Are there any boy names out there that aren’t at risk of becoming girl names?
This may not be the answer you want to hear, but: nope. There’s simply no way to guarantee that a boy name won’t suddenly become trendy for girls. (A movie mermaid was all it took for the name Madison — a name with the word “son” right in there — to become a girl name.)
No boy names are girl-proof, but some are certainly girl-resistant. Which ones? Here are five types I’ve come up with:
1. Boy names with unstylish elements, such as “bert” and “stan.” If a boy name isn’t fashionable enough to be popular for boys, it shouldn’t be too tempting to use for girls either.
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Albert Archibald Bernard Bertrand Donald Irwin |
Gilbert Leopold Maynard Rudolph Stanford Woodrow |
2. Boy names with few vowels. They tend to sound more masculine than other names.
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Bryant Chad Charles Clark Desmond Grant |
Kenneth Mark Ralph Scott Seth Trent |
3. Boy names with length. Most of today’s popular unisex names stop at two syllables.
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Abraham Alexander Augustine Balthazar Benedict Barnaby |
Benjamin Ferdinand Montgomery Mortimer Reginald Sylvester |
4. Boy names with hard endings, such as D, K and T. Many of the boy names being stolen by girls end with softer consonants like L, N and R.
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Bennett Caleb Conrad Craig Derek Emmett |
Garrick Isaac Jared Patrick Stuart Wyatt |
5. Boy names with well-known feminine forms. If there’s a readily available girl-version, doesn’t it seem silly to use the masculine form for a female?
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Brian (Brianna) Carl (Carla) Erik (Erika) Gerald (Geraldine) George (Georgia) Henry (Henrietta) |
Joseph (Josephine) Martin (Martina) Paul (Paula) Robert (Roberta) Theodore (Theodora) Victor (Victoria) |
As I mentioned, there’s never a guarantee. (A female Scrubs character is named Elliot — will that be the next to go? How about Blake, thanks to Blake Lively?) But I think boy names that fit into the above categories are relatively safe bets.
Are there any other types of names you’d add to the list?
21 Comments
This is a lovely list ^^ Too many good boy’s names are jerked over to the girls, this gives me hope the boys will still have some good ones in times to come…
Another group I thought of is names with deep sounds, or a distinctive o-sound… Like Owen, Oliver, Soren, Theo, Coen, Bram, Drummond, and probably some more… People generally tend to think of o as a masculine letter, a being the female equivalent ^^
I’m a big fan of feminine-sounding boys’ names though, like Ambrose, Florian and Tobiah…
I agree with the O sound/deep sounding names being “safe”. I think about names like Roy and Overton (both family names for me).
Another thing I was thinking about–If a name has been a last name that has any sort of crossover potential, though, it’s pretty much doomed. I mean, last names like Birkenmeyer or Stefanski are probably not going to be first names at all, but last names like Donnelly or Jameson do cross over, and they’re bound to be girls names fast once they do. Blake is a great example. It’s my maiden name, in fact, and I always wanted to use it for a boys name but it’s gotten to the point that it’s too feminine. Just weird.
Maybe add a category of the older generational names that were so commonly used for men: John, Dick, Tom, Harry, Rob, Eugene, Edward…
i have a 9 month old boy and i have always loved the name Blake. i know people are using it for girls but it still sounds like a boys name to me so i used it. i dont care what other people are doing its masculine and I still love it.i Have to admit I like some of the boy names on girls. I think we can share.
I was born in September 1972. Kiley. Boy. Named after Actor Richard Kiley. Was very original boys name. I never knew any other Kiley’s growing up which was cool. Now I suppose it is officially a girls name, and that sucks. I’ve seen it spelled Kylee Kylie Kilee Kileigh and probably 10 more different mis-spellings. The thing is never to let name issues get you down. Wife is pregnant now and we’re going through naming ideas. There is no way to forsee a boy name becoming a girl name or vice versa. If you pick a name YOU like for your child, It shouldn’t matter. Why can’t someone name there daughter Johnee Mae or Tommie Elisabeth? Those boy names could Go Girl. My baby naming advice: Be smart, Being creative doesn’t mean changing an i to y. I saw a girl the other day named Kylee and I was in a fun mood so I’ll told her she was amed after a boy!
I pretty much agree with all the names on your list, apart from maybe Irwin. That sounds like it could be a girls name to me.
I’ve overheard people saying that they’d use two of my son’s names for girls: Ciaran and Simon. It kind of makes me irrationally pissy, since there are perfectly good girl versions of those names already!
Then again, I guess my parents gave me a name that used to be okay for boys but now isn’t.
To Tracy: I think that your name may be one of those redeemable for the boys since it has fallen in popularity for girls, much like Kelly or Robin. (To learn more search for these names at appellationmountain.net.)
1 would be austin. like THAT is ever gonna be a girls name. also justin and dustin. ethan, nathan, anthony, alan, matthew, yada yada yada
L.J. – Austin ranked nationally for girls in both 1993 and 1994. The trend fizzled out, so Austin remains boy name, but it might not take much (a movie? a pop song?) to get it going again.
Great post! Some phonetic terminology for better precision: what you describe as “hard” consonants are known as “stops”: those in which the airflow from the lungs is completely stopped for an instant, by the tongue contacting the palate, or the lips completely shutting. What you describe as “soft” consonants are known as “sonorants”, and are produced without causing turbulence in the airflow, whether by letting the air out through the nose (N, M), or letting it go around the sides of the tongue (L).
Thank you, Neal. I will try to use those terms from now on.
And thanks to everyone else for sharing your thoughts on this. I’d love to make the list longer, and you guys are coming up with some great ideas. (Like boy names featuring long O’s — that one is intriguing.)
To the tune of Johnnie Mae etc…When I worked at a bank there was a woman named Johnnie…and it was her legal name as banks are picky bout that kind of thing. I have also known women named Wallace, Walter, Willie, Eddie (she pronounced it Edie, but her father wanted a boy desperately and he said it Eddie, like Murphy), I realize that these kinds of namings are few and far between…but I will say one more thing, all of these women were in their early 50’s or older.
@ Jamie, all those names have female counter parts, Jane, Bobbie, Tomasina, etc…there was a show in the 80’s or 90’s about a bunch of daughters that all had old school feminized men’s names but were called Georgie, Teddy, Frankie, etc
Wyatt seems very likely to become a girl’s name.
My aunt’s mother-in-law’s name was Johnnie Dakota. I thought it was unusual for a girl to be named Johnnie, but back around 1915 or so it was on the popularity charts for girls. It wasn’t nearly as unusual as I had thought.
I’ve seen a couple of fictional girls with the name George (which also happens to be my name), but have not to this day seen a girl with that name (I am male).
I think it’s very … significant … that no name can be used for a boy if it’s a girl’s name, but tons of people have no trouble going the other way. Americans have pretty much lost Robin and even Hilary…
Nancy’s right saying it only takes on famous woman to change the name: Look at Florence, singlehandedly jacked by Florence Nightingale.
I would think Biblical names like John, Thomas, Michael (Miss Michael Learned didn’t shift that one an iota) are safe.
But more interesting is why a name can’t be unisex? Why are people so afraid of their boy having the wrong kind of name? This isn’t a slam – it’s a serious question for people to think about. Why is a name “doomed”? Why can’t it stay a boy’s name once it’s popular for girls?
To: The Ridger
The question to that is simple. Humans are cruel and boys get made fun of A LOT in school if they’re name sounds girly or is unisex. I have a cousin his nickname was Jaime but kids made of him so now he LOATHES being called Jaime. It is always James.
To Hannah: I’m a guy who doesn’t have any problems with (and in fact likes) his unisex name (my name is Kelly). I also wouldn’t be afraid to conisder such a name for my son (although I’m not a fan of juniors so it probably wouldn’t be after myself). As you can tell if you look around at my blog these days there is much less taunting about boys with unisex names then there used to be (teasing about other things is a different story though).
I forgot to add to my last post what I said is a generalization, but I think these days unless the name’s popularity is very lopsided in favor of the girls (e.g. Ashley, Madison) I think that a boy will likely be able to carry it okay. I do recommend a middle name that is more clearly masculine so he has more options.
Sorry for my third post today, but The Ridger mentioned Robin; I think that one may be redeemable since it’s much less popular on girls than it used to be (and is still at least unisex in many people’s minds).