Boys given female names

[Richardo]

There's Evelyn Waugh of course, and the former VP of our department was a man named Clair.

[Bunny]

1. When I was in junior high, my 'boyfriend's' father's name was Beverly.

That was unusual.

Oh, and I forgot this: I know a woman whose father's name is LaVerne. And John Wayne's real name was Marion Morrison.

[Richardo]

9. Beverly - that is an unusual one

:^/

[Richardo]

10. I am reminded that I have a male cousin named 'Leslie'

Who goes by 'Les'

[Bunny]

11. Yes, I used to work with a guy named Leslie.

He, too, went by 'Les'. I think Leslie was a more common guy's name way back when.

[guitar man]

50. Yes it was

That's my first name, I was named after a great uncle who had the name Leslie long before anyone thought of naming a girl that. I have gone by Les for a long long time now.

[badgerpup]

95. My sister's name is Leslie...

...and in 2nd grade I sat next to a kid who we all called 'Lee', but on his name card (we all had one on our desks) was "Leslie".
Hard to get my 8 yr-old mind around...that a name could work for both genders...
:wtf:

Just listened to an Agatha Christie mystery where the whole key of the mystery was a bi-gender type name...
They had the name, so the great Hercule Poirot was looking for a woman, when the real perp was a man...
(he eventually figured it out though...he always does...:crazy:)

[Ten Bears]

72. Beverly used to be exclusively a boys name.

As was LaVerne. Darned girls going around stealing boys names all the time. Morgan is on the way out for a boy as is Sidny and I am certain a lot more that I just can't think of at the moment.

[Bucky]

92. Also Carrol, Leslie, Stacy, Madison, and Bambi... boys' names STOLEN BY WOMEN!!

And don't even get me started about George Elliot... Goddammit, she took two names!

[Haole Girl]

2. Like "A Boy Named Sue" ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M89c3hWx3RQ

[EndersDame]

3. My old boss was Tracy and I went to a school with an Ashleigh

[Richardo]

6. That reminds me: Stacy Keach

[Rhythm]

31. I had a guy friend back in Charlotte whose name was Stacy...

He looked like a heavy-metal Conan the Barbarian, and sang for a local rock band.

[Captain Hilts]

94. Not necessarily a woman's name. nt

[Capn Sunshine]

4. "Laurie" is an English variation of Lawrence

I knew two guys named Laurie, both cases the folks were Brits

[SoxFan]

35. My wife's uncle

Wonderful man, who died far, far too young.

[Crabby Appleton]

49. I know a male from South Africa named Laurie

[pscot]

5. Marion Wayne

No wonder he preferred "Duke".

[Richardo]

8. It was way more alliterative than that - Marion Michael Morrison

[Prisoner_Number_Six]

7. Carroll O'Connor

comes to mind.

[Richardo]

12. Oh yes, and the owner of the bar I used to frequent in Denver was 'Kelly'

Although he WAS Irish so I'm sure that had something to do with it.

[TK421]

13. Leslie Nielsen?

[Shell Beau]

14. My name. I think Shelley is more of a female name, but I have known

some men named it. And ShellEy is the correct spelling of course.

[Richardo]

15. Oh yes. Shelley Berman comes to mind.

:hi:

http://www.shelleyberman.com/recordings.htm

[Shell Beau]

22. Somehow I have never heard of him!! But of course he spelled it correctly!

;)

:hi:

[Capn Sunshine]

69. How About Shelly Manne? Heard of him?

Shelly used to own this jazz club in Hollywood called "Shelly's Manne Hole" (get it?)and there was no age limit. So we used to go there and groove when we were in HS. PLayed all the time in jam sessions.

[gmoney]

90. nickname for Sheldon

[Inspired]

16. I work with a Shannon and his wife's name is Casey,

Most people probably think his name should be Casey and Shannon should be his wife's name.

[qnr]

17. My sister and I had the same name, though it's more gender neutral. n/t

[Richardo]

18. 'Chris'?

Just a guess. Although 'Sandy' would fit also.

[qnr]

20. Terry & Terri n/t

[Richardo]

23. Of course!

:foreheadslap:

[jmm]

19. I dated a guy for awhile named Kelly.

My father's then girlfriend asked if his parents wanted a girl. I told her no but she still pushed the issue when they met :banghead:. I've noticed it's pretty easy for a name to become "feminine." Many names we now consider female were commonly male just a couple of generations ago. I give it one more generation before baby name books move Jordan from the boy to the girl section.

[Rhythm]

34. One of my best friends in school (a girl named Kelly) had a boyfriend named Kelly...

Boy, that got confusing at the lunch table. *L*

[kwassa]

42. My BIL is Kelly, and one very masculine dude.

[Jade Fox]

63. I've got a male cousin named Kelly....

I grew up thinking Kelly was a boy's name.

[hippywife]

21. If I'm not mistaken

most of the names mentioned in this thread were originally and historically male names.

[Richardo]

24. I'm sure you're correct

The pendulum will swing back in a few generations I'm sure. :hi:

[qnr]

25. Yeah, it was wierd there for a while, when Abraham was in the feminine column :/ n/t

[hippywife]

29. Maybe by then

there will be men named Heather. :rofl:

:hi:

[CBHagman]

30. Bingo.

I think the context of history is everything in this case.

One of the best baby-naming books I've ever seen, Beyond Jennifer and Jason, Madison and Montana, discussed the nuances of selecting a name -- among other things, how one name or other becomes associated with the male/female, regardless of its origin.

One thing I hate is the use of the name Elisha as an alternative spelling for Alicia.

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Elisha

[hippywife]

32. No doubt

some of them using that spelling are doing so intentionally.

[femmocrat]

26. Here are some I have encountered:

Boys named Kim, Lynn, Leslie, Robin, Jaimee, Tracy and Stacey.

Both boys and girls named Jamie, Taylor, Dakota(h), Jordan, Ja(y)den, Cameron, and Peyton.

[blue neen]

27. I know brothers named Kerry and Kim.

They're two great, big, burly guys! :)

[Bunny]

28. Neen! How are you doing, girl?

:hi:

[blue neen]

48. Hey, I'm great!

My son moved to the "the 'grift" this fall! :)

How are you?

[Bunny]

62. I'm great!

So, how does your son like living in the big city? :D

[DU GrovelBot]

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[Spider Jerusalem]

36. Evelyn was originally a surname.

As was Clair or Clare. (Also, Beverly and Leslie mentioned elsewhere in this thread.) Giving children family names is perhaps less common than it was (although it's still fairly common in the South).

[Roon]

37. My Uncle's name is Jamie

I always thought it could be a neutral name,until he started online dating and all the men came after him thinking he was a woman. A woman turned him down once because she thought "Jamie" for a guy was just "too weird".

So now he dates under his middle name..Brian.

[Chan790]

40. That's my name.

It's an old family thing in my case, you can only have so many James before you have to start getting creative with the nicknames, then you've got to move on to compound names with nicknames. Hence...moi. Chan is short for Channing which is my not-real middle name. That's a long long story.

[Roon]

45. Ah! I have always liked the name James though

My late lover's name was James and I have a buddy (who i have had a crush on since we were kids) is named James. So it does my heart a lot of good to see or hear that name. :-)

[WinkyDink]

56. "Jamie" (James, Jamesie) is MALE. For some unknown reason girls were given this moniker.

[GreenPartyVoter]

38. Here's some: Alexis, Ashley, Beverly, Carol, Evelyn, Hilary, Jocelyn, Kelly, Meredith, Shirley,

Shannon, Sharon, and Vivian. (Sorry for any dupes.)

[soleiri]

44. Alexis is a boys name

I've seen recently seen a lot of boys named Erin.
Maybe instead of Aaron? I don't know.

[Roon]

46. I once had a female boss named Alexis

so I always thought of it as a girls name.

[WinkyDink]

57. What man is named "Jocelyn"? "Ashley" was a man's name first; "Hilary", probably.

[Ineeda]

59. Ashley Wilkes from Gone With the Wind, Joycelyn, I don't think so.

[Nikia]

68. A French ingredient sales guy

I kept his business card. A year later, we needed something from his company. My boss thought that with his name that he'd be female despite the fact that I insisted that I met with a guy named who introduced himself as Jocelyn.

[Bertha Venation]

64. Harry Truman's brother's name was Vivian. n/t

[LiberalEsto]

71. A friend of mine has a brother named Carroll

It was their mother's maiden name. I think it really messed up his life.

[elana i am]

39. i went to high school with guys named dana and tory.

[Bertha Venation]

65. Three male Torys

Torii Hunter, baseball player

Tory Bellacci (sp?), mythbuster

my friend Tory

[rurallib]

41. Many of these were once male names that have become

androgynous or associated withe females.
Maury Povich's dad was a highly celebrated sports writer name of Shirley Povich.
Evelyn (pronounced with the first e long) was a long standing male name.
I had a couple friends as a youngster named Lynn - both males.
My next door neighbors child is named Jordan. A fine looking girl, might I add.

[kwassa]

43. There are a million female Sidneys now

even if the spellings get changed.

I don't like it as either a man or woman's name.

[question everything]

47. What about Sandy?

Earlier this year I was pissed at a letter from an organization, and decided to address my reply to the one whose name was at the bottom of the letter.

The name was Sandy... let's say last name Jones.

How would you have addressed the letter? Dear Mr. Jones or Dear Ms. Jones?

(I got it wrong.. of course)

[DemBones DemBones]

75. You could have said "Dear Sandy Jones," that's

the only solution in such cases, IMO.

[question everything]

77. Thanks. Will remember next time

Of course, at the time I did not even think about it. It was "clear" to me that Sandy was a woman...

Only when the letter was given to someone else who later called me and referred to "him" did I realize that... hmm... Sandy is a "he."

I think that in either case "Sandy" is a shorter version of a full name like Alexander or Alexandra. Had the person used that full name there would not be a confusion.

[RushIsRot]

51. I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Pat.

[donheld]

73. Patrick/Patricia

[Patiod]

96. I'm Pattie, I used to date a Pat

One of his friends used to get a huge kick out of saying "hey, hey! Pat and Pattie!!"

Total stoner in college, pretty much a fun guy to bring to formals and get high with, but frustratingly dazed and confused all the time. Of course, now he's a rich investment guy who races yachts. Figures. Although given very odd email I received from him recently, he's still smoking something

[Rowdyboy]

52. I had a female client named Clyde once (in social services)....she was a nice lady

[Manifestor_of_Light]

78. I have met two women named Clyde.

[MrsBrady]

53. i always understood that many commonly used female names

were really once male names...like Beverly and Leslie, etc...

I could be wrong, but that's what I thought, anyway.

[Skittles]

54. mandy patinkin

[donheld]

74. Maybe that's who Barry was really singing to.

:D

[WinkyDink]

55. Waugh's name begins with a long "e", so it is not the same. "Clair" is male; "Claire", female.

"Marion", male; "Marian", female.

[Bonn1997]

58. Mine is Lee, which can go either way. I still feel securely masculine!

Usually (but not always) females spell it "Leigh"

[Crabby Appleton]

60. Lindsey nt

[Mutley]

61. I've known a Jody, Kelly, Stacy, Kerry, and I'm sure a few more that are escaping me right now.

[Tikki]

66. Well..let's see..40+ years ago, when we named our son...

Schuyler..never would have crossed our mind that someone
would name their daughter the same name.
Since then, the Skylars, Skylers and Schuylers we have met, both guys and girls, are great.

The Tikkis

[libodem]

67. Other way around

Many Ricki and Randi's these days.

[proteus_lives]

70. When I was in little League, I knew a boy named -I shit you not-Lacey Satin.

Poor bastard!

[DemBones DemBones]

76. I don't think anybody has mentioned

all the female variants of Johnny, Jimmy, Billy, Tommy, Ricky, Ronnie, Donnie, Bobby, Jerry, Terry, Tony, Sam/Sammy, Freddy, Frankie, Jay, etc.

Others: Jan, Kim, Lynn, Lee. ( Jan is one you rarely hear as a male name but I went to h.s. with two guys named Jan.)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

79. In the south they put an IE on the end.

As in Billie Carr, staunch Democrat of Houston. The other founder of the Harris County Democrats was a lady named Frankie Carter Randolph.

The only reason I knew Frankie was a girl's name was because of the song "Frankie and Johnny were lovers".

I've known a female Jimmie, a female Sammie Jo, Bobbie, Gerry (usually short for Geraldine), Charli.

Joyce Kilmer who wrote "Trees" was a male. One of Oscar Wilde's sons was named Vyvyan.

I think the Danas, like Dana Carvey, are named after actor Dana Andrews.

Mandy is a nickname for Mandel Bruce Patinkin.

[lukasahero]

83. My husband's name is Jan

Mine's Leslie.

Telemarkets get quite confused.

;)

[Manifestor_of_Light]

84. Jan is a form of John.

Like Michel (french) is a form of Michael.

[Drunken Irishman]

86. Tell that to Jan Brady!

:P

[Tom_Foolery]

80. I worked with a man named Gayle. n/t

[Rambis]

81. Uncle Leslie

He went by Les, last name was Pratt so still unfortunate:hi:

[CreekDog]

82. Evelyn Waugh is male?

wow. :hide:

[Drunken Irishman]

85. My grandma's name was Fae and she once spoke with a man who had the same name (spelled, as well).

[dgauss]

87. My little league baseball coach was a guy named Connie.

A pretty good coach, too.

[gmoney]

89. short for Cornelius or Conrad, probably

[dgauss]

91. Interesting, never thought of that in the 30 years since I knew him .

Never heard him referred to as anything but Connie but you may be right.

[Patiod]

97. My grandfather friend was Connie Mack, the famous baseball mgr

his real name was Cornelius McGillicuddy.

And from Mad Men, the actual person Conrad Hilton is a character, and people call him Conrad.

So it could be either

[Lars39]

88. Used to be quite a few men named Kim.

Once knew a man named Lacy.

[Captain Hilts]

93. Sportswriter Shirley Povich - Maury's dad. nt