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 meant in the UK. It's dated in France.

The problem is that parents of boys stop using those names altogether so can only blame themselves. If enough parents are using a certain name for their sons, then it can never completely switch over. A name can only be lost if you allow it to be. I’d name my son Kelly tomorrow and not care.

Leslie and Lindsay are Scottish names so I looked at the Scottish database which is excellent for interactivity, you can see the popularity of names for both boys and girls over the last 50 years.

In Scotland Leslie was always more popular as a boys name and was used as a boy's name more recently than as a girl's name. Lesley is exclusively a girls name. But both are very unfashionable at the moment.

Lindsay is the only variant that is used for boys, all the youneeq versions are used for girls. Robin and Rowan are more popular as a boys names (and Rowan becoming more popular as a boys name over time). Noah is the no1 boys name, Noa is used for girls is nowhere near as popular. Ashley is pretty even, James is exclusively male (not surprising in a country that had six Kings with that name), as is Elliot.

@Hinthebuild , if you named your son Kelly tomorrow it would not be the same as if you'd used it in the 1970s.

i quite like Leslie and Lindsay as boys' names. Both are Scottish surnames.

I don't understand the 'James is unisex' arguments.

Exactly!! Why are PP acting like parents are being forced to stop calling their boys these names? They’re choosing to abandon these names because they’re too worried about what other people will think. There’s a difference.

A boy name will obviously become a girl name if it stops being given to boys. This is common sense.

It's a pretty girl's name and the film was very popular so it's not surprising that led to Amélie becoming more popular in other countries. But I fail to see what that has to do with a nonhuman character in an American film giving themselves a daft name swhich was a joke in the film and then all of American going mad for it and 17 years later it becoming one of the most popular names in the country.

@FruAashild Both are examples of a film making a name popular.
Madison was in use in the USA before Splash! was released.

Stacey/Stacy is originally a male name.

@wrinklycactus , it was a joke.
Stacey
Baby name explorer
Stacy (given name) - Wikipedia

Yes, I understand that it was a joke, but it doesn't really work given that Stacey is originally a male name anyway.

I bet it's Henry! From Henrietta?

I make an exception for that: I don't mind it at all, and I know a couple of female Henrys.

Other exceptions are Harry form Harriet, Sam from Samantha and Charlie for Charlotte.

But for me they only work because they are not the BC name.

Thanks for pointing out that you have no sense of humour. The joke was that they are names from a well-known TV sit-com.

Yup, got that too... it still doesn't work as a joke though!

Yes. Iove the name Kim for a boy. Reminds me of my childhood dog.
Kimberley and Stacey were great male names back in the day.
I loathe the name Taylor for either sex 😶‍🌫️

@wrinklycactus , it was just a light-hearted post not a one-liner from the Endinburgh Fringe. It didn't warrant such scrutiny.

@nopiesleftinthisvehicle , Kim is unisex, I worked somewhere where there were more male Kims than female.

It wasn't a personal attack. Chill.

Simply pointing out that Stacey was a male name isn't 'scrutiny'.

Bore off.

It's also a female name in French. Male is Laurent

F Scott Fitzgerald had a daughter named Scottie, and she used it everywhere, including on things she wrote as an adult. Dad was Francis Scott, daughter was Frances Scott...

Lawrence Marlow was half French.

Her nickname was Scottie. Her actual name was Frances.

as I wrote, her name was Frances Scott

No she wasn't

My dg has a name that’s become trendy especially in the USA for girls despite being a very traditional boys name think thousands of years potentially. It’s annoying people ask is that a man or woman because it’s obviously a man, but this whole name and gender identity thing isn’t the easiest either, and we have a trans relative!

Laurence is, Lawrence isn't.