Name question

[Mamabear04]

Do people in Scotland still make bad associations with the boys name Jesse? Or is this just old people?

My dad used to use when we were young to mean wimpish or soft, but it is also used by some as a homophobic insult. I havent heard it used for years, I'll need to ask ds(17) if he knows what it means.

I would imagine it's use is diminishing, but there will still be pockets of it here and there. Would I call my son Jesse in Scotland? No.

I have heard the insult but thought it was Jessie - who knows why!!

I wouldn’t have connected the name Jesse with the insult. It’s not a name I’d use anyway though!

I think the insult is Jessie as in referring to a man with a womans name. I was just wondering because obviously people are much less homophobic (I hope) now so surely it seems people wouldn't be using it as an insult anymore? Also I guess language and slag have moved on but was just wondering....

It took me a minute or two to work out what you meant so I guess that means it has moved on! I think it's a nice name.

you big jessie is similar to you big girls blouse and a soft ribbing for being weak or a wimp. Probably not pc now as refering to women being weak, but not homophobic

That's what I always thought too @WeAllHaveWings
Wimp but definitely not homophobic.

My dad would probably still use it (64), but no one my age or my kids age uses it and I doubt my kids (eldest 13) would know what someone meant if they used it.

I know an adult Jesse and my dc has never said anything about his name.

I thought it referred to being a wimp or weak rather than homophobic, or being thought of as a female name.

Being a ‘Nancy’s boy’ was probably more a homophobic insult, and yet that hasn’t stopped Nancy becoming more popular on Baby Name posts.

The set text I teach for Higher uses "Jessie" as an insult and I always have to explain it. Just need to see if it becomes a granny chic name for girls, it could be overdue a hipster revival. The only Jessie I know is 76 and a Scottish female, the only Jesse I know is Californian and a surfer .

Asked ds(17) and he knows what it means. Says his immediate friendship group doesn't use it, but he is aware of others still using it in secondary school.

Maybe they have been taught by @Lidlfix 🤣

Jesse is different to Jessie but not that different.

I’ve not heard it used as an insult for years. I know quite a few Jessies, mostly over 60 but there’s one in my 15 year olds class at school. I should say they are all female.

I think you do still sometimes hear it, but I'd say it's generational; for example, my dad (70) would hear it and think of the insult, I might and my kids wouldn't.