3 ms·

To me, what's more interesting than the ranking is that the majority of the unisex names seem to be Celtic or Anglo-Saxon in origin. Comparatively, there are v

by danans 1y ago

To me, what's more interesting than the ranking is that the majority of the unisex names seem to be Celtic or Anglo-Saxon in origin. Comparatively, there are very few Latin, Greek, or Hebrew names. Perhaps this is because names from the latter languages are still very closely associated with their gendered religious and mythological characters, while those associations have become more hazy with the former.

adrian_b 1y ago
In old Semitic or Indo-European languages the human names, i.e. the proper nouns, were not unisex, but they had clearly different masculine or feminine declensions. Actually the grammatical distinction between masculine and feminine nouns had appeared earlier in Afro-Asiatic (including Semitic) languages, and only later in Indo-European languages (perhaps caused by the contact with Semitic languages), where previously a grammatical distinction existed only between the names of animate things and non-animate things. By the time of Ancient Greek and Latin, the grammatical distinction between masculine and feminine nouns was already well entrenched in the European languages. Many centuries later, a part of the European languages, including English, have lost the word terminations that distinguished the masculine names from the feminine names. Only then formerly different masculine and feminine names have merged into a single unisex name. So there is no surprise in your observation, as it is caused by the difference in behavior between names that have been fixed in writing at an earlier time, preserving an older pronunciation, which included specifically feminine word terminations, and names that have been fixed in writing more recently, when there no longer existed different masculine and feminine name declensions.
- pjmlp 1y ago
  As a language with gendered names, Portuguese, we still have a few like José, Maria, João and a few others, that are unisex. However given that we usually have two first names, the other gender role happens with the second first name. As an example how this goes, a girl can be named Maria João, and then it's on her if she rather be called Maria, or João, and by whom, usually different circles get to call her differently. And so on for many possible combinations of male/female names being used in an unisex way.

by danans 1y ago

adrian_b 1y ago

In old Semitic or Indo-European languages the human names, i.e. the proper nouns, were not unisex, but they had clearly different masculine or feminine declensions. Actually the grammatical distinction between masculine and feminine nouns had appeared earlier in Afro-Asiatic (including Semitic) languages, and only later in Indo-European languages (perhaps caused by the contact with Semitic languages), where previously a grammatical distinction existed only between the names of animate things and non-animate things. By the time of Ancient Greek and Latin, the grammatical distinction between masculine and feminine nouns was already well entrenched in the European languages. Many centuries later, a part of the European languages, including English, have lost the word terminations that distinguished the masculine names from the feminine names. Only then formerly different masculine and feminine names have merged into a single unisex name. So there is no surprise in your observation, as it is caused by the difference in behavior between names that have been fixed in writing at an earlier time, preserving an older pronunciation, which included specifically feminine word terminations, and names that have been fixed in writing more recently, when there no longer existed different masculine and feminine name declensions.

pjmlp 1y ago
As a language with gendered names, Portuguese, we still have a few like José, Maria, João and a few others, that are unisex. However given that we usually have two first names, the other gender role happens with the second first name. As an example how this goes, a girl can be named Maria João, and then it's on her if she rather be called Maria, or João, and by whom, usually different circles get to call her differently. And so on for many possible combinations of male/female names being used in an unisex way.