[Adopting1Soon]

I love the idea of a boy's name for my little girl. I think it conveys a spunky, zesty attitude, a joie de vivre, that one doesn't always get with a more formal feminine name. Not that there is anything wrong with formal feminine names, they are just not for me.

I'm pretty sure at this point that I'm going to name the little one "Charlie Izabelle (Ethiopian name withheld for privacy)" and then our last name. "Izabelle" is in honor of my mother, who's name is "Izabella".

I think "Charlie" is a fun tom boyish name, it reminds me of that commercial for perfume in the 70's.

My parents, or at least my mom, is not crazy about the name. My dad sent me some articles on the trend of naming girls with boyish names. Apparently this is a trend now. All I know is I have always liked it, ever since the Bionic Woman was named "Jamie Summers"! She was my hero when I was a pre-teen.

One of the articles my dad quoted has the following comment:

"Why do people name their girls with boy's names?
Because people are ignorant.

Personally, I think masculine names should stay on boys, and feminine names should stay on girls. After all masculine means male, and feminine means female. Ticks me off to see wonderful, masculine names being used on girls.

I totally agree with Liz. Parents give their daughters masculine names because they wanted a boy, or think boys are better than girls. There's nothing wrong with being a female, and instead of confusing them by giving them a masculine name, baby girls should be give feminine names so they can be proud that they are a woman.

Most of these so called "unisex" names aren't truely unisex, since the definition of unisex is having no distinctive gender. When a name is masculine, that's a gender, and therefore that name cannot be unisex, let alone feminine or girly.

Names like Madison, Addison, Emerson, Taylor, Aubrey, etc will never ever be unisex, feminine, or girly no matter how many little girls have to suffer with this horrid names. They are masculine."

Well! First of all, this person seems to view the world in very rigid terms, all black or white. My household will be black AND white. So we need to think out of the box a bit. Plus, he doesn't know how to spell "truly". Ha-rumph.

Also, anytime someone uses words like "always, never, should" etc., and then calls someone who doesn't do those things "ignorant".... ummm... I have a problem with that.

I don't believe naming someone "Charlie" is going to impact her pride in being female. I plan on raising her in the strong feminist philosophy I myself believe in: that her intelligence, content of her character, and her ability to negotiate this world all will mean much more than "mom wanted a boy". I mean, really. She can be proud she is a woman. She can be proud she is an upstanding PERSON. She doens't need to be named a feminine name to be proud of her gender. I don't see that as having anything to do with it!

And finally, if I wanted a boy, I would have asked for one. This response is so way out in the ether zone I can hardly respond.

I attached Izabelle so if she later wants a more feminine name, it's available. I also went through a period where I didn't like my own name, I just wanted to fit in and my name is quite unique. But as an adult, I really appreciate being the only one of me. Don't we all go through a phase of not liking our names, even for just a short while? I think it's part of coming into our identities.

What do you all think?

Do you like Charlie for a vivacious little girl? Come and shae your thoughts n my blog where my om can read them ;-)

[ocracoke]

Madison, Addison, Emerson, Taylor, Aubrey are masculine?? I know more girls with those names then boys. Well maybe not Emerson. And I like Charlie Izabelle!

Samantha

[DDAmasa]

think boys are better than girls. There's nothing wrong with being a female, and instead of confusing them by giving them a masculine name, baby girls should be give feminine names so they can be proud that they are a woman.

I agree with this. I also think that giving a girl a boy's name is just setting her up for a lifetime of being assumed to be male when only her name is known and teasing at school by other kids. Life's tough enough and so many things are out of our control as parents. I can't understand why someone would intentionally inflict this on their child.

[FranTastic]

Charlie is very cute for a girl.

You could also use Charlie as the nickname of Charlene, Charla, Charlize, Charlotte, etc...

Just Charlie is cute as is. It is not like you are considering "Frank" or "Kevin". Thank might be a little harder in school.

[JustPeachy]

Names like Madison, Addison, Emerson, Taylor, Aubrey, etc will never ever be unisex, feminine, or girly no matter how many little girls have to suffer with this horrid names. They are masculine."

On the contrary, most traditionally male names that have been given to girls end up being feminine names. Think Beverly, Kimberly, Vivian, etc. These names were traditionally male names. And even now, I see the trend with names like Logan, Hunter, Taylor being given more to girls than boys.

I remember reading an article not too long ago on this very issue. The gist of the article was that once people started using male names for girls, they tended in time to become girl names almost exclusively. Perhaps once they get associated with girls, parents don't want to give them to their boys, but it's more acceptable to go the other way and give a girl a boy name.

[bixb]

This is a difficult question because what is a boy's or girl's name changes, as JustPeachy noted. Shirley used to be not so uncommon boy's name. I don't think people giving their girl's a so-called boy's name necessarily means they wanted a boy or anything of that nature.

I know lots of boys with names that are more common for girls and vice versa. Most of the girls picked this themselves by using a nickname instead of their official name (like Joe for Josephine). I like the option of giving a more traditional name with a nickname, so the child has options (like Charlotte with the nickname Charlie).

[Ladyofmoonlight]

I do have to admit that boys get the short end of the stick in the name department. I've heard all sorts of masculine names being used for girls (Justin, Michael, Elliot, Devin, etc) and while names seem to go from boy to girl, they don't often seem to come back again. I've even heard Paxton used for a girl now!

That's not to say I have any problem with naming your child whatever you want. I personally prefer very feminine names for girls but that's just me and many girls I know have very masculine names. And honestly, Charlie is kind of unisex itself now. You might have a bit of trouble with Charles or Charleton or another very formal masculine name, but Charlie IMO is open to either gender.

[sheababy]

I think it's ok-although your DD at some point will hate it-your right kids always hate their name at some point. What we did was name her a feminine name that would work for a serious business professional but could be shortened if she wanted to be the cutesy cheerleader type. Her middle name could be either male or female and reflects that spunk. That way she can choose what she goes by when she's older.

I also have a few relatives who go by their middle name and have their entire life.

I don't think it will effect her feminity in the least.

[travelinghoya]

It is also regional. I grew up in the mid-Atlantic/South and so many girls have boys names. In fact, I was so jealous of my boring girls name growing up! Some example: Dani, Bryan, Lee, Wesley, Taylor....etc. My friend's mom's name is Charlene, and she goes by Charlie. I think its pretty cool.

I am a teacher, and nowadays kids are used to diverse names. The concept of traditional and acceptable names is very old school, and can be even a bit ethnocentric. Kids are named everything under the sun, and they don't really notice each others unique names. In fact, the other day the kids were talking about how it was COOL that they had such "funny" names. So don't worry about it! I am probably going to give our kid a wildly unique name, and the above is what I tell my DH for him to get over it.

[Adopting1Soon]

Well, I named her Charlize Izabelle Worke (our last name). Charlie for short and it suits her to a T!

She is back and she is wonderful!

Come see pictures on my blog.

[Rapids]

This post looks so familiar I could swear I've seen it before, months ago...

[FranTastic]

What a doll!! Congratulations to you and Charlie!!