Masculine and incorrect

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

A friend on facebook just announced the arrival of her NIECE:

Eliot Dru

This is a triple offense, in my opinion.

1) Those are both male names

2) *Elliot

3) *Drew

I WILL concede that, when I really think about it and remove all memory of Elliot being a male name...it actually sounds feminine and pretty. But I imagine it being spelled Elliette (which is hideous, but I can work on it).

Thoughts? Judgements? Snarky, witty observations?

Comments

Optimistic comment!

[trishy-h.livejournal.com]

They might have spelled it like that to honour TS Eliot? A female Eliot makes me think of the doctor from Scrubs. And I quite liked her so...yeah. I have nothing to say about Dru. Oh no, wait, LOL, what if it's a tribute to that R&B boy band from the early 00s, Dru Hill? What a postmodern name!

Re: Optimistic comment!

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

Ah, I said the same thing about Eliot. I should type faster. There were no comments when I started typing.

Re: Optimistic comment!

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I have never watched Scrubs, but I DO remember Dru Hill. Haha, I'm going to pretend you're correct, because it tickles me.

[bloojanuary.livejournal.com]

Hmm...I actually like Elliette! I've been looking for a name to use with the nickname Ellie (my hubby hates Eliana, which I love).

As for the original name, Eliot Dru: Meh.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I read Elliette almost like "Elite" in my mind, and am trying to think of another way to spell it.

I LOVE Ellie! And Eliana is lovely.

Elliotte? Meh. I can't improve it.

Like I said, the name Elliot really DOES sound feminine and pretty in my mind. I sort of wonder why it was ever a boy's name to begin with!

[ealexsism.livejournal.com]

Elaine?

[blosmbee.livejournal.com]

I don't see anything wrong with the name. I've known a couple of baby girls named Elliot (I'm not sure of the spelling, but Eliot doesn't seem unreasonable to me).

I think it's kind of funny you're pointing out all the "wrong" in this name while ignoring the fact that Drew isn't really a proper name, but is instead a nickname for Andrew. I mean, if we're going to be purists in here...

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I'm not a "purist" - and I do realize that Drew originated as a nickname of Andrew, but it is common enough to be considered a name in and of itself (like Betsy from Elizabeth).

[duckduckcaboose.livejournal.com]

While Elliott is the spelling I prefer, Eliot is an accepted spelling of the name, a la T.S. Eliot. Eliot/Elliot/Elliott is becoming more popular for girls, unfortunately. I think partially because of Scrubs.

Dru spelled like that does seem more feminine. It makes me think of Drusilla from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Spike called her "Dru" a lot. I don't like it as a stand-alone name though, it seems incomplete.

[ex-thegreyl.livejournal.com]

I was going to make these exact points, but you have done it for me. :D YAY

[retrodancekitty.livejournal.com]

After Scrubs (tv show) I don't see it as a problem for Elliot to be used as a girl and from what I've always gathered, Elliott, Elliot and Eliot are all legit versions, although I prefer Elliot.

I'm with you on the fact that the double androgynous name is an epic fail.

Elliette wouldn't quite be pronounced the same, and I personally would be induced to say Elly-ET.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

Yes. ElliETTE is how it ends up reading in my mind, too.

[sallymn.livejournal.com]

I like it.

Eliot is a perfectly correct way to spell the name, and as a surname has some wonderful literary echoes (I much prefer it to the bland Elliott). Sure, using a surname as a first name is more common with boys, but why not girls?

And Dru could be a contraction of Drusilla - again, a perfectly normal practice.

It's a coolly elegant name that will wear well, especially when she grows up.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I can agree that, if it IS in honor of the surname, Eliot is more acceptable.

But "coolly elegant?" For a female? To me, it reads "screamingly trendy."

[octobre09.livejournal.com]

Elliot and Drew are two names that I like for both girls and boys. Honestly I associate them more to girls because I know a girl named Elliot and when I hear Drew (Dru), I think Barrymore so...But I guess I also generally love boy names for girl.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I think what makes is so awful to me is that they're BOTH boyish names. Like I said, I think Eliot/Elliot/Elliott etc etc sounds pretty and feminine...even more so if you threw a feminine middle name in.

But when I imagine the name on a roster, I just think it SCREAMS little boy, with a trendy spelling.

I am actually fond of boy names for girls (NEVER the reverse) in certain scenarios. But I guess I just feel strongly that it has to be followed by a feminine middle name, OR be a masculine nickname derived from a longer female name.

[bonobaby.livejournal.com]

Both names are actually unisex and I think it is a lovely name. I have known female Elliots (often shortened to Eli) and I have known a Drew or too. The spelling of Dru doesn't bother me, nor does the spelling Eliot.

It's an awesome name and I picture a very strong woman, with a lovely view of the world wearing it.

[coendou.livejournal.com]

I've heard/seen Dru as a nn for the female name Drusilla, so maybe it's from that? And yeah, I halfway think of Eliot as a girl's name due to Scrubs, and since this isn't the first female Eliot I've heard of recently, I wonder if it's getting set to become unisex like Jordan did 20 years ago.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I really do think it SOUNDS pretty for a girl. I just struggle with separating it from the masculine place it has always inhabited in my mind!

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I do MOST of the time. Exceptions: I think calling Samantha Sam is cute, Andrea Andy, etc...but really, only in the case of a nickname is it okay with me.

[cremepuff.livejournal.com]

At least they didn't spell the middle name Jrue. I have seen that before, in professional sports, in fact. And yes, it was pronounced "Drew."

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

NO! Are you serious? Jrue? *shudder*

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

Too modern of a spelling for me, as a first name. I do realize T.S. Eliot lived long ago, but that was a surname. The first name, until recent years, was always Elliot or Elliott.

[kitchen-poet.livejournal.com]

No, you are right. Elliott/Elliot/Eliot (the third spelling I ONLY accept when parents obviously named after t.s. eliot. And even then it irks me.) is totally a man's name. It is stupidly trendy for girls, along the lines of all the poor female Hunters, Coopers, and Masens that will eventually all grow up to hate their names.

I know three toddler/baby aged Elliots, two boys, spelled Elliott and Elliot, and a girl named Eliot Wilde. (The mom was in a lit class with me and had the name picked out forever, way before meeting the future dad. I still think it is too obviously literary, if that makes sense. Like naming your child Bronte Jane Grey or something. )

And, uh, maybe Dru is honoring Drusilla? Or something like that? Still hate it.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

Finally, a kindred spirit! haha. I was beginning to think that everyone in the community disagreed with my opinion.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

Yuck. I hate it. Eliot (which I agree looks wierd with that spelling) is strictly masculine to me and while Dru does look more feminine than Drew, it's still ugly, IMO.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I hate it too. Thank God for others sharing the opinion...I was beginning to seriously doubt the credibility of this community's taste! haha...only kidding. We're all entitled to our opinions but, I have to admit, I was surprised by the general consensus that this name is normal/lovely. *shudder*

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

Even though most of the Elliotts I know are male, I think it is one of those names that really can go either way. When I see Dru, I think of it as feminine, but I see it as a nn from something like Drucilla.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I do think Elliot sounds pretty and feminine aloud, it's just tough for me to think of it as anything other than a boy. ESPECIALLY since they paired it with another masculine (unisex at best) name to follow.

If they had gone with Elliot May or something, I might think of it as passable. I just read it as BOY all around.

[nafrate.livejournal.com]

It seems ok to me, the name actually does come across as feminine to me when spelled that way. Yes, it is kind of trendy but whatever. At least it isn't involving a fruit and androgynous name together like...idk, Pear Mason.

The thing I find weird about it is that I associate both names with TV characters (from Scrubs and Buffy) and I wonder if that was intentional or what.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

I think the TV likeness is what makes a LOT of posters that responded to this okay with the name. I haven't ever watched either show, so to me, both names just SCREAM boy, especially when strung together.


Haha, Pear Mason...*shudder*

[spaceandclouds.livejournal.com]

Generally, I'm really not a fan of male names on girls, but Elliot is the exception. I think it's kind of cute.

[sweetest-asylum.livejournal.com]

did they really like the movie e.t.

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

My husband and I have had two girls together, both times our boy name was Elliott. In discussing a possible fourth baby we were talking about names cause I REALLY want to use the name, I semi joked that even if we had another girl we could name her Elliott. Of course I'd honestly never do that as I like girly names, but I think Elliott is a fine name, in any of it's spellings. Dru though...that goes a bit too far.

[becomingun.livejournal.com]

I LOVE Elliot on girls, but that's probably because I had a friend whose little sister was Elliot growing up, and so I never knew it on a boy until way later, when it was a girl's name in my head. I would totally use it on a girl.

Dru is just offensive to my senses. And I don't much like Drew either.

[qadesh.livejournal.com]

ugh I'm so with you. It sounds like a complete hipster trendwhore name. And I could be wrong, but when I see female Elliot, I assume it's after the Scrubs character, and my impression of the character was that she was rather narcissitic and superficial. I never thought the characterization in Scrubs was that great, but ymmv of course. So I don't feel like the parents put much thought into it if that was indeed their line of thinking. And the whole double-unisex names thing is opening things up for a lot of teasing. Poor kid. :(

THAT SAID, my (male) cat is named Elliot, after Elliot Stabler from Law and Order: SVU. One of my favorite characters. :3 So perhaps I'm a total hypocrite.

[amyeliz.livejournal.com]

Trendwhore FTW!

I love everything about this comment. I don't think you're a hypocrite...I think Elliot is a great name. I just hated their spelling (personal preference) and STRONGLY dislike following it with another masculine name.