The feminization of names

At the beginning of the twentieth century, Beverly, Dana, Evelyn, Gail, Leslie, Meredith, Robin and Shirley were all primarily names for men.

Steven Pinker, The Stuff of Thought

Dana Andrews

To continue the discussion of "naming the baby" begun a week ago, let us briefly consider the feminization of boy names. As Steven Pinker points out in his book, the trend of parents giving masculine names to girls has been going on for a long time, since way before the beginning of the feminist movement.

Some parents want a boy and so give their daughters the boy names they had already picked out. Other parents choose masculine names in the belief such a name will give their daughter more confidence or independence or whatever. Many girl names are feminized versions of boy names. Charles becomes Charlene, then either can become Charley. Gerald becomes Geraldine, then either can become Gerry. Samuel becomes Samantha, then either can become Sammy. Robert becomes Roberta, then either can become Bobby.

Terry Moore

My parents named me Terry, not Terrance but just Terry. It was a common name for boys born in the 1940s. The popular comic strip Terry and the Pirates began in 1934. I knew other boys in school with that name. Two members of Monty Python, my contemporaries, were named Terry. One of the characters in American Graffiti, a movie about the class of 1962 (my class), is named Terry. Yet, perhaps because of actress Terry Moore, that name quickly evolved into a name for girls, much to the disgust of my father. Today few baby boys are called Terry.

Rarely do names move in the other direction, from girls to boys. Despite the Johnny Cash song, there are no boys named Sue. (Today there aren't even many girls named Sue.)