Unisex names.

Another recent trend in naming children is that of using unisex names. Once, when Jordan or Dale were male names, they are now used commonly on girls.

Is this right? Well, in some cases sure. Some boys names can be very cute on a girl, while others are not so. Similarly, a lot of unisex names don't work on boys because they now sound feminine.

The problem with calling your daughter Brayden or your son Lane, is that in lists, such as school admin reports your daughter or son may be put in the boys or girls gym class.

Some names which are used on girls are so masculine that there is little leeway for them to ever get a girlish nickname from them if they end up being a more girly girl.

Unisex names can and do work. But should be used with caution. Names which seem just a little too feminine or masculine such as Morgan for a girl, could be paired with a feminine name such as Rose to soften the name.

The way you spell it is also a big deal. Jesse, is a boys name. Jessie, is a girls name. Head for the spelling which looks more feminine. While i'm not a huge fan of mis-spelling names, Baylee and Camryn look a lot more feminine than Bailey and Cameron.

If a name your thinking about naming your boy is becoming increasingly popular for girls, then steer clear. Names such as Ashley were once okay for boys but as they grew in popularity with girls its not seen as popular anymore. The main rule for unisex name is that Camp Female steals from Camp Male. Hardly ever vice versa.

Names which should be steered clear from (source: http://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/:
For a boy..
Addison. Is cute, but becoming very common on girls. Will create problems at school, going from rank 106 to 27 in one year.
Ashley. Very feminine sounding name and predominantly used for girls these days. Being ranked 12th for girls, but 957 for boys. (Some good alternatives if you like it are Ashton, Ashby or Asher)
Avery. Although started to gain popularity as a boys name, it is now much more commonly being used as a girls, and has a lot of association to the name Ava.
Brooklyn. It has "lyn" on the end. Enough said.
Brynn. Although once originally a male name, it is now being taken over by camp female.
Coby. A very feminine sounding name.
Dakota. Girls names commonly end in "A" while boys name typically don't. This name has a feminine feel because of that.
Emerson/ Emery/ Emlyn. Very feminine sounding, a lot more popular for girls and has "Emma/Emily" connotations.
Harper. Girly sounding.
Jaylen. A lot more feminine sounding because of the "len" ending.
Jensen. Quite feminine sounding, especially because of the Jen/Jenny connotations.
Kelly/ Kelsey/ Keeley. Both names scream "I'm a girl!"
Kendall. Been taken over by the girls. Especially because of the "elle-sounding" ending.
Lane. Just sounds like a girls name. Becoming very popular for girls and Elaine/ Laine/ Lainey have always been girls names.
London. Sounds very girlish.
Mackenzie. While I love this name on a boy, it has well and truly been taken of by Camp Female.
Peyton. Becoming less popular for boys, and more popular for girls.
Quinn. Sounds feminine.
Reagan. Becoming very popular with girls. Possibly the new Madison.
Reed. Just sounds feminine.
Sage. This ones going to be taken over by Camp Female. Just you watch.
Shelby/Sheldon. Sounds very feminine with the whole "Shel" thing going on.
Skyler. Oh, it is an adorable name but.. theres not one ounce of masculinity in it.
Sydney. While I like this one better on the blokes, its becoming increasingly female.
Taylor. So cute on boys! But is becoming well entrenched for girls. In the 200s for Males, but number 22 for girls.
Teagan. Just sounds like a little girl.

No-no's for girls.
Aidan/ Hayden/ Cayden/ Brayden. Please. Stop. Such nice little boys names are being stolen right before our eyes. And they sound soooo masculine. Wheres a girly nickname to be found in those?
Brady. Just screams little boy. Also! Means "large-chested" in Gaelic. Big no-no.
Brennan. Just nothing sweet or pretty about it for a girl..
Carson. Do you know what it means when "son" is at the end of names? It means son of. That just marks it as male.
Chandler. Hello. Theres so many "Friends" connotations there.
Chase. This one is such a boys one. Call her Chasey as a nickname instead.
Cody/ Colby/ Corey. This ones just belong to Camp Male. Hands off!
Glen. Noo, please no. Use Glenda instead.
Harley. With all the motorbike connotations and such this one should be untouched.
Harry. Harriet, yes. Harry, no! No! Think Prince Harry. Not cool on a girl.
Jace/ Jayce. The whole point of this, is its short for Jason. A BOYS name. Go for Jacie if you must.
Kai. Short names for girls have to be pretty. This one gives no room for nicknames.
Keegan. Sounds so boyish.
Kennedy. This is just so masculine sounding. I don't understand it. AT ALL. Its not nice sounding..
Kieran. This ones boys. Try Keira.
Landon. This ones becoming very popular with males, ranking in the top 50, while doesn't appear at all in the female lists.
Parker. This one sounds very boyish and masculine.
Preston. Again, very boyish.
Shane. Just nothing pretty about it whatsoever.
Slade. Sounds very boyish. No prettiness in it whatsoever for a little girl.
Tanner. Doesn't sound nice at all for a girl.
Toby. Adorable on a boy, but, on a girl? Hm, just not cute.
Travis. One of the most masculine names ever!! On a girl?? How?
Wyatt. In the top 100 for boys, but not even top 1000 for girls.

Good choices! :)
Boys..
Adair
Ashton
Bailey
Billy
Brady
Brayden
Brodie
Carlin
Caspen
Darby
Darcy
Daylon
Devin (-van or -vin ending for boys)
Dylan
Ellis
Elliot
Francis
Glen
Harley
Harry
Jayce
Jay
Jesse
Jonah
Kai
Kayle
Kayton
Keegan
Kieran
Landon
Lindon
Logan
Micah
Preston
Rhys
Riley
Rylan
Toby
Travis
Tyler
Wyatt

Girls..
Adair
Ainsley
Andie
Arden
Aspen
Aubrey
Avery
Caspen
Devon (-von ending for girls.)
Eden
Ellery
Hadley
Harper
Jamie
Jensen
Keelan/ Keeley
Kendall
Laine
Levi
Mackinley
Madden
Marley/ Marlon
Morgan
Reese
Reed
Rory
Rowan
Sage
Skyler
Taryn
Taylen
Teagan

Comments on the blog? What needs improving? Is there something you'd like talked about in the blog? Want advice naming your child? Email me at anni.ekate@yahoo.com.au

Double the trouble.

With the recent post detailing the twins of Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon and her twin boys:
http://babynamerant.blogspot.com/2007/11/thumbs-down-garcelle-beauvais-nilon.html
The question of naming twins appropriately has arisen.
My viewpoint on this is simple. Twins have to share a lot. They'll be in the same year level, share the same birthday and often have to share things such as clothes as they are the same size. Especially in the case of identical twins, the two children are often stereotyped as being similar. People often lump them into one category and think they are the same kind of people when they are most likely to be distinct individuals.
With twins having to carry so many burdens of similarity like this, it is stupid to give them similar sounding names, or names starting with the same letter. Giving the kids similar names restricts them further from having their own identity and also leads to confusion.
Case in point:
http://www.twinsrealm.com/othrpics2.htm
On this link we see names such as:
Caron and Sharon
Kailyn and Kailee
Rajesh and Ramesh
Karthik and Krithika
Ronav and Roma
Rocky and Rocco

And the list goes on. This also brings issues when trying to nickname children. For example, commonly nicknames for both Kailyn and Kailee or "Kai" or "Kails", similarly nicknames for Rocky and Rocco are "Roc". When a parent yells the name "Rocky" from the other end of the house it is hard to distinguish which name he is actually calling.

Furthermore, theres the issue of giving twins completely opposite names which can lead to conflict.
Names on the above site such as:
Madison and Morgan (both girls)
Shannon and Skye (both girls)
Mary and Emmy
Kylie and Shane (both girls)

These names may lead to conflict when both Madison and Morgan end up being both girly girls, and Morgan resents having a more masculine name, or when Shannon and Skye both grow up to be tomboys, Skye may resent having the more girly name. With Emmy and Mary, Emmy may resent having a name which is more informal and often used as a nickname while Mary has a proper name.

For a bit of positivity though, some good combinations on the above link are:
Emily and Megan
Nicole and Jacqueline
Max and Emma
Chloe and Joshua
Cliff and Glenn

Which all allow children to have the best chance of less resentment and their own identity.

(Off topic for one second, theres some real horrors on that site: Destany (yes, spelled like that), Brittanee, Breyona, Kalyna, Kyrsten, Karmon (boy). which are horribly mutilated names)

As a suggestion for parents who'd like names with a connection for their children,

I think anagrams (different names using the exact same letters) are a good way of naming twins if you want something similar or matching. That way they get their own individual name, but you've got that cute association.

Girls

You could try:

Sweet:

Adaline and Daniela

Adeline and Delanie

Allie and Leila/ Ally and Lyla

Alyce and Lacey

Amy and May/ Mya

Celia and Alice/ Lacie

Emelina and Melanie

Hallie and Leilah

Lorita and Tailor/ Loryta and Taylor

Olivette and Violette

Modern/unusual:

Akira and Kiara

Alanis and Salina

Ali and Lia/ Alina and Liana

Alysha and Shayla

Disney and Sidney

Ilene and Eleni

Kamila and Mikala

Marina and Armani

Samira and Marisa

Shyla and Ashly

Traditional/modern combo:

Anita and Tania/ Tiana

Anni and Nina

Ashley and Elysha

Dayna and Nadya

Deni and Enid

Elaine and Aileen

Isla and Lisa

Cute (older style):

Carmella and Marcella

Deeann and Nadene

Diana and Nadia

Diane and Andie

Dianne and Nadine

Elenor and Loreen

Ellyn and Nelly

Nena and Anne

Boys

Sweet:

Aden and Dane/ Dean

Alec and Cale/ Alek and Kale

Brady and Darby

Lukas and Klaus

Corey and Royce

Kaleb and Blake

Traditional/modern combo:

Arnold and Roland

Chaz and Zach

Leon and Noel

Modern/unusual:

Ashen and Shane

Blain and Albin

Darien and Adrien

Dion and Odin

Ewan and Wane

Kory and York

Cute (older style):

Andrew and Darwen

Waldos and Oswald

Boy/ girl

Heres a few suggestions.

Sweet:

Aidan and Diana

Blaise and Isabel

Bryon and Robyn

Clay and Lacy

Neal and Lena

Neale and Elena

Tate and Etta

Traditional/unusual combo:

Alan and Lana

Adan (aidan) and Dana

Liam and Mila

Rolan and Lorna

Roman and Norma

Edna and Dean/Dane

Lyle and Elly

Modern/unusual:

Axel and Lexa

Elias and Liesa

Ian and Nia

Rohan and Norah/ Nora and Roan

Arlo and Orla

Cute (older style):

Erich and Cheri

Andie and Diane

Dylan and Lynda

Erik and Keri

Ernie and Irene

Is there a name you've seen and would like Annie-Kate to comment on? Want advice on naming your child?
Email me at anni.ekate@yahoo.com.au

Thumbs down: Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon

http://www.celebrity-babies.com/2007/10/garcelle-beau-1.html

Actress Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon welcomed twin boys Jax Joseph and Jaid Thomas.

Grade: D

Comments: Wow, two chances, and still no results. Maybe she should have had triplets so at least there would be a chance of third time lucky. Jax is a terrible mis-spelling which may look trendy now but will look idiotic when he's a 60 year old grandpa. There are many subtle ways of using sound patterns in your child names, but alliteration (using two names starting with the same letter) is so tacky. Even worse is both the boys names start with J. Thats just cruel. (I'll give the topic of twins names later on.) And Jaid?? Are you kidding? Firstly its spelled retarded. And secondly, its a boy... some might thing its cute to give girls "unisex" and "tomboy" names but you want a girly son?? (More talk on unisex names, later, also). Poor kids. I wish they were named Jack, Joseph or Thomas.

What to work on for next time: Properly spellings of names, no doubling up on starting letters or in siblings first name starting letters, no inherent girls names for boys.