(no subject)

[jessiac.livejournal.com]

I am quite interested about the issue of the name Ashley. I have always considered Ashley to be a predominately male name - I know couple of (male) Ashleys, and I always think of the Premiership footballer (soccer player) Ashley Cole whenever I hear the name! Is it really that popular a girl's name in the US?

Using the unscientific method of searching on google I found that:

Searching for the name 'Ashley' just in the UK returned, on the first three pages, the name 'Ashley' clearly as a forename in approximately 6 cases, all male. The other results did not mention the gender of the person.

Performing the same search, but excluding domains .uk, I found that the name Ashley appeared as a female name 6 times (twice for the same person, Ashley Judd), definitively, out of three pages, and once as a male name.

So my question is, why is there a difference at all between the designation of Ashley as a male and female name in the UK and the US? And is it that pronounced?

Comments

[jessiac.livejournal.com]

Let's not reference drama filled posts, it just continues it. Please remove that line, just in case some retard wants to come back and start more crap

Alright.

You're right - I am surprised by how many female Ashleys there are. I used to assume they were all male until I heard of Mary-Kate and Ashley, and took the view that anyone American with that name is female.

Do you know why it started to become more popular for girls rather than for boys?

[morphinae.livejournal.com]

Thanks, I appreciate it.

As for your question, no idea. Probably the same reasons some male names have turned popular for girls now, someone just thought it was cute for a girl and it became a trend. If you think about it, the way name trends just happen and catch on like wild-fire is pretty neat.