There are lots of cross-gender names these days. That is, names that can work for a boy or a girl. When you hear the following names, what gender do you generally think of?
- Taylor
- Reagan
- Leslie
- Jamie
- Tye
- Kennedy
- Renee
- Payton
- Riley
- Alexis
- Sydney
- Ashley
- Kelly
- Leslie
- Pat
I have some very specific gender assignments for some of these, and I'm almost always surprised when things don't match up like I expect. At the same time, there are some names that I know can go either way, but I still associate those names with one gender in particular. Comment away. I'll post my opinions shortly.
I have a definite feeling that names should be gender specific and am frustrated by the changes norms on this subject. I have a brother named "Lynn" and he was always receiving mail to "Miss Lynn" I like names for which the gender can't be mistaken.
ReplyDeleteSo at work, I call people alot. And I get kinda annoyed when people have names that are not gender specific. I get even more annoyed when people have made up names. But I get the most annoyed when people have real names but with an stupid, made up spelling. That is all.
ReplyDeleteBoys:
ReplyDeleteTaylor, Reagan, Tye, Kennedy,
Girls:
Leslie, Renee, Alexis, Sydney, Kelly, Pat
Either:
Jamie, Riley, Ashley
I know they can go either, but when I hear them, that's what I think. With those final three, I do think, "Now that could be either..."
"Kelly" caught me off-guard when it was a dudey rudey.
My first reaction is always approximately the following.
ReplyDeleteBoys: Taylor, Tye, Payton, Riley
Girls: Leslie, Jamie, Renee, Alexis, Sydney, Ashley, Kelly, Pat
Names I Can Only Think of as Last Names and Therefore Never Know: Reagan, Kennedy
I think there is a serious trend toward turning names into girl names. As if it weren't already hard enough to find a boy name, the few that are left all getting "tainted" by girly associations.