(no subject)

[isabellinea.livejournal.com]

Although, I'm young, young enough to not even consider having kids, I joined because I'm a writer and always have a hard time naming my characters. I was talking to my friend, Gabriel about girls being named boys names, and boys girls. She said she loved it, and I honestly don't know if I do or not. Anyway, I wanted to know what you thought. 

For example, for a girl named Ryan, Joey, Logan, Bradley, Charlie, Ethan, Dylan. Would you hate that? And for a boy named like Kelly, Ashley, Courtney or something, I can't think of more of the top of my head. And what about more standard unisex names? Like Jordan, Riley, Taylor, Casey?

Comments

[beanxsprout.livejournal.com]

I honestly hate the whole using boys names as girls names, but I LOVE the using what are now considered girls names but were boys names however long ago for boys. If you understand what I wrote.

[elizabethtess.livejournal.com]

That's funny, because I'm the opposite -- I LOVE girls using boy-names and really hate when boys use those old names that have become girl-names over time, lol. And I love those unisex names like Jordan and Riley. :D

[beanxsprout.livejournal.com]

Lol. My son's name is Logan, and every time I hear "Oh, that's a nice name, my neice/grandaughter/cousin's daughter is named Logan," I cringe.

[avec-bonheur.livejournal.com]

'Logan' is a guy's name to me, if that's any consolation. A female 'Logan' just seems off to me.

[spadoinkel.livejournal.com]

Agreed. Logan = Wolverine, super buff and masculine :)

[stormqueen280.livejournal.com]

This! I can never see a girl when I think of this name.

[distractful.livejournal.com]

I don't mind Charlie or Joey or something like that as nicknames for girls, but the thought of saddling a girl with Bradley or Ethan is kind of mind boggling.

Also, all the boy names you listed are pretty unisex. I rather prefer Ashley and Shannon for boys.

But really, I just tend to not like unisex names all together.

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

I forgot about Shannon. I like that one on both boys and girls.

[alice-alaizabel.livejournal.com]

Bit of a nitpick here, but all the examples you gave of giving a boy a girl's name are incorrect, as they were all boys' names originally and have only fairly recently been popularised as girls' names.

But I'm not surprised your friend Gabriel likes the idea of using boys names for girls and girls names for boys as she herself has a boy's name.

I don't really like any of the names you gave as examples, but I don't really like them when used on the intended gender, not just inverted. Except maybe Logan.

But I do like the name Gabriel.

[laminy.livejournal.com]

That's exactly what I was thinking, lol, re: Gabriel being a boy's name.

[languagejourney.livejournal.com]

I like Gabriel as a girl. If you look at religion, the archangel with that name is depicted as both, though not at the same time, and would be the only female archangel if so.

I can see it on a boy too but I have used the name only once for a story and the character was a girl.

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

I usually dislike boys names on girls, because I think they always sound masculine. Even Jordan, Riley, Taylor and Casey sound masculine to me. I like Ashley, Kelly, and Jamie on either sex though.

[hikerpoet.livejournal.com]

For me, it just greatly depends on the name. Don't prefer it or find it particularly especially appealing as a concept, but don't mind it at all either. I can't complain, because I have one of them. I'm a female Lindsay, and it is much more commonly female now, but I'm actually one of the older female Lindsays (my parents were about ten years ahead of the trend) and it confused people more when I was quite young.

[lilacmermaid.livejournal.com]

I think names like Joey and Charlie are cute as nicknames for girls, but I hate names like Riley or Logan as given names.

Two of my favourite boys names are Morgan and Jordan, and I also am fond of names like Kelly on boys.

[nobodynomore.livejournal.com]

I am a big fan of "feminine" names for girls & "masculine" names for boys (in quotes because that varies for people).

However, there are exceptions. I prefer the name Bailey (unisex, but primarily used for girls) on a boy, and Vaughn on a girl (I met a girl Vaughn, and she was pretty badass, and now I can't see it on a boy!). I also like Taylor, for either.

[how-obscure.livejournal.com]

I really, really dislike boys' names being used on girls. However, I really like seeing names that were traditionally male but have more recently become considered female by the majority of the population back on boys. One of my favorite male names is Mackenzie.

I also like gender-bending nicknames for both genders. For example, Joey is cute for a girl named Josephine. Lou for Louisa or Tallulah is great. Going the other direction. Callum is my favorite boys' name and I would definitely call a little Callum Callie some of the time. Another example would be Eamon (pronounced AY-mon) shortened to Eamy (pronounced like Amy).

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

I am not a fan of masculine names on girls for the most part. I do however, think nn's are cute (aka Charlotte being Charlie or something). I don't mind Kelly, Ashley or Courtney on males because they are originally male and female names. Only recently have names like Addison and Avery become feminized. I think it's ~trendy~ to use a name like Ryan on a girl.

I like a few standard unisex names and that's the way I would go if I wanted to give my daughter a less "frilly" name. I love Morgan and Quinn.

[smallandneedy.livejournal.com]

I'm usually not a fan of unisex names. Jordan to me is a boys name, Riley can be both (I blame TV), Casey can also be both (I know mostly girls with it though). Sydney/Sidney is really nice and I like Sydney for a girl, but I know a male Sidney and he suits it really well.

I'm a fan of sticking to girls names for girls (although one of my favorite name, Andrea, is actually unisex) and I never understood the fascination of giving boy names to girls because to me there are so many prettier girl names out there than boy names.

[ladyofsilence.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of names for boys being used for girls and vice versa. Mainly because I have a name in real life that confuses the heck out of people.

My first name is Romi, pronounced Raw-me. I have had all sorts of trouble with my name. I am female, but most people look at my name and assume I'm male. Most people also assume that I'm Middle Eastern, Polish (huh?), or Jewish. I have gotten many Facebook requests from people asking to be friends based on their assumptions and not on my personal info, and many of these people I can't even communicate with because I only know English.

The real shock of my life came when I checked one of my credit reports and found out they had mistakenly assumed I was married. I never have been, so I don't know where they got the idea, but eh. It wouldn't have been that bad, except the person they had listed as my spouse was my MOTHER.

They may only be for fictional characters, but people make many assumptions about you based on your name, whether you exist or not. I think the only exceptions to this rule are names that are made-up names that you couldn't find in any baby book.

[linwenolatari.livejournal.com]

I don't ever want to have kids, but I do write and I like looking for nice sounding names for my characters, as well as odd names and I do like giving my male characters "girl" names and vice-versa, but I enjoy giving the guys "girly" names.
Example, in one story of mine, all the almost all the characters have unisex names (but that are associated to one sex more than the other)
They are:
Ashley (Boy)
Abigail(Boy)
Ariel(Boy)
(These three characters are 2 brothers and their dad, and when I realized that the mom didn't have a name to match, it was too late to change it to a gender-neutral name, so she's Melanie)
Alexis (Boy)
Kerry(girl)
Christian (girl)
Madison (Boy)
Kelly(boy)
Andrea(boy)

and in other stories I have
Dana (guy)
Dallas (guy)
Shawn (girl)
Vivian (It's a girl, but I thought of naming a boy character that)
Taylor (boy)
Addison (boy)
Sasha (boy)

And others I can't remember right now

[pixie-bones.livejournal.com]

Like these on boys, but not so much on girls: Ashley, Kelly, Madison, Addison, Sasha.
(Actually, I love the name Ashley on boys, but HATE it otherwise... Maybe because there are fifty-million girl-Ashleys? Haha, Idk. ^^)

Haha, I told my kid nephew just the other day that Ariel wasn't just for girls.

[pixie-bones.livejournal.com]

I generally dislike boys' names on girls and vice versa. I can usually make an exception for nicknames.
(Your friend probably loves it because she herself has a boy's name. ^^)

I used to like a lot of unisex names, but now I don't (they are names I just don't care for in general).

[languagejourney.livejournal.com]

My name is very formal so I go by Casey and enjoy the name very much. I have actually met more female Caseys (Casei, Kasie, etc) than male and I find the parents get a little creative with the spelling to possibly make it more feminine, which ruins the fun.
It took me a while to embrace that Leslie was also a boy's name but most other names I find alright (girls names on boys wise) so long as they don't sound really "frilly" like Josephine, Francesca *shiver*, and so on and so forth.
As for boys names on girls, pretty much the same thing. So long as the name doesn't sound really masculine like Boris or Joseph, I find it alright. I thought of Claude but that doesn't sound too bad to me so long as it isn't Claudius; then it's too much for a girl to take.
It depends on the affect you are going for with the story and how you want the character to develop. If your friend isn't a writer, then the name preference says a bit about her personality. There has been research done that says the east side of the US is more likely to pick traditional names and spellings to let the child make it unique while the west coast is more likely to pick alternate spellings or make up names. Don't know if it is the birth place or hometown that counts because I ride the fence on that one. And you will probably use names you don't like at some point, if only for a character you want people to hate.For example, the names that annoy me are Adin and Kylie. I have no idea why but they rub me the wrong way. Still, I might use them one day...

And as a fellow writer who is probably a bit closer to having children than you, I understand the whole naming thing. You don't want to use a name over and over and making up your own can sometimes make it seem unreal. I have to look up most of my newer names on the internet because my friends have repeatedly told me at bookstores that if I were to buy a "baby" names book, my parents might freak out.
And I plan on having kids so I have picked some names for them so I don't use them in my stories so in the future they can't come up to me and ask if I expect them to be like the character in the book.

Wow, I wrote a lot. Sorry...

[languagejourney.livejournal.com]

Actually, I've used Kylie already in a story...Riley is another one then.

[spadoinkel.livejournal.com]

I love boys names for girls :) I told my mum when I was like 8 that I was going to name my daughter Ruan and she thought it was a great idea lol I also like Dylan but i think thats cos i like Drew barrymores character in charlies angels.. and joey works too, like in dawsons creek :)

My name is Chelsea and Ive gotten the nickname "Charlie" quite a lot.. I think its super cute and wish everyone called me that lol

[cremepuff.livejournal.com]

It depends on the name. Usually I don't like girls having boy names, but I am really good friends with a female Ryan, so that name has grown on me.

[qtshorty1625.livejournal.com]

When I was younger, my best friend at the time had named one of her Barbie dolls Randy and at the time I thought it was a really cool girl's name.

I tend to (mentally) fight the gender crossovers and unisex names because English doesn't really have a gender neutral pronoun anymore, and I'd like to be able to talk about someone I don't know other than by name and use a pronoun without sounding like an idiot.

That being said, with the rise of these crossover and unisex names, it's hard to dislike a name on a certain sex once you know people of both sexes with that name.