New Trend In Baby Names
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One word–androgyny.
That’s right, the new trend in baby names according to those in the know is names that can work for either male or female babies. There used to be a time where you could pretty much guess the sex of a child when you heard a name. Perhaps I am dating myself?
When I was born, parents were naming their children Michael, John, Michelle or Jennifer. They wanted something conservative and sensible for the most part.
I notice that my friends who are having children today all want something unique and different. It strikes me funny that those who are looking for unique end up inevitably naming their child the same thing as many other parents named their children. The unique name is now–popular.
I think of when I named my daughter Emily 13 years ago. No one at that time was naming their child Emily. In fact, she was named in honor of her great-great-great grandmother Emily who came to America to start a new life. Emily is now the most popular name for girls and has been for several years.
Nine years ago I named my youngest child Grace. Many people asked me why I would chose to name a young child such an “old lady” name. I chose it for many reasons, but mostly because I liked it. Today, when I go to the park, I hear a number of parents calling out the name as they search for their wandering offspring.
Currently, there seems to be a bunch of Logans, Morgans, Madisons and Hunters. All of these names can be for both boys and girls. I think of how my friend from high school and I both considered naming our children the same name when we became pregnant in 2007. Her child was a girl; mine was a boy.
Oddly enough, I didn’t have a problem naming our son Kendall. My father’s name is Kenneth and it seemed to be a modern take on his name. I viewed it as a positive thing. My husband, upon finding out that our chosen name could also be given to a girl, nixed the name from his list. He wanted a masculine name for our son as he felt this was very important. He also wanted a unique name for our first born son. After naming four female children, I was ok with this.
What did we finally end up naming our son? Marshall. It was unique, but also masculine declared my husband.
How do you feel about this baby naming trend? Does it bother you to name a girl baby a name that can be considered masculine? Would it trouble you to find out that your son’s name can also be a name for a girl?
Victoria says...
I would find it slightly disturbing to be in the hospital, shortly after giving birth, looking at my baby named (for example) Taylor, a boy, only to look to the left to a baby girl with the same name.
However, then again, I guess it is up to the mother.
I would just find it a bit disturbing that I named my son something that his potential wife could be named.
Claire says...
I have a cousin named Robin and she married a guy named Robin. She ended up changing her name to “Robyn” after they got married but its still confusing!