Have you ever wondered why we are named this way? Why are some names exclusive for boys while others are only reserved for girls? When searching for naming ideas online, it is expected that links or tables entitled “boys names” or “girls’ names” could be seen. As in real life, we are given names that are distinctive, names that connote the gender of their bearer. A traditional name like Margaret will naturally be filed on the girls list and a kid named Joey would instantly be expected to be a boy.

During the Victorian era, boys and girls wear the same clothes and hair. Gender specific names were important then because it was hard to distinguish which is which without their names. Feminine versions of names became popular in this time such as Albert/Alberta, Christopher/ Christina, Robert/Roberta, and many others. Neutral names were common too such as Carol, Julian and Vivian, but the gender recognition varies among countries.

In Italy, Carmen is a boy’s name while it is more given to girls in America. Spelling was a technique in altering a boy’s name to a girl’s name. One good example here is Dennis, which they spell as Denise. World travel and mass media that rose after World War II made non-traditional, religious names acceptable for a child. However, looking at the popular names during this time, traditional names still remained at the top. During the 1960’s Michael, David and John were on the top 3 for boys while Lisa, Mary and Susan are for girls.

Despite the hippies’ probing on new things, names that are deep-rooted in family history were more favored. Nowadays, parents practice more liberty in giving their babies names that formally belong to the opposite gender. A lot of parents feel that this new custom is absolutely acceptable and practical. However, there are still who are firm to sticking to tradition.
Observing the trend in gender swapping on names, one will notice that parents are more likely to take risks in deciding names for girls rather than with boys.

Over the last century, girls’ names appear and disappear more quickly than boys’ names. Many of them continued to change in form, spelling, pronunciation, and meaning. Boys’ names almost never take on these variations. Furthermore, only boy’s names are given to girls but girl’s names are seldom, if not at all, given to boys. Actually, one author of a baby article observed that there are more Robin girls than boys.

Non-gender specific names are also growing in popularity. Surnames are usually used to create gender neutral names, so are geographic names, like Dakota and Brooklyn. In the recent years, simple words like North and Blaze are being included in the choices. Other names are days of the week, months and plants.

One can have a crash course in history with names. Studying the trends reveal not only the “cutest” or “hippest” names in town but also the popular thinking of the society. Well for parents, it doesn’t really matter what the fashion is. If you really your baby boy named Eve, no one in the world can stop you.

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