Multiplying at Warp Speed: Upcoming Babies 15

[Wolf in Sheeples’ Clothing]

The birth name of author Anne Rice is Howard. Howard Allen Frances O’Brien. 

[anjulibai]

Obama's mother's name was Stanley. 

[JermajestyDuggar]

I know a woman named Peter Ann. She said her parents were naming her after her father no matter the sex. Because they were only having one kid. Named Peter. The Ann was supposed to make it sound more feminine. 

[Bethella]

12 minutes ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I know a woman named Peter Ann. She said her parents were naming her after her father no matter the sex. Because they were only having one kid. Named Peter. The Ann was supposed to make it sound more feminine. 

They could have used Petra, I know a young girl who was named that after her father and grandfather, both Peters.

[JermajestyDuggar]

4 minutes ago, Bethella said:

They could have used Petra, I know a young girl who was named that after her father and grandfather, both Peters.

I agree. I love the name Petra. They must not have thought of it. 

[tabitha2]

I actually think  Michael or Ryan for a girl or Jamie for a boy is pretty cute. 

[Wolf in Sheeples’ Clothing]

There was this country duo called The Davis Sisters, and one of the members had the name Betty Jack. 

[smittykins]

One of the members of the Hues Corporation(“Rock The Boat”)was Hubert Ann Kelly.  And on the other side, the singer of the 1960s hit “The Birds And the Bees” was a man named Jewel Akins.

[NachosFlandersStyle]

12 minutes ago, tabitha2 said:

I actually think  Michael or Ryan for a girl or Jamie for a boy is pretty cute. 

Jamie was my grandfather's name! I always thought of it as a male name because of that.

[Jana814]

3 hours ago, Themanda Duggar said:

That’s a very good point.  My grandmother was born in 1920 in West Virginia, and was the first girl in a family of boys.  Her birth certificate listed her as Baby Boy Scott (their last name) until she finally corrected it as an adult.

Oh my!  That’s nuts. 

[anjulibai]

1 hour ago, tabitha2 said:

I actually think  Michael or Ryan for a girl or Jamie for a boy is pretty cute. 

Jamie/Jaime was originally a boys name, a Scottish version/diminutive of James. It started being used for girls relatively recently. 

The movement of names from one gender to another is really mainly one way, and a lot of names that are seen as only feminine now were originally only masculine. 

I would love to use my middle name for a son, should I ever have a third, but it's such a feminine name now, I don't want my kid to have to deal with any potential issues. 

[Aine]

2 hours ago, JermajestyDuggar said:

I know a woman named Peter Ann. She said her parents were naming her after her father no matter the sex. Because they were only having one kid. Named Peter. The Ann was supposed to make it sound more feminine. 

The name Peta is somewhat common, especially in a certain age group or generation, in Australia and New Zealand for females. It's pronounced the same as Peter in our accents because we barely or don't pronounce an 'r' sound at the end of a word.

I never absorbed how regional Peta was until moving overseas. It's a bit like Narelle or Kylie in that way, although Kylie found popularity a couple of generations later in the US due to Kylie Jenner. But Kylie is a solidly late-80s/early-90s name in Australia.

[JermajestyDuggar]

19 minutes ago, Aine said:

The name Peta is somewhat common, especially in a certain age group or generation, in Australia and New Zealand for females. It's pronounced the same as Peter in our accents because we barely or don't pronounce an 'r' sound at the end of a word.

I never absorbed how regional Peta was until moving overseas. It's a bit like Narelle or Kylie in that way, although Kylie found popularity a couple of generations later in the US due to Kylie Jenner. But Kylie is a solidly late-80s/early-90s name in Australia.

Oh yes, the US name trends don’t always line up with other English speaking countries. Petra is an uncommon name in the US. I’m sure it’s a little more common these days. But I don’t think it’s ever cracked the top 100.

[EmainMacha]

In the US are the names Francis/Frances and Leslie/Lesley well known? With the different spelling to denote whether the person is male or female?

[Ivycoveredtower]

2 hours ago, EmainMacha said:

In the US are the names Francis/Frances and Leslie/Lesley well known? With the different spelling to denote whether the person is male or female?

I think francis/Frances more so then Lesley I think both spelling of that are used for girl when used. The only Frances/Francis I can think of all al from tv 1. Malcolm in the middle 2. The middle 3. Blue bloods. 1 and three are Male. 2 is female but predomedly called Frankie

[AliC]

4 minutes ago, Ivycoveredtower said:

I think francis/Frances more so then Lesley I think both spelling of that are used for girl when used. The only Frances/Francis I can think of all al from tv 1. Malcolm in the middle 2. The middle 3. Blue bloods. 1 and three are Male. 2 is female but predomedly called Frankie

I've seen Francis used more for boys and Frances used more for girls. Leslie is a name I rarely see but I've seen it for both boys and girls about equally. Lesley, though, that spelling I almost never see.

[Sister_Wife]

My uncle Peter named his first child (a girl) Peta. Middle name Nicole. We always called her Nikki to make it less confusing but when she reached adulthood she chose to use Peta. (In Australia)

[Smee]

7 hours ago, Aine said:

The name Peta is somewhat common, especially in a certain age group or generation, in Australia and New Zealand for females. It's pronounced the same as Peter in our accents because we barely or don't pronounce an 'r' sound at the end of a word.

I never absorbed how regional Peta was until moving overseas. It's a bit like Narelle or Kylie in that way, although Kylie found popularity a couple of generations later in the US due to Kylie Jenner. But Kylie is a solidly late-80s/early-90s name in Australia.

Interesting, my first thought reading JermajestyDuggar’s post was “why didn’t they spell it the female way, Peta?” I was surprised to see Petra suggested first. I never realised Peta was an Aussie thing.

I find it amusing that Lachlan and Hamish are dime-a-dozen in Australia and actually rank higher on our charts than in Scotland. On US name boards I’ve read a lot of misunderstanding of how Hamish is pronounced (Hay-mish, not ham-ish) so it’s obviously very uncommon there. Interesting how regional names develop.

I always understood Francis or Francesco to be the boys’ name and Frances or Francesca to be the girl’s. Both then get nicknamed Frankie, but Frank as a nickname seems to be boys-only and Fran is girls-only. Leslie I believe began as a boys’ name, then when it became unisex the Lesley spelling was popularised for girls. It’s rare to find a male Leslie these days, but if you do, they’re extra unlikely to have the Lesley spelling.

[Smash!]

Here the name Andrea is exclusively used as a female name (Andreas would be the male aequivalent). When I was a kid, a family in our neighbourhood who were Italian immigrants named their baby Andrea, I was happy to have a girl to play with. Turned out that Andrea was in fact a boy as the name was/is very common for males in Italy [emoji4]

[smittykins]

9 hours ago, Aine said:

The name Peta is somewhat common, especially in a certain age group or generation, in Australia and New Zealand for females. It's pronounced the same as Peter in our accents because we barely or don't pronounce an 'r' sound at the end of a word.

I never absorbed how regional Peta was until moving overseas. It's a bit like Narelle or Kylie in that way, although Kylie found popularity a couple of generations later in the US due to Kylie Jenner. But Kylie is a solidly late-80s/early-90s name in Australia.

I believe Andy Gibb had a daughter named Peta(I remember he hid the fact that he was married and had a daughter so he wouldn’t upset his US teenage-girl fan base).

[LucilleJ]

I’m a fan of first name and enjoyed reading this thread since i discovered this forum.

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I couldn’t see any listed for boys or unisex that began as girls’ names, although I’m sure the rule has exceptions somewhere.

The only one I can think of is Evelyn. 

 

I never knew of boys being named Evelyn but I thought that Marion or Muriel were girl names given also to boys in America (I never crossed path with boys named that way, only girls).

I got curious of mixt name and I discover one name that was firstly given to girls and is now given to boys: LOUISON was at the beginning for girls as a form of «little Louise» and is now given to boys as «Little Louis»

I discovered two other occurrences of rare names:

-          MADY was at first given to little girl because it’s a nickname for Madelaine (with Maddie…) but is now given to boys as well because of african/arabic influence (Madi seems to have the meaning of “praised” – as in praised the lord)

-          NOA was the feminine version of Noé (=Noah in Anglo Saxon countries…) and is now also given to boys (but I think it’s because of American influence and the fashionable change of spell, more like an “incorrect” version of Noah rather than a change of sex)

None of those names are wildly popular; they are given to a handful of people (3000 at most i think)

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But Spanish speaking and Catholic countries are a bit more fluid with gendered names as it is when there is a strong religious association with the name (e.g. Maria or Marie as a component of male names). 

Oh, there is funny ones: Marie-Pierre for girls vs Pierre-Marie for boys or Marie-Georges vs Georges-Marie.

[clueliss]

Genealogy has taught me that Marion used in boys is often a reference to Francis Marion - a revolutionary war hero (I believe Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot was loosely based on him).  

[Smee]

2 hours ago, LucilleJ said:

-          NOA was the feminine version of Noé (=Noah in Anglo Saxon countries…) and is now also given to boys (but I think it’s because of American influence and the fashionable change of spell, more like an “incorrect” version of Noah rather than a change of sex

I know someone with a son called Noa. Her husband is Maori and it’s apparently a Maori name pronunced slightly differently from Noah (though of course he hears and responds to Noah a lot at school).

[front hugs > duggs]

I know a few Israeli women named Noa. I actually really like the name for a girl, but I think it's too popular now with Noah that I'd likely avoid it if I were to have a daughter in the near future.

[Wolf in Sheeples’ Clothing]

1 hour ago, clueliss said:

Genealogy has taught me that Marion used in boys is often a reference to Francis Marion - a revolutionary war hero (I believe Mel Gibson's character in The Patriot was loosely based on him).  

John Wayne was born Marion Morrison.