Why do first names for males become first names for females?

[raccoon]

Such as, Marion, Evelyn, Vivian, Sidney, etc.

[Ilsa]

1. Moms who have faced discrimination on paper

give their daughters names like Blake so you can't tell gender on a resumè.

That's one reason.

[whathehell]

2. Yes..

and it's a good reason.

[dewsgirl]

3. My daughter in law and son are naming my granddaughter

Greyson. I guess it is a popular name for boys.

[Cartoonist]

7. You probably know this

Dick Grayson is Robin's identity. Partner of Batman.

[dewsgirl]

8. Actually I didnt, thank you.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

4. Or capitol cities? "Madison" was a fashionable girls' name for awhile.

I never got that. Why not name your daughter Albuquerque or Bismark or Tallahassee or Boise? OK, Helena is already a name. Providence? Phoenix?

[Fla Dem]

10. Providence, historically has been a girl's name.

The name Providence means Divine Guidance Or Care and is of English origin. Providence is a name that's been used by parents who are considering baby names for girls.

https://www.babynames.com/name/providence

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

11. And by the time they've finished 3rd grade they're scarred for life

from the relentless teasing of kids who aren't named Providence.

[PJMcK]

12. Did you ever see the film "Splash?"

It’s why, I think, Madison was popular for a while. The movie was released in the mid-1980s and I know several women in NYC in a their 30s named Madison.

Curious.

I’ve met two women named Brooklyn. I have a niece named Savannah. It’s weird.

I’ve heard that Trump dated a girl named Kansas City. (wink)

[raccoon]

17. I know a young woman named Brooklyn. Nt

[yellowdogintexas]

13. the mermaid movie with Tom Hanks is where that started.

She named herself Madison

[lastlib]

25. I have a friend in her 60s named Madison.

nt

[rurallib]

5. What was Obama's mother's name? Stanley?

Must say I have wondered about that. Also why it doesn't go the other way? Did Shel Silverstein kill it with "A boy named Sue"? just kidding.

Then there are the men who were given a man's name at birth and see it turn into a woman's name when they are older. I think of sport writer Shirley Povich on this one.

And lastly, why all the different spellings for a name? We named one daughter Erin, among other things thinking that was a name that couldn't be screwed up too badly. Boy was I wrong. I think I have seen a dozen different spellings. Not to mention that my Aunt sent us a card for our new baby "Aaron."

[lastlib]

26. And then there's Leslie Nielsen.......

"And don't call me Shirley!" --- --- ---

And Franki(e) is a dual-gender name, FWIW.

[frazzled]

6. My husband's middle name is

Lynn. Usually a female name, but apparently started as a male name, Welsh for “lake.”

[nolabear]

24. Oh, that's my middle name!

I didn’t know that’s what it meant. So my full given name means “Snare Lake Forest.” Y’know, I could do something with that...🤔

[edbermac]

9. Why do first names for females become first names for males?

[yellowdogintexas]

14. Sometimes the seemingly male name is actually the last name of

some relative. My sister's middle name is Ross which is a name in my mother's family tree.

That sister's daughter is named Mary Douglas after her grandfather whose name is Douglas. Until she went to college everyone called her Douglas, and the family still does. She also has fiery red curly hair, so the name suits her

My dad's sister is named for their grandparents Richard Rivers and Sarah Jane. Her name is Jane Rivers.

Using family names as first names especially for girls has increased a lot over the past 20 or 30 years.

[left-of-center2012]

15. "first names for males"

Evelyn, Vivian ???

[Aristus]

16. Yes. They started out as names for men.

Along with Florence and Beverly.

[shenmue]

18. Names are just words.

[raccoon]

19. Tell that to the boy named Sue. LOL. nt

[shenmue]

20. It's a song. A song about being friendly to people whether you think their names are 'weird' or not.

[Wolf Frankula]

22. There was a REAL Boy named Sue

Sue Hicks. He was the prosecutor of record in the 1925 Scopes Trial.

Wolf

[whistler162]

21. You mean like

Glenn (Close)
Michael (Learned)
Christopher (Norris)

[MontanaMama]

27. I think boys are more difficult to name than girls

because giving girls a name that might be traditionally a boy’s name is trendy. Boys names are more limited because you really can’t name a boy Sue or Tiffany etc. However, if I had a girl, I might consider giving her a gender neutral name so she might not be discriminated against based only on her name.

[RockRaven]

28. Transferring named across genders is multiple millennia old. Augustus Caesar (aka Octavian/Octavius)

had an older sister known to historians as Octavia the Younger, to distinguish her from their elder half-sister Octavia the Elder. They were all named after their father Gaius Octavius.

[madaboutharry]

29. Courtney was also originally a male name.

Randy too. And also now Riley, I know two people who named girls Riley.

[dawg day]

30. Often in the past they would be spelled differently

Allison for a woman, Alison for a man.
Vivienne for a woman, Vivian for a man.
Lindsay for a woman, Lindsey for a man.
Shelley/Shelly.

I've noticed "Kyle" and "Jordan" and others are trending female now too.

[3catwoman3]

31. My first boss at a JC Penney...

...store, when I was 16, was named Doris. He went by his initials - D.W.