Giving my son a 'girl' name

[Bowa]

I am due soon to give birth soon to my first child who will be a boy. I struggled to think of any boy names that felt right. I had a long list for girl names, but I couldn't think any for if I had a son.

I found out I was having a boy at my 16 weeks scan and I still couldn't find a name that felt right at the time. Kinda like a missing puzzle piece if that makes sense.

A few weeks later, I was thinking about a movie I loved since childhood and one of the main characters (the character is male) and something clicked and I knew that was the name I wanted for my son. It felt perfect and exactly what I was looking for. I became excited and looked into how I could make things with his name for the nursery, nicknames and that.

I haven't told anyone what name I picked out for him as I wanted to get everything ready beforehand. I have also had some 'complications', so it felt like bad luck if I told people his name before he was born. When I'm by myself, I talk to my son and I will use his name then.

I was looking at something and saw the name I picked for my son. It had a few different spellings, but what stuck out was that apparently it's used more as a girl name. It didn't say anything about it being a unisex name. I assumed because the character who had the name was male (and refers to himself as a male) that it was wasn't a girl's name or maybe it could be a unisex name. Even the way it is pronounced sounds more masculine than feminine.

I feel conflicted. I can't think of any other name that feels right for him (he has middle names that are boy names), but I don't want him to be picked on if people knew it was used more for a girl. I have an unusual first name, so I have experiences with people not spelling it correctly or pronouncing it right.

His name isn't common for this area either, so I don't think anyone would assume it is used more as a girl name and the way it is pronounced is easy.

I know people have named their daughter with names that are more boy/unisex sounding like: Blake, Parker, Dylan, Toni etc.

His name isn't like: Daisy, Penelope, Sophia, Jane etc.

Would it be OK to stick with the name even if it's used more for a girl?

Her name is Rio and she dances on the sand

Rio, Rio dance across the Rio Grand

Silly question without the relevant context, imho

Ridiculous to ask for opinions without stating the name.

At my school we once had 5 Ashleys with various spellings in one year group. 4 girls and 1 boy.

@Zezetyes it can be a girls name (Jessie) or a boys name (Jesse) but it think if I told somebody I had a child named Jesse, they would assume it was a girl, I do love the name

Is it used more as a boys name in the US? (The inspiration might be an American series)
It’s hard to comment without knowing what the name is or at least what percentage of babies of that name are male vs female.

Also is the perception of male vs female different depending on age? Blair makes me think Tony which is male but people born in the 2000s and later would say female because Blair Waldorf (famous character from Gossip Girl)

She actually won two Oscars, so not exactly an off off off off Broadway actress...

Obviously it's used for a male character so it sounds like unisex name but I wouldn't choose a name when I'm not 100% sure.

Impossible to say without knowing the name.

I started school in the late 80’s and there was a lad called Stacey. He was teased mercilessly by the other boys.

I know Esme, Evelyn, Julian, Lauren, Lindsay and Robin are unisex but some of them are more girly/blokeish than opposite.

It might be a better idea to pick a more classic male name, something fairly ordinary but nice, then you can't go wrong and your son won't have the mick taken out of him at school.

OMG this could be me. I discovered the name we gave our son was actually a girls name (the way we had spelled it). Not a common name. The only way I found out was when I searched to see how common the name was (on one of those list of common names things, except it included all names and number of people called it each year) when I found there were seven in total and that they were all girls! Has it been a problem? Honestly, no. We still love the name and so does he. p.s I wonder if it's the same name?!

OP still hasn’t returned Seems we shall never know Oh well

Which one out of you and OP is going to crack first and actually say the name?

My guess would be Rowan. I love it on a boy.

If it is Beau my son is called Beau :)

But that is a boys name.

That is literally the masculine version of Belle. It is a boy's name.

By the way searching the register won't work if you are looking for evidence of gendered use of unisex Sanskrit names like Vidya or Priya.

It won't show if the names are pronounced with long or short -a or -i (short vowels masculine at the end). It won't show transliterations that don't have gendered meaning e.g. Vidia or Vidya, u or oo, K or C, V or W or B, etc. It won't show if the name is part of a compounded name (Priya = Priyadarshan or Vidia = Vidiadhar). It won't show the 'home name', often different from the official name. Nor will it show the secret astrologically determined ritual name (if any).

Esme and Lauren are not unisex.

And neither is Julian!

Julian is a version of Gillian.
I always thought Julian in the Famous Five might go that way.
Unlike Dick.

332 posts in and the instigator of this thread has only posted once.
What was the name you were thinking of using @Bowa?

Off topic but I really like Thomasina, Richenda, Wilhelmina, Petronella, Franka, Henrietta, Georgette, Paulette, and similar names for girls.

Is the name Claude? Claude can be either.

Esme is

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esm%C3%A9_Stewart,_1st_Duke_of_Lennox

Stylish
Want that outfit

I want a son to name him Cosmos Atrosanguineus

He will be the next emperor