Are unisex names sexist?

If you name a girl with a so-called unisex name (more typically a guys name crossing over to the girls) does this suggest a deep down feeling that you need to give a girl a "guys" name to empower her or make her feel stronger.





If you name a guy with a unisex name, does it maybe betray that deep down you don't like guys and maybe want to "soften" your boys attitudes through his name?





Alex

Are unisex names sexist?
Interesting question! My "real" name is a name that is spelt differently for males and females, and yet my mother insisted on it being spelt the males way!! I like my name as I'm used to it, and know nothing else BUT I have wondered in the past: 1) If I was named after some man she dated ( she said I was named after her "bestie" but I never met or heard of the bestie! ) and 2) I've wondered if I'd been sweeter with a more feminine name, or at least with the feminine spelling. My nickname is also unisex, but as I say I like it.





I feel sorry for some with unisex names, but some can suit it. I find the names Peta, Jamie and Charlie can make me pause a little to ponder, but then get used to it. I think it's worse when parents take a name typically for the opposite sex and alter it. I have a friend called "Keitha", which is kinda horrid and she hates it. Keith is a name for men in my grandparents generation, and that's the way it should be.
Reply:I think that a name is JUST A LABEL. NOTHING SPECIAL. How do unisex names imply that one sex is superior than the other?
Reply:Mine is a unisex name...but only because i am a boy. Many people on hearing my name assume me to be a girl.





No my parents did not have any bias when they chose my name.
Reply:Alexandra isn't a unisex name. if you're mad at your parents for naming you alexandra and you're a boy take it up with them instead of asking stupid questions.
Reply:like Alex...for example?





parents name there child either for someone they admire or for something wish for the child.


I'm Breanna, female for Brian....means strengh....ya i think they were trying to empower me. lol my full maiden name literally means "strengh and grace of the forest" but my parent are a little weird each of my siblings have names that mean something like that....silent hunter, brave heart and song of the sea.....see weird parents (we have some native a roots)


Do I think I would be different person if they had named me Mary or something like that no.





Edit: anyone one know an old song...."A man named Sue"??


it's pretty funny look it up
Reply:Perhaps you need to consider the definition of "sexist." How is naming a girl Jamie saying one sex is superior to another?
Reply:Depends on the name........if the name is 'Pricilla' or 'Penelope' I would say yes I might be worried but if its 'Ashley/Ashleigh'', 'Robin/Robyn' or 'Alex' then no I don't think that's a problem at all. My name is Jordanna which is sort of unisex. ;-)
Reply:I guess it depends on the culture. Where I come from only people who know you really well call you by your short/nick name. It has to do with the informal vs. the formal.





Then again we have two words for "you", the formal and the informal. You may have heard the Spanish tu vs usted (or the French tu vs. vous, or the Italian tu vs. lei). We have the same thing - except in our language.
Reply:Uh, no.





A unisex name is unisex, not male.
Reply:No not at all that is just stupid. I mean come on both parents get a say in what they name their kid. In Roman times girls didn't even really get their own names they just got a feminized version of their fathers. That is sexist but not the same thing.
Reply:Neither. My nickname is typically a man's name, but I don't mind. I like it.
Reply:No, maybe you just gave them that name because you like it. My real name is too feminine for my tastes, so I would have preferred something more unisex.
Reply:P200, Alexandra can be a man's name in some other countries so it is unisex, just like with Andrea and Valery. Those are all local variants of the names. I'll bet you probably think Nikita is a girl's name because of the way it sounds but it is actually a man's name in Russia.
Reply:No, just unisex. The spelling difference is probably to mark out the sex of a person you've never seen (Lesley/Leslie, Vyvian/Vivian etc). I don't really know and it's not really that important.
Reply:It suggest nothing at all; people generally name their kids a name because they like the name. I knew a lady who's name was Eddie; the reason being her dad wanted a boy. She's as lady like as can be.