Boyish and Girlish
I've talked in the past about the trend toward androgynous names, and how it's a one-way street. We like girls who sound like boys, but not vice versa. And it is a powerful trend -- over the past decade a tenth of all American girls have received androgynous/boyish names, which is an all-time high by a mile.
Yet at the same time, there is an opposite trend at work. Lacy, ultra-feminine names have also risen dramatically over the past generation. Names ending in -a are a traditional marker of femininity. (With occasional exceptions, I admit in deference to all you manly Joshuas out there.) Today, almost four out of every ten American girls get names ending in -a , which is also an all-time high. When you focus in on the longest and laciest of those names, the trend is even clearer. Take a look at the rate of -a names with more than six letters over the past century:
Not only has the use of these names shot up, but so has the variety. Back in the '40s, Barbara and Patricia accounted for the majority of the long, lacy girls' names. By 2003 there were more than twice as many of these names on the charts, none especially dominant. It's the lacy style itself that's in vogue.
It seems that when it comes to femininity, parents are going to extremes: it's either Parker or Anastasia. Left out in the cold are the traditional names that are unquestionably womanly, but no-frills. A perfect example is the timeless classic Ann. Look at what's happened to Ann over the past generation:
Add an extra feminizing -a, though, and it's a whole different story. New young Annas outnumber Anns 19 to 1.
Extremes naturally make an impact. Yet as parents race to the ends of the femininity spectrum, they're leaving a hole in the middle. Right now, the most creative name ideas might be actually the plainest. Think plain Jane, or Alice, Ruth, Ellen or Sue.
Comments
Interesting when you think of what kinds of nicknames those ultrafeminine names tend to result in, at least casually: Melissa gets called Mel, Jessica becomes Jess, Samantha is Sam and Alexandra is Alex. Often these stick enough to become the person's day-to-day name, so they're known by a label that fits right in with the kinds of names their parents avoided: monosyllabic and consonant-final.
Interesting, I have noticed this trend of "extremes" as well. As far as what Lillie said, I think it's true but I also see a bit of a trend towards using the full versions of names. I'm a 19-year-old Melissa who has rarely gone by anything else. I know a Daniella who's never been called Dani, my roommate is Andrea and it's never Annie or Andie . . . but older people with fancy, feminine names usually do shorten them.
Seven years ago when we were considering boy and girl names for our first child, we had girl names like Isabella, Anna, etc. We ended up with a boy, Maximilian. Now that we're having a girl we are dismayed to find how popular our favorite girl names are and are steering for something different. On the "lacy" topic, does anyone have an opinion about the name Adelaide? It is German and means noble and kind which is all good for us. But I can't find any famous Adelaides and there are people in our families who relate it to names like Gertrude (though I can't see why). To me it sounds as pretty as Isabella without ending in that extremely popular "a". I'm not crazy about the nickname Addie (too many Maddies and Abbys out there) but we'd either live with it or insist on using the full name.
I love the name Adelaide. It was a final contender for my daughter when she was born 5 years ago. I opted for an even less common name for her in the end, but I think it's a lovely choice. If you must have a nick name, you could use Adel instead of Addie.
Adelaide is also a city in Australia. It's not nearly as bad as naming your kid Brooklyn, but it's not as good as Florence.
Hi. How did you get the graph to show the ending with "a" names? Is that something I can do with the program?Thanks.Glennys
I hope you don't have anything against frilly and feminine things Laura - i just dislike the campaign against femininity by others (including the "Avery and Addison" parents) and i hope you don't support it as i enjoy your posts. As for names i'm Maria - i correct people who think they can call me Mar or Marie (or Sweet Marie!)
My name is Tanya, which ends in "A" but which I've never associated with being overly girly or frilly. Not all girl names that end in an a are lacy or ultra-feminine. I think names longer than 3 syllables that end in a tend to be though.
Being the mother of 3 boys maybe I just don't understand the girl naming thing. Why would parents want to name a girl with a masculine name? Our girl name choices were Emily, Kara, or Leah. Very feminine. Instead I got 3 wonderful boys named Kendall, Tyler, & Logan. Now I'm hearing all three of those names more for girls. I don't get it. Can someone explain that one to me??
to answer the comment on Adelaide: I always think of the heroine in "Guys and Dolls" when I hear that name. My daughter played the lead in the show in high school so I always think of it in that way. Ditto to the city in Australia.Gee, come to think of it, "Australia" is a pretty name. I personally don't care for nicknames, but if you did,Aussie is cute.
A little off topic, but I'm guessing the formerly male name Meredith is going to get more popular due to the main character on the show "Gray's Anatomy." I've met one girl born in 1977 named Meredith, and the only man I've come across with that name is the old guy currently on "The Amazing Race."
Another young (23) Melissa here and I've found my name to be a nickname magnet. Everyone who knows me calls me something else. To the point where when someone close to me calls me "Melissa" I feel like I need to snap to attention because they must be very serious or upset. And Melissa nicknames do have the masculine type but also the feminine. Mine range from Mel and Mo to Missy.
Does Tristen sound okay for a boy?
Tristen is only okay for a boy if you have some kind of Brad Pitt fetish from "Legends of the Fall"...
PLEASE before you name your child Adelaide, think of all the truly disgusting references middle school boys can work out of the "laid" part of the name. I have a middle school girl (whose name is "Alden" and thankfully no one seems to dislike that or be able to make anything out of it) and volunteer at her school so I am exposed to LOTS of kids. They are unbelievably cruel and RESOURCEFUL when it comes to insulting their classmates. Maybe "Adair" or something similar but joke proof might be better. For some reason, celtic sounding names seem favored and don't provoke insults.Really, any name you pick should be able to pass the "middle school" test. It might sound lovely for a baby and look good on law school applications, but if your child is scarred from three or four years of savage teasing in her most vulnerable years, you will be spending her law school tuition on therapy.
I think it's cool when girl and boy names are shared.Like Chris, and stuff.
Regarding the name TRISTEN: my now 14 year old son is named TRISTIAN, and it fits in fine with his classmates...and would so even more these days. PS. yes, I named him prior to the movie, so i thought it to be very unique...oh well.
I met two little GIRLS in recent years named Tristan. One was spelled Tristan, the other Trystan. As in "tryst," or adulterous affair. Ugh!
Anybody thinking of naming their child Adelaide should definitely think again; if you've seen the new, popular Nanny McPhee, you'll know that there is an old, mean lady in that called Adelaide with a fantastic Roman nose. I have a niece called Adelaide and she is having a terrible time of it at school; in tears all over the place and considering the children who call her names are her age (14-15) I shudder to think what little children would be like...even though her little siblings, Rocky (Roxanne), Cheryl, Colette and Nathan are good about it. She has an 18-year-old brother called Tristan, by the way, and nothing ever happens out-of-the-way about that to him.
The reason that parents like boyish names for girls but not girlish names for boys is simply sexism.Boys are better and stronger and therefore boy's names are good for girls too. Girls are not as good and seen as weak, therefore their names are not good for boys and not even good enough for girls, some parents seem to think.Every time parents choose to give their little girl a boy's name, they cave in to this sexism, knowingly or unknowingly.
I like few girls names that end in 'a' but the ones I do like tend to be very feminine...I would agree, I think it's the 3 syllables that does it...UrsulaAllegraOdessaAuroracompared to...GemmaVeraNoaJada
Finding boys names I like that end in 'a' is even harder...JonahNoahEzra
I find it ethnocentric to assume that all names ending in A are female. Apart from the bibilical names these male names end in A:Akira (Japanese)Andrea (Italian)Ilya (Russian)Issa (Japanese)Jukka (Finnish)Luca/Luka (Italian/Croation, Serbian etc)Mattia (Italian)Nikita (Russian)Nicola (Italian)And there are also many male Russian nn ending in A: Sasha (Aleksandr), Dima (Dimitri), Micha (Michail), Rodya (Rodion), Volia (Vladimir)
A tryst(pronounced 'trist') is NOT an adulterous affair. It's a romantic meeting or stolen moment which sounds very alluring.I've no idea how it became something murky but I'm sad if it has. Romance is all about precious moments and a tryst with a loved one is simply magic.
The spelling Trystan is not that far-fetched if you know that Tristan comes from the Welsh Drystan. And then of course the mening has nothing to do with any English word.
My daughter, ! is called adelaide. We call her Lady. We named her for the dear madame in the aristocats and the coat check girl in guys and dolls. Everyone loves the name and i am glad i didn't go for Sydney... which we thought about but ditched. Nanny Mcfee will pass, kids can make a cruel name... anna banana out of anything and todays taylor's will be tomorows pearls. You just have to ask does it suit the girl
I am 8 months pregnant with my second girl. My first is named Alyssa Amy. My second will be Trystan Marie. I fell in love with the name Trystan for a girl.
What's a good middle name for Adelaide??
I need help... I'm expecting my first child and if it happens to be a girl, I'd love to name her after my late grandfater Lacy. I would spell her name Laci, but I need help with a middle name...any ideas??
Thanks!
I really like the name Addison for a girl but I am afraid that because of Grey's Anatomy there will be a boom of Addison's. Does anyone have any thoughts on this?
A friend of mine just named her baby girl Addison, which I imagine she got from Grey's Anatomy. I noticed that Addison is in the top 25 on the baby name list for girls in the US last year, and since it didn't make the list before, I'd say this is the case. YOu'll probably see a lot of Addison's and Meredith's in the future.
LOL,
My sister just had twins, Sydney and Adelaide...because they went to Austrailia to both those cities which are considered the twin cities there and it means alot to them...
OH and my ex boyfriend's last name is Addison and my friend loved it so much, she named her daughter Campbell Addison....great reminder of him huh?? Good thing he's a great guy!
OH and my sister chose Adelaide Marie
And Sydney Frances
Della is a good nn for Adelaide.
Others admit, that if a nation could be separated from all the purchased, not with British manufactures, but with the sugar and rum of
Hi,
Mothers Day is coming!
I just discovered a webiste with a hidden Amazon promotion page with low prices and great gift ideas for Mother's Day.
Check it out under http://bargains-hunter.blogspot.com/2008/04/mothers-day-is-coming.html
Cheers!