Joe & Kendra 16: Praise - ing Their Brooklyn All the Day Long!

[Expectopatronus]

That would have been very progressive for the time! Divorce was super common and totally acceptable, Logan ordering for Mary Ann at the restaurant was second nature and it was a big, feminist move for Mary Ann to be irritated. Normalizing same sex relationships would have really blown the minds of the late 80’s/ early 90’s parents buying the books for their tweens. 

[Maggie Mae]

4 hours ago, JordynDarby5 said:

As a Baby-sitters Club fan the sixth book list Kristy's mother names Watson's ex-wife and her new fiance as Sheila and Kendall. Since I'd only known girl Kendalls at the time I assumed Kendall was a woman and Watson's ex-wife was a lesbian and engaged to be married. With the different married, divorced, widowed and remarriage in that series it really didn't seem that out of place. I just figured they wanted Watson's reason for divorce being different from Kristy's (Dad ran off), Dawn's (a lot of fighting and moving across the country) and Stacey's (a lot of fighting, workholic, etc). I was disappointed when I learned later that Kendall was suppose to be a guy before the recon and he became Seth. 

Ann M Martin was in a long term relationship with a woman so it's not impossible that she had used a "gender neutral" name at the time to slip it in. It would have been published before Scholastic even thought about the little sister series, IIRC. 

[GiggleOfGirls]

18 hours ago, JordynDarby5 said:

As a Baby-sitters Club fan the sixth book list Kristy's mother names Watson's ex-wife and her new fiance as Sheila and Kendall. Since I'd only known girl Kendalls at the time I assumed Kendall was a woman and Watson's ex-wife was a lesbian and engaged to be married. With the different married, divorced, widowed and remarriage in that series it really didn't seem that out of place. I just figured they wanted Watson's reason for divorce being different from Kristy's (Dad ran off), Dawn's (a lot of fighting and moving across the country) and Stacey's (a lot of fighting, workholic, etc). I was disappointed when I learned later that Kendall was suppose to be a guy before the recon and he became Seth. 

Gone With the Wind’s Ashley Wilkes hit me a similar way! I’d never heard of a male Ashley or of it having ever been a man’s name. So at the beginning of the movie (I haven’t read the book) when Scarlett was pining after Ashley, I was extremely confused because it couldn’t possibly be a woman given the time period in which it was set and when the movie was made, but the name was a woman’s name to me so...

[CanadianMamam]

21 hours ago, JordynDarby5 said:

As a Baby-sitters Club fan the sixth book list Kristy's mother names Watson's ex-wife and her new fiance as Sheila and Kendall. Since I'd only known girl Kendalls at the time I assumed Kendall was a woman and Watson's ex-wife was a lesbian and engaged to be married. With the different married, divorced, widowed and remarriage in that series it really didn't seem that out of place. I just figured they wanted Watson's reason for divorce being different from Kristy's (Dad ran off), Dawn's (a lot of fighting and moving across the country) and Stacey's (a lot of fighting, workholic, etc). I was disappointed when I learned later that Kendall was suppose to be a guy before the recon and he became Seth. 

Yes the names later became Lisa and Seth! I never gave the name Kendall much thought and was more confused by the name change because I read the Little Sister books first. 

16 hours ago, Maggie Mae said:

Ann M Martin was in a long term relationship with a woman so it's not impossible that she had used a "gender neutral" name at the time to slip it in. It would have been published before Scholastic even thought about the little sister series, IIRC. 

Yes, she wrote the first 35 books herself, so it might have been something she slipped in and the Little Sister books weren't released until 2 years after the first BSC books. Emily Michelle is in all the Little Sister books and isn't adopted until book 24 of BSC.

[Knight of Ni]

I know a male and female Jordan who married. 

Another name I just remembered is Adrian/Adrienne. I went to school with a female Adrienne and was a little surprised when I met an adult male Adrian.

[Jana814]

32 minutes ago, Knight of Ni said:

I know a male and female Jordan who married. 

Another name I just remembered is Adrian/Adrienne. I went to school with a female Adrienne and was a little surprised when I met an adult male Adrian.

I have known people named Jordan of both genders. Someone who I went school with mother is named Adrienne. I also know a guy named Adrian. 

[Alisamer]

On 5/31/2021 at 2:56 PM, jegfile said:

If any of you remember reading Enid Blyton's series "Malory Towers" when you were young, the main character was named Darrell. I've only met one other Darrell who was a girl.

In our family we have a male Lindsey and a male Hilary. And I remember in grade school a boy getting teased because his middle name was Shannon.

 

On 5/31/2021 at 3:29 PM, WiseGirl said:

As for Vivian as a name two people come to my mind, Vivian Campbell lead guitarist for Def Leppard or the wonderful Vivian Vance from I Love Lucy.

Also Vyvyan from The Young Ones! 

On 5/31/2021 at 6:10 PM, JanasTattooParlor said:

This is something that I still see in the South a lot as a teacher. I’ve taught girls named Campbell and McCaffery and all sorts of interesting last names.

This is definitely still common in the South especially among those with higher income levels. I went to college with lots of Campbell's, Parkers, Brooks, etc. My roommate's middle name was O'Neil. 

On 6/2/2021 at 9:03 AM, Sullie06 said:

I know a male Sage. Hes a older teenager. 

I know a girl Sage, she's just about to start high school I think.

I used to know a couple named Jean and Gene, which was pretty fun!

When I was in high school names that were gender neutral were Shannon, Casey, Jordan, things like that. 

[viii]

I knew of a guy named Dane who married a Dana and her mother was also Dana ?

[SassyPants]

52 minutes ago, viii said:

I knew of a guy named Dane who married a Dana and her mother was also Dana ?

My nephew, Michael Mark Thomas married a woman Michaela Mark (a family name) Jones

Her dad, now deceased, was named Thomas Michael Jones.

These are fictitious names, but the patterns are exactly the same.

[Mrs Ms]

My great grandparents were Daniel Robert and Danielle Roberta. If I hadn’t read it on my grandmothers death certificate, I wouldn’t have believed it! 

[CarrotCake]

My mom had an aunt and uncle (married) called Jo and Jo, short for Johanna and Johannes (basically the most common names here in the Netherlands for their generation).

Also, my grandparents named my mother and her brother the exact same three names only the female/male versions, they were not very creative ? Thank god their first names (guess what: Johanna and Johannes) had so many nicknames that you would not guess they share names when you would meet them.

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by CarrotCake

[Sullie06]

I was friend with a couple who were Danielle and Daniel. They went by Dani and Dan. It was confusing once they got married. 

[rightmind01]

James has become a trendy name for girls in recent years, especially in celebrity circles.  However, my great great grandmother was named James Ida.  I've never been able to determine why she was given the firstname James but I've always wondered.  To help the situation she married my great great grandfather James Monroe and their first son, my great grandfather, was James Rufus...such a happy family of James, James and James!...and a Joe for good measure! ?

[mango_fandango]

I remember reading a book where the main character was called ‘Cammie’, which was short for Cameron. To me that is a boys’ name, even though there’s the actress Cameron Diaz. The book character had the middle name Ann and Cameron Diaz’s middle name is apparently Michelle, so pretty obviously feminine middle names. Wikipedia says that Cameron is unisex in the States, the U.K. and Australia, although there are far more famous men with the name than women. There was once a boy in my class at primary school called Cameron. 
 

If you’re familiar with the Gwen Shamblin threads, her kids are Michael and Michelle, although Michelle goes by Elizabeth now. Michelle always makes me think of both the Duggar matriarch and Michelle Tanner from Full House. 

[Spock]

My great granparents were Lewis and Lois. I always found it cute their names were similar 

[AussieKrissy]

Speaking of names  I don’t follow the JRods only what I see mentioned on other threads. I saw that Jill was hosting a gender reveal. I have been waiting for the info to pop up somewhere. Has it been released yet the sex and name? I keep expecting to see it in the jrod  title thread. 

[just_ordinary]

On 6/7/2021 at 9:04 PM, Jana814 said:

I have known people named Jordan of both genders. Someone who I went school with mother is named Adrienne. I also know a guy named Adrian. 

Ahhhh never thought about this. The names sound very different to me in first glance. Adrien would most definitely be pronounced with A like aid. Because we identify it as an English name. To sound like how we would pronounce Adrienne it would have to be Adrian (both a as in ardent). The e makes us switch to the English pronunciation.  

Adrienne would start with an A like in ardent. That would most definitely the default here if wouldn’t be clear by prior knowledge or obvious nickname that this Adrienne is from an English speaking country. Then we definitely pronounce it like aid.
 

I guess it’s because our near proximity to countries with Roman languages has definitely formed our default here. But those names might sound the same but there are definite distinctions in spelling between the genders.

Edited June 9, 2021 by just_ordinary

[Knight of Ni]

Does anyone pronounce Erin and Aaron differently? To me they sound the same but I'm wondering if it varies by region. 

[medimus]

43 minutes ago, Knight of Ni said:

Does anyone pronounce Erin and Aaron differently? To me they sound the same but I'm wondering if it varies by region. 

Yes, they sound completely different to me. Erin starts with a dull 'eh' sound, as in meh and Aaron starts with a short 'ah' sound, like apple. THe ends are also different. Erin ends in 'in' exactely like the word in and Aaron ends with 'un' as in undone.

[HerNameIsBuffy]

8 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

Ahhhh never thought about this. The names sound very different to me in first glance. Adrien would most definitely be pronounced with A like aid. Because we identify it as an English name. To sound like how we would pronounce Adrienne it would have to be Adrian (both a as in ardent). The e makes us switch to the English pronunciation.  

Here in the Midwest (Chicago area) those names are homophones, pronounced exactly the same.  

 

1 hour ago, Knight of Ni said:

Does anyone pronounce Erin and Aaron differently? To me they sound the same but I'm wondering if it varies by region. 

In my region both of those are also pronounced exactly the same.  I've been fascinated by the Mary, marry, merry thing since I first heard of it since I can't imagine those words being pronounced differently, they are exactly the same here.  I can't even hear the differences in other accents where others can, so I think perhaps the midwestern accent isn't know for subtlety.  

Weird name fact, my daughter has a common name (think Holly but with an M) I didn't think could be pronounced any other way, but she moved to California last year and can't stand how most people pronounce her name. She gets Miley and Mally all the time and it's different enough she wasn't responding when new at work thinking they were talking to someone else.  So I told her she should move back home until they learn and she somehow doesn't think it's worth giving up her new life for people who can say her name correctly  

Edited June 9, 2021 by HerNameIsBuffy

[monkeyrocks71]

5 hours ago, Knight of Ni said:

Does anyone pronounce Erin and Aaron differently? To me they sound the same but I'm wondering if it varies by region. 

Erin = Eh-rin

Aaron = Aa-run (Aa as in apple)

I’m from NY, and I’m a teacher, and I had a class with an Erin and Aaron and they always knew to whom I was speaking. 

My mom is “Dawn” with all the NY-ese “aw” you can shove in there. It is not “Don”

Ive also had a class with Dayna (f) and Dana (m) in it. I used last initials there.

also:

merry = meh-ree

marry =maa-ree (aa like apple, again)

mary = mare-ee 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2021 by monkeyrocks71

[libgirl2]

On 6/7/2021 at 2:29 PM, Alisamer said:

 

Also Vyvyan from The Young Ones! 

 

Vyv!!!! When my husband met me in a chat room, the first thing he messaged me (after seeing my profile) was "You like the Young Ones?" He knew I was a catch! 

There was also a British comedian/singer Vivian Stanshall. 

6 hours ago, medimus said:

Yes, they sound completely different to me. Erin starts with a dull 'eh' sound, as in meh and Aaron starts with a short 'ah' sound, like apple. THe ends are also different. Erin ends in 'in' exactely like the word in and Aaron ends with 'un' as in undone.

i seem to remember in the movie East of Eden, Aron was pronounced  as A Ron. 

Edited June 9, 2021 by libgirl2

[Mrs Ms]

8 hours ago, Knight of Ni said:

Does anyone pronounce Erin and Aaron differently? To me they sound the same but I'm wondering if it varies by region. 

I was listening to an audiobook series because I couldn’t get it in paper or digital print. On book THREE I finally read the full blurb and was so confused why the love interest wasn’t listed but his two friends were and who was this Aaron character!? 
(after being slightly bemused in book one that there was a guy named Erin) 

TL;DR yes, I pronounce them completely differently and was 38yo when I found out that not everyone does outside of New Zealand ?

[AussieKrissy]

8 hours ago, Knight of Ni said:

Does anyone pronounce Erin and Aaron differently? To me they sound the same but I'm wondering if it varies by region. 

Erin rhymes with heron and Aaron rhymes why Karen for me. Though I generally call Aaron’s, a a Ron’s ba ha ha if you k know you know. 
but I can see how different accents they would sound th e same. 

[Mama Mia]

2 minutes ago, AussieKrissy said:

Erin rhymes with heron and Aaron rhymes why Karen for me. Though I generally call Aaron’s, a a Ron’s ba ha ha if you k know you know. 
but I can see how different accents they would sound th e same. 

Erin and Aaron are the same to me - but so are Heron and Karen.