn’t want her bum on show because shorts for her age are so ridiculously short - I don’t blame her at all, I think it’s disgusting the options for girls clothes that are out there.
and the stereotypes - sorry, I got sidetracked on the post.
my DD def has a female name but when she was a baby, we were in a supermarket and she was either in neutral/blue (my fave colour!) and they assumed she was a boy, even after hearing her name. People can be weird.

Back to the og question - Nick I would assume was a male; Nic a girl.
Alex could be either: Georgie generally more feminine than George I would say.
however I know a male and a female of these names:
Riley
Finley
Casey

I know a few female Nics (also a few Dominics who are Nic, so I suppose that spelling is neutral).

I agree about the clothes, not sure names are really related..

Thanks for thoughts and opinions ! It's something that's been in the back of my head for a while. I had boys first so never paid attention to that stuff, it's only since I have a daughter that I noticed.

Maybe the examples I picked aren't the best but there are many others I'm sure. Like Matt (Matilda/Mathias), etc.

I would generally think nick is male and Nic is female but Nicky could be either (I know of both).

in my age group I would make no assumptions as to if an Alex was male or female as probably know an equal amount of both, maybe slightly more female. On a young child I would probably assume more to be male.

Steph I would assume to be female.

I think diminutives like that are generally assumed to be male because there’s often a female equivalent that is more popular. Increasingly so now, I think.

Matildas often get Mattie rather than just Matt. Nicola and Nicoles get Nikki or variations thereof. Olivias get Liv not Oli. Even Alexandras often get Lexi or Lex. Alice gets Ali while Alistair (when he’s older at least) gets Al, Charlotte might get Lottie instead of Charlie etc so while there are some genuine unisex diminutives, the male is often assumed because it’s just more uncommonly used as a feminine name.

When they do sound the same, often there is a different spelling. Alex and Charlie are the only two that really jump out as genuinely unisex although I’m sure there are more. Nick will definitely be assumed to be male because the female equivalent has a different spelling.

I know both males and females called Alex, Nick, Nicky, Ally, etc so some names are genuinely gender neutral. You just have to wait to meet an Alex before knowing their gender.

Nick/Nicola
Chris/Christina
Jo/Joanne
Alex/Alexandra
Henri/Henrietta
Charlie/Charlotte
Jack/Jacqueline
Claude/Claudia

I know all of these people. It’s never been an issue - possibly for the first email? But aside from that very quickly dealt with

There is no such thing as gender neutral. There are traditionally male colours/things/names that girls are “allowed” to wear. And it NEVER goes the other way.

I've never met a woman who's name is Nic, it's always a nickname based on their full first name, Nicola or Nicole. However I know at least two men who's actual first name is actually Nick, it's not short for Nicholas, it's actually Nick on their birth certificate. So therefore I'd say that yes, Nick is specifically a boys name.

I know lots more female Alex’s and I’d say about equal Nic’s to Nick’s.

I’ve never met a male Steph.

I know three women called Nic! All from different parts of my life

As a given name Nick is a boy, Nico might go either way as you get the occasional girl named after the Velvet Underground singer. Alex is a boy, so is Sam, George, Jack Harry….as given names.

Plenty of women have them as shortenings though, especially older women. I find younger ones seem to use the more “feminine” Lexi, Gigi, Hattie etc shortenings instead and there seem to be less Sam’s, Jack’s and Nick’s than there used to be too - I guess because Samantha, Jacqueline and Nicola/Nicole have fallen out of fashion for the under 40’s as given names.

I think the reason people might assume your DC is male on hearing her name is that unisex names or masculine nicknames for girls have fallen out of fashion a bit in general. Names go in trends 🤷‍♀️

Clothing for kids is the same in terms of trends -although I think it’s easy enough to still find “neutral” coloured clothing (often with animals on) amongst the blue dinos/trucks for boys and pink frills/flowers for girls (I’m not fond of pink frills myself, I tend to grab any hint of pastel green/blue florals - still “girl” but not pink frills).

Yes, if you dress young kids in gender neutral clothes people will usually assume male - but I think that is because you often have to use a pronoun when talking about/to someone (they/ them can seem a bit PC) and generally people used to get more upset if you thought their son was a girl rather than vice versa 🙄 (yes possibly unconscious societal misogyny in practice). If it’s a 50/50 chance then people choose the option they think you’ll be less offended by! It’s like making the assumption a child is with the parent rather than the grandparent when talking to them for the first time , because people are having kids older these days and it would be worse if you upset someone 🤣

I remember a HCP telling me that they always used male pronouns for a baby unless they knew for sure because parents got more upset if you mistook a boy for a girl than the other way round…..