3 ms·
Are there any big examples of feminine names becoming masculine? It always seems to go the other way.
by cthor 8y ago
Are there any big examples of feminine names becoming masculine? It always seems to go the other way.
- pianom4n 8y agobunch of examples here: https://www.jefftk.com/p/name-gender-over-time https://www.jefftk.com/p/name-gender-over-time
- philwelch 8y agoAlthough part of the transition of "Angel" might come from the relatively uncommon English name "Angel" being displaced by the Spanish name "Ángel", which transliterates as "Angel".
- madcaptenor 8y agoThat's probably true; see also "Jaime". (And apparently "Joan", if that data is correct.)
- frobozz 8y agoI'm a little unconvinced by that list. Pat, for example, appears on both, that and Theo and are short versions of male and female names, rather than being names that have swung from female to male. Jan and Jean could both be caused by migration, as they are both very long-standing male names in some countries and female names in others. Toby is a very long-standing male name (Sir Toby Belch, not Dame Toby Belch). Very few of the names on the female-male list have the same kind of significant swing present on the male-female list. None of them are like Allison, Beverly and Lauren.
- stevekemp 8y agoAshley is a male-name in the UK, but a female name in America, mostly. I'm not sure which came first, but it's an interesting surprise for some.
- tigerlily 8y agoKimberly would be another of those names. My forklift supervisor was a burly but friendly fella named Kimberly, or just Kim for short.