Anyone else dislike traditionally boys' names being used for girls?

[Innitoutit]

Does anyone else hate the trend of giving girls traditionally boy names (Elliott, Ezra, James, Scottie, Tommy, etc.)? Currently pregnant and had a family member suggest one of these types of names for our daughter and almost rolled my eyes when she said it. I don't understand why it's so popular at the moment and why so many parents seemingly want their daughters to be seen as masculine. Maybe it bothers me because you never see it go the other way round. You never see feminine names become unisex. It does seem to be more popular in America (thankfully), but I can see it increasing in popularity here.

I think Ashley (traditionally a boy's name) is much more suited to a girl.

@XelaM , it's dated for both.

Went to school with girl called Joey, 80s

I know a girl called James. 🙄 I mean, the world was her parent’s oyster for picking a name for her, and an obvious boys name is what they chose.

James?! What a stupid idea, to call a girl James. That's just cruel.

Yep. I was just like ‘that’s modern’.

Which is my go-to phrase when i don’t like the name parents have given their baby.

It’s like a good gloss paint - it covers everything!

I knew a Bobbie short for Roberta. That's quite an old one

I did not know that Marion was a boy's name. Thank you for teaching me something new.

As someone who has both a daughter and a son and wants to have more children, I think it's awful. It is already harder to name boys because a lot of the options are... not great (compared to the plethora of options for girls). Can we save some names for the boys, please?! I'd like to be able to name my son Elliott in the future without having to worry about if it's become unsuitable for a boy.

I didn't know that either. It's my mum's name and she was born in the 40s

Ezra, Elliott(e), James, and Scottie are currently quite trendy for girls in America from what I've seen. I'm not sure about Tommy.

I've known a lot of old ladies, often with Scottish heritage, called things like Thomasina and Jamesina. We've been creating feminine versions of male names for centuries, Charlotte, for example.
And "boyish" shortenings like Charlie, Frankie etc are commonplace (of course, the names they're shortened from have all derived from boy's names in the first place).

DH and his dad both have the same middle name, which, apart from them, I've only ever heard as a girls name (and mentioned up thread). Theirs derived from its use as a surname.
Someone mentioned they don't like girls names ending in -son. Well, my own name does and has very definitely only been used as a girl's name for generations, but according to a name mug I had as a child, was originally a boy's name.
I don't like the trend of girls being called things like James or Michael. But, I really wanted to use the name Robin (DH did not) and would have spelt it that way for either a boy or a girl!

@MissisBee , that was me. It's not the -son that bothers me, it's the meaning.
Alison is fine because it's a French diminutive of Alice.

Elliott is not unisex at all, but I imagine that people are pushing for it to be because they want to name their daughters this and then call them Ellie.

The fact that many people would not realise it started as a boy's name really proves the point. It's shifted all the way now. The pattern is really a one way valve and speaks volumes about how girls and femininity are perceived by society.

Madison is a funny one, it started being used as a first name after the film Splash came out in 1984 (the mermaid called herself Madison after Madison Avenue) and it quickly rose in popularity in the US until it was the second most popular girl's name in 2001! I do find it funny that it was made so popular as a baby name in the US by the generation who saw a film where the whole joke was that the mermaid gave herself an inappropriate name.

I went to school with girls called Charlie and billie. They hated it as much as you do.

I don’t understand why parents choose boys names for girls. So many pretty girls names to choose from.

The name Amelie was popularised by the film.

I don't like it either. It seems sexist to me. I can't think of a single name that shifted from being predominantly feminine to being predominantly masculine, but the opposite happens frequently. And once boys' names become popular for girls, then parents of boys stop using them in general. Nobody is calling their sons Hilary, Lesley or Lindsay nowadays.

@astrozenica , the boy's name is Leslie. It's still in use. The other two seem to have more or less disappeared.

I knew a male Tracy and Beverly is male. I think Charlie and Sidney are unisex

@NamingNoNames can I ask where is it still in use? I'm in Ireland and I don't think I've met a male Leslie under the age of 60.

Leslie is barely in use though. 10 boys given it in 2024. The popularity of Leslie for boys dropped like a brick when usage of Lesley for girls peaked. Again, proving the point imo.

10 is not 0. Lindsay and Hilary both had 0 registered in 2024.
Taking names from the same era as Leslie, e.g. Graham, and they're hardly used either.

I'm not disagreeing with you about them falling in popularity after they become mainstream girls' names, but fashions change too.

Amélie was at peak popularity in France 10 years before the film was released.