Where do these names come from?

[Carol Dee]

I did a loan closing with the names "Kim and Cindy(can't remember her name), let's call them "Smith." When HE answered my confirmation call I didn't question that Kim was a man. During the closing he brought up a clerk at McDonald's who thought that Kim was his daughter. Kim is an asian man's first name but ALSO a British man's first name.

I know more MALE Kims than female!

 

[Nyboy]

My Grandfather could not understand my sister naming her daughter Casey. That was a boys name, there was even a poem about a baseball player name Casey

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Well, names can be gender neutral. Growing up, I got really confused when I discovered that the children's book illustrator Hillary Knight was a man. I assumed Hillary was a girls name, since it was my aunt's name.

I also had someone find it odd I called my Grandmother Flossie (short for Florence) I thought that was a common abbreviation, no odder than calling Uncle Selwyn "Celly" or Great Uncle Israel "Red"

 

[jackb]

When I was in grade school we had a boy in our class named Marion. Kids being kids, the other boys had a lot of fun with that.

 

[Pulsegleaner]

Well, with the "o", isn't it a boy's name anyway? What about Marion Barry?

 

[PennyJo]

Ma's name was Charlotte but was always Peg now Grandma was Lottie
I worked with a Carol that was a man and had a aunt Carol, had a cousin Perry
you find more of it in southern to midwest or Europe

 

[baymule]

I dated a guy with the same first name as mine when I was a teenager.

 

[Nyboy]

My name is Alexander, I have been called anything that starts with Al. Only when in trouble with a teacher would I hear Alexander. Funny once was reading a book that said Sandy is nick name for Alexander. Most friends call me Ali, Al or Alex

 

[Ridgerunner]

When we were naming our kids I had certain criteria. I wanted only one spelling for the name, if you heard it you'd know how to spell it. I wanted it gender specific. I wanted it to be a known name but not trendy. It would be great if there were one or two more with that same name in the school, but I did not want several with that name in the same class. And I paid attention to the initials, I did not want those to spell something derogatory.

Of course this was just my opinion, pretty much not shared with anyone else. My wife did not agree with most of this. At the time the trendy name was some version of Jeffrey, Jeffery, Geoffrey, or even Jefrey. I was so glad my sister had a boy a few months before ours was born and she named him Jeffrey. Or was it Jeffery? We were finally able to quit disagreeing over that name.

I dated a girl with two older brothers, one James and the other Jimmy. When the first one was born he was named James in honor of an uncle. But that uncle was not pleased, his official name was Jimmy. In no way was James named after him, to him it was an insult. So the next boy was named Jimmy. That girl and a few of her relatives were OK (I really liked her father, he was stable) but "drama queen" was pretty common in that family on the mother's side. If they could find something to be insulted about they'd jump on it with both feet, bounce up and down, and shout Wee, Wee, Wee.

 

[lcertuche]

Often it was the practice to call children by their middle name here. Maybe it started when people named children after close family or friends. My youngest son is named Michael Jordan (yes my husband is a sports nut) but we call him Jordan or Jordy. Most people outside of the family calls him Michael or Mikey.