Most names that you can think of likely have both an established male & female version, or are considered unisex nowadays. To modern ears, some seem more than a bit old-fashioned or contrived (Adamina? Jamesetta?), while others are readily accepted (Alexandra, Charlotte).
There are quite a few names, though, where either the female versions are established elsewhere but haven't been imported into English usage, or have been forgotten entirely.
- Alastriona (al-as-TREE-nah)--Irish, fem. of Alastar [Alexander]
- Auda (AW-dah)-Germanic, fem. of Otto
- Axelle (aks-EL-leh)--French, fem. of Axel/Aksel
- Cassia (KASH-ah or KAS-see-ah)--Latin, fem. of Cassius
- Damiana (dah-MYAH-nah)--Italian, fem. of Damian
- Davina (dah-VEE-nah)--Scottish, fem. of David
- Donella (don-EL-lah)--Scottish, fem. of Donald
- Doriane (doh-ree-AHN)--French, fem. of Dorian
- Edmée (ed-MAY)--French, fem. of Edmund
- Erna (ER-nah)--German, fem. of Ernest
- Enat (EHN-at)--Irish, fem. of Aidan
- Finsha (FIN-sha)--Irish, fem. of Finn, Finnian
- Finnat (FYIN-naht)--Irish, fem. of Finn, Finnian
- Kenna (KEN-nah)--Scottish, fem. of Kenneth
- Maura (MOW-rah)--Spanish, fem. of Maurice
- Owena (oh-WEN-ah)--Welsh, fem. of Owen
- Petra (PEH-trah)--Greek, fem. of Peter
- Piera (PYEHR-ah)--Italian, fem. of Peter
- Riona (REE-on-ah)--Irish, fem. of Ryan
- Saveria (sah-VEHR-yah)--Italian, fem. of Xavier
- Tamsin (TAM-zin)--Scottish, fem. of Thomas
- Yonit (yo-NEET)--Hebrew, fem. of Jonah
- Zaharina (zah-hah-REE-nah)--Bulgarian, fem of Zachariah/Zachary
- Agathon (ah-GATH-on)--Greek, masc. of Agatha. Swedish form is Agaton.
- Amé (ah-may)--French, masc. of Amy/Aimée.
- Cătălin (cah-tah-LEEN)--Romanian, masc. of Katherine
- Clarus (CLAIR-us)--Latin, masc. of Claire/Clara. French form is Clair.
- Laurus (LAUR-us)--Latin, masc. of Laura
Would you believe I actually have friends named Davina, Maura, and Kenna?
ReplyDeleteThat's kind of awesome!
ReplyDeleteI've known a couple Mauras, but until I started doing the research for this post, I just assumed it was a variant of Mary, like Maire/Moira/Maura in Irish.