I'm not going to get into how I feel about girl-names and "weakness", so bypassing that, do people not realize just how many of our established feminine names actually used to be commonplace on boys?
So, a list of feminine/unisex names that were formerly exclusively masculine, or are feminine in the U.S., but masculine in other regions:
- Addison
- Alexis (masculine in Europe & South America)
- Ariel (masculine in South America)
- Ashley
- Aubrey
- Avery
- Bailey (still masculine elsewhere*)
- Beverly
- Blair (still masculine elsewhere)
- Brin/Bryn/Brynn (still masculine elsewhere)
- Brook
- Cameron (still masculine elsewhere)
- Camille (still unisex in France)
- Carol/Carroll/Karol (still masculine in Eastern Europe)
- Charlie (still mostly masculine elsewhere)
- Clair
- Courtney
- Dana
- Elliott (still masculine elsewhere)
- Emerson
- Emery
- Esme
- Evelyn
- Finlay/Finley (still masculine elsewhere)
- Florence
- Francis/Frances
- Gale
- Harley
- Harlow
- Harper
- Hilary
- Jamie (still mostly masculine elsewhere)
- Jan (masculine throughout Europe)
- Jean (masculine in France)
- Jewel/Jewell
- Jocelyn (still masculine in France)
- Joyce
- Kelly
- Kelsey
- Kendall
- Kennedy
- Kim (still masculine in Scandinavia)
- Kristen (masculine in Scandinavia)
- Lacy
- Lauren
- Laurie
- Laverne
- Leigh
- Leslie
- Lindsay
- Lynn
- Mackenzie (still masculine elsewhere)
- Madison
- Marion
- Meredith (still masculine in Wales)
- Morgan (still unisex elsewhere)
- Page/Paige
- Pearl
- Quinn (still mostly masculine elsewhere)
- Reece/Reese (still masculine elsewhere)
- Remy/Remi (still masculine elsewhere)
- Riley (still masculine elsewhere)
- Robin (still masculine elsewhere)
- Rory (still masculine elsewhere)
- Sasha (still unisex throughout Europe)
- Shannon
- Sharon (still unisex in Israel)
- Shea/Shay (still mostly masculine elsewhere)
- Shelby
- Shelley
- Shirley
- Stacy
- Sidney/Sydney (still masculine in the Netherlands)
- Taylor
- Teagan
- Tracy
- Vivian
- Whitney
* for the purposes of brevity, "elsewhere" = "every English-speaking country apart from the U.S."
Still haven't decided if the U.S. is leading the trends, or is just crazy.
Love this! My great grandpa's name was Vivian Marion! :)
ReplyDeleteMy Grandpa was Claire! (spelled with the -e)
ReplyDelete(this is Faerieq17 from babycenter, I'm not stalking you or anything, I promise)
Glad to see you stand up for Jamie - I got some weird comments after I named my son that in April!
ReplyDeleteIf you're a fan of Diana Gabaldon's Outlander novels, as I am, Jamie is all man!
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