(no subject)

[http://users.livejournal.com/-lavender-blue-/]

What do you think of the name Spencer for a girl? It's one of my faves!

Also, in general, what do you think of using names for girls that are typically used for boys? I love Dylan and Shane for a girl too :)

Comments

[aquilinum.livejournal.com]

Hello. Welcome to Baby_Names. I see our ranks are now up one for Team Boys' Names Make My Girl Sound Spunky.



I abhor Spencer or Dylan on a girl. Shane also; but then I don't particularly like Shane on a boy, either, whereas Spencer and Dylan seem perfectly acceptable to me on males.

[sarahmarie.livejournal.com]

Not too many people like boy names on girls here. Yeah, I'm also one of those people. :/

[glitterberrys.livejournal.com]

I don't like it or hate it. It's a boy's name to me, but I don't mind it on girls.

[0o-faerie.livejournal.com]

I think some boy names on girls are cute, but I don't like them enough to use. Besides, I think giving girls boy names can cause a lot of unnecessary confusion (in school, or with job applications, for example).

That said...Dylan is one of those names I actually find cute on girls.

Shane really reminds me of the L-Word, and I can't see it on any other girl!
Unfortunately, Spencer reminds me of Heidi's horrendous boyfriend in The Hills (yes, I watched that)...so I really don't like it. Plus, I don't like the way it sounds, either.

[waitingonsunday.livejournal.com]

I used to hate it on either sex, but it's grown on me as a boy's name, due to a friend named Spencer. I can see some girls possibly pulling it off, but I don't especially like Spencer on a girl.

I'm not a big fan of clasically male names on females in general.

[classiestkid.livejournal.com]

I like it, I also like Evan on a girl too.

[smallandneedy.livejournal.com]

I love the name Spencer on a girl just because of the show South of Nowhere. <3

I swear these names (Dylan, Shane and Spencer) are all given to girls on various tv-series.

[hopeless.livejournal.com]

I'm not really one of those boys names for girls kind of people.
However, I think Dylan is the most acceptable of the three.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

Well, Blake is one of my favourites for girls, so I obviously don't see anything wrong with it. Some do seem way off to me, like some boy names should stay boy names, but Spencer and Dylan would work well I think. Maybe not Shane, but that's just me.

[http://users.livejournal.com/-lavender-blue-/]

Lol yeah South of Nowhere was actually where I heard Spencer on a girl for the first time! And i loved it! .....and i love the show! <3 lol. I love Shane in the L Word too so that's where Shane for a girl came from and then I remember hearing the name Dylan for a girl in Charlie's Angels (Drew Barrymore's character) so yeah they're all from TV shows and movies, lol!

[http://users.livejournal.com/-lavender-blue-/]

Ooooh that's being added to my list of boys names for girls! lol thanks! :)

[http://users.livejournal.com/-lavender-blue-/]

Thanks for the warm welcome! :) lol

[anapology.livejournal.com]

I hate surnames for first names, especially on girls.
I hate girls names on boys, they fill me with dread.

Shane is horrible in general...
Dylan is okay, my boyfriend was just talking about how much he liked Dylan for either sex.
I'd ever ever agree to it on a girl..

[jyl-mac.livejournal.com]

I love boy names on girls, in fact it's getting harder and harder for me to settle on boys names that I love b/c then I think "what about on a girl" and it works too hence destroying the male version.

[jyl-mac.livejournal.com]

I love Dylan as a girls name, maybe something like Dylan Sophia.

[jyl-mac.livejournal.com]

I like boys names on girls.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

I hate surnames on any sex, and I hate boys' names on girls. It's always just sounded tacky to me. Plus, when people see her name written down without seeing her, they're going to automatically assume she's a boy. I just don't get why anyone would want to force their kid to deal with that amount of confusion, especially when there are millions of perfectly good girls' names out there...

[http://users.livejournal.com/-lavender-blue-/]

THANK YOU! :). i don't understand the problem myself. All names were made up at one point and put on a certain gender. It's not a rule or anything...

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

They are awful. They are typically used on boys for a reason, most likely because they are too masculine to use on a girl. Plus, everyone will assume that your child is a boy, constantly, and trust me, that's REALLY irritating.

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

HAHAHAHAHAHA. This just made my day.

[aquilinum.livejournal.com]

I think the problem is that boys' names are used on girls to make the girls sound "stronger", "spunkier", or other such adjectives — implying that femininity is somehow mutually exclusive to strength and spunkiness.

When a name has crossed over to use on a girl, it then becomes too "weak" for use on a boy. It's — with RARE exception — a one-way naming world. Traditionally male names are intended to strengthen, and a name seen as feminine is off-limits to males as it may seem to weaken.

If you're honestly wanting to "fuck other people's narrow definition of gender", perhaps the best, most impactive way to do this would be to name a boy a girl's name — as subscribing to the age-old practice of bolstering your female with a boy's name is exactly as conformist, demeaning and traditional as history suggests.

[yukonsally]

all boy names.

[azelmaroark.livejournal.com]

This is an awesome comment. I care more about practical success in the real world for my children than using their names to "fuck narrow definitions of gender," so I wouldn't personally do it, but I think the above is absolutely spot-on. Also, I think names traditionally associated with girls can still sound "strong" (Alexandra, Meredith, Georgia, Eleanor, Elizabeth, Jane, etc). Avoiding cutesy, trendy, nicknamey given names (Kylee, Kaylee, Jaydyn, Madisyn, Kenzie, etc) is really the best way to make sure your daughter's name is taken seriously, IMO.

As for boys' names on girls, I don't have a one size fits all rule, but in general I don't love it just because a lot of them sound ugly to me. Spencer especially, although I coached an adorable girl named Spencer whose parents called her Spence. I think it could work on the right child, potentially, but I wouldn't seek it out.

As someone who's taught kids, trust me: when their teacher sees their name on the roster and doesn't know if they're a boy or a girl, most kids get VERY upset. We actually had kids calling two of our swimmers "Boy Taylor" and "Girl Taylor," (because we had a male and a female both named Taylor), and I don't think either was thrilled. Confusion would be the primary reason I'd avoid these names. They don't like it, believe me.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I love Spencer as a boy's name. I kind of hate it on girls. Same with Dylan, it's good as a boy's name but not a girl's. I dislike Shane for either.

[aqualectra.livejournal.com]

there's a Shaun on the girls Olympic gymnastics team.

[idrinkacidrain.livejournal.com]

+1

[aislincalum.livejournal.com]

I actually do like typically male names on girls, but I do not like Spencer or Shane. That's a personal preference issue, more than anything. I do like Dylan, though.

[ouronlylight.livejournal.com]

WORD. Thanks for so eloquently summing up my feelings on the matter. :)

[seasonofspring.livejournal.com]

It's ghastly horrible, I'm sorry. This whole trend is horrible. Every time I see a little girl with a boys name I think:

a) the parents are teenagers

b) the parents are terribly unoriginal

c) the parents are desperate to look "cool" but they're not

d) all of the above

[azelmaroark.livejournal.com]

i'm just saying that when your child is born if dylan feels right, you should name her that regardless of what's between her legs.

Well, of course. Nobody said otherwise (I don't think people have been "mean," either; I find this community very honest, and they usually at least have a good point).

All we are saying is that it's a fact that when a teacher or an admissions committee or an employer reads "Dylan" on a sheet of paper, they're going to think "boy," and it's your child who is going to have to deal with that, not you. It's not a horrible thing to have to correct, and for this reason I don't think anybody has said that it's absolutely unacceptable to name a girl that, but it does create problems in our society that could be avoided. No matter how much you don't like it, that's the way things are, and if there are other names you like just as well that are more recognizably feminine, they might be better choices for this reason.

I don't take offense, and of course your kids will always find a reason to hate you. I think you're kind of missing our point in saying that we're being mean; I, at least, am not, just pointing out a fact that you should consider before actually using these names. Also, I know that a bunch of people in this community are far from "traditional."

For the record, I'm only recently warming up to Dylan on boys, and it's not a favorite of mine. Same for Shane and Spencer.

[veracity]

Well, I was going to be named Sean had a been a boy, as a way to keep the family connection and not involve John the fourth. For me, I think there are boy names that translate to girls. Spencer's one of them. I like Dylan, Devon, Sean, Mac (as a nickname), Max, Alex (nickname again).

Shane I can't stand but that's because of the movie Some Kind of Wonderful.

[miss-bushido.livejournal.com]

I see a lot more boys names for girls recently, like Sean, Ryan, Logan, etc. One of my friends has two boys names for her middle names. Her full name is Roneisha Julius Spencer.

So, I could see any of those names working for girls, except for Shane, really. I always have associated that with a boy.

[freezemyazaleas.livejournal.com]

IAWTC

[freezemyazaleas.livejournal.com]

I just like certain boys' names on girls because I like the way they sound, not to make some statement on gender roles. I don't give a fuck if they sound "strong" or "spunky" or "weak" or whatever.

[xdontxyouxwish.livejournal.com]

my best friend has a male middle name too. she's jessica dale.

[hotchpot.livejournal.com]

I like Spencer for a girl.

I also like: Blake, Blair, and Brett for girls.

[tiarrajanae.livejournal.com]

I love Spencer for a girl. I actually named a female character Spenser.

[sandtree.livejournal.com]

Well, when you say "Fuck people who ______ " I don't think it's incredibly unreasonable that some might be offended.

I don't get how having names defined as male names and names defined as female names contributes to a narrow definition of gender. Gender exists. Names are used to quickly identify people. If you see 'Jennifer', you think 'female'. You probably also think, 'western or American'. Likewise, if you see a boy named Muhammad, you probably think, 'Muslim male'. I wouldn't advocate giving a white Christian kid from Iowa the name 'Muhammad', for basically the same reason I wouldn't advocate giving a girl a boy's name. It gives people false assumptions, and creates a huge amount of confusion for the kid to have to deal with. If you want to fuck with gender stereotypes, change your name to a male name, but let the kid decide for themselves.

If you had a son, and the name Jessica 'felt right', would you name him Jessica? It just seems to me that a lot of people who complain about narrow definitions of gender would never even contemplate using a girl's name on a boy.

[fleckerbug.livejournal.com]

Dylan and Shane, although NMS, are fine. Spencer is not.

[moshimoshi-13.livejournal.com]

Southhhh. <3

I don't have a problem with boy's names on girls, but I can see other peoples' points against it. But Spencer is definitely one of my favourites, mostly because I am head over heels in love with Spencer Carlin. Haha.

[http://users.livejournal.com/-lavender-blue-/]

Haha. Well you have very good taste in girls then! :) Spashley are such a hot couple but so cute as well.