Unisex name

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A unisex name, also known as an epicene name, is a given name that can be used by a person regardless of their gender. Some countries have laws preventing unisex names, requiring parents to give their children gender-specific names.

Names may vary their gender from country to country or language to language. For example, Yuri is popular name for females in Japan but is used by males in Russia. Sometimes, parents may choose to name their child in honor of a person of the opposite gender. For example, Christians, particularly Catholics, may name their sons Marie or Maria in honor of the Virgin Mary or their daughter Jose in honor of Saint Joseph or Jean in honor of John the Baptist. This religious tradition is more commonly seen in Latin America and Europe than in North America.

Some masculine and feminine names are homophones, pronounced the same for both genders but spelled differently. For example, Yves and Eve, Aaron and Erin, and Artemus and Artemis. These names are not unisex names.

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[edit] The United States of America

Some names that were once predominantly used as masculine given names are now primarily feminine given names in the United States, including Alexis, Ashley, Beverly, Evelyn, Hilary, Jocelyn, Kelly, Meredith, Shirley, Shannon, Sharon, and Vivian. Popular examples of American celebrities with unisex names include Meredith Vieira, Billie Burke, Tracy Morgan, and Morgan Freeman.

According to the Social Security Administration, in 2010, Jayden[1] was the most popular unisex name for American boys and Madison[2] was the most popular unisex name for American girls.[3] Other popular unisex names for American boys in 2010 included Logan, Angel, Jordan, and Hayden. Other popular unisex names for American girls in 2010 included Addison, Alexis, Avery, Ashley, Taylor, Evelyn, Riley, Aubrey, Peyton, Lauren, Sydney, Morgan, Jocelyn, Mackenzie, Bailey, and Payton.

Cameron was the most popular unisex name for American boys in 2000, Logan[4] was most popular from 2001 to 2007, and Jayden was the most popular from 2008 to 2010.

From 2000 to 2010, Madison was the most popular unisex name for American girls.

[edit] Russia

Common Russian boys' names, such as Nikita (full name) and Misha (short for Mikhail), are assumed to be feminine in English, due to the 'a' termination, which is actually common in diminutive masculine forms. However, the 'a' termination does hold true for other Russian contexts, as the letter 'a' is appended to all Russian female last names (Ivanov's mother, wife, and daughter all have last name Ivanova; yet any son born out of wedlock to an Ivanova defaults back to last name Ivanov), and nearly all Russian feminine first names end in 'a' (or 'ya', a distinct letter in the Cyrillic alphabet).

Also, nicknames (shortened versions of names) can be gender-ambiguous: Sasha (short from both Alexandr and Alexandra), Zhenya (Yevgeniy or Yevgeniya).

[edit] Italy

Common Italian boys' names, such as Andrea, Nicola or Luca, are assumed to be feminine in English, due to the 'a' termination. This also happens to several masculine names ending with 'e', like Simone, Gabriele, Michele or Daniele.

[edit] India

Many Indian names become unisex when written with Latin characters because of the limitations of transliteration. The spellings Chandra and Krishna, for example, are transliterations of both the masculine and feminine versions of those names. In Indian languages, the final a's of these names are different letters with different pronunciations, so there is no ambiguity. However, when they are seen (and usually, spoken) by someone unfamiliar with Indian languages, they become gender ambiguous. Other Indian names, such as Ananda, are exclusively or nearly exclusively masculine in India, but because of their a ending, are assumed to be feminine in Anglophone societies. Many unisex names in India are obvious and are never ridiculed. For instance Nehal, Sonal, Snehal, Niral, Pranjal and Anmol are used commonly to name baby boys or girls in western states of India such as Gujarat. Similarly names like Sujal, Viral, Harshal, Deepal, Bobby, Mrinal, Jyoti, Shakti, Kiran, Lucky, Ashwini, Shashi, Malhar, Mickey, Umang, Shubham and Anupam are also very common gender neutral names or unisex names in India. Most Punjabi Sikh first names such as "Sandeep, Gurdeep, Kuldeep, Hardeep, Mandeep", "Surjeet, Gurjeet, Kuljeet, Harjeet, Manjeet", "Harpreet, Gurpreet, Jaspreet, Kulpreet, Manpreet", "Prabhjot, Harjot, Gurjot, Jasjot" and "Sukhjinder, Bhupinder, Jasbinder, Parminder, Kulvinder, Harjinder" are unisex names and equally commonly given to either gender.[5]

[edit] Spain

In Spain unisex names are rare. In Valencia and Catalonia though, the name Pau (peace in Catalan) is used both for boys and girls from the mid-70s.

[edit] Turkey

There are many Turkish names which are unisex. These names are almost always from the Turkish language, and are not Arabic names or derived from Arabic (Kamuran being an exception). These names may either be modern names or derived from Turkic mythology. Among the common examples include; Aytaç, Deniz, Derya, Evren, Evrim, Özgür, Turhan, and Yücel. And unlike English unisex names, most Turkish unisex names are traditionally used for both genders. However some unisex names are used more for one gender (for example, Derya is used more for girls whereas Özgür is used more for boys).

[edit] Brazil

Names that end with an i are considered unisex in Brazil. They tend to be Native Brazilian Indian names in origin, such as Araci, Jaci, Darci, Ubirani, but names from other cultures are now being absorbed, such as Remy, Wendy, and Eddy.

Names that end with ir and mar tend to be unisex also, such as Nadir, Valdecir, Dagmar and Rosimar - though in these cases there are some exceptions.

[edit] Germany

In Germany, the law requires parents to give their child a gender-specific name.[6][7] Unisex names may be used but they must be used alongside names which match the child's legal gender. Unisex names of German origin are rare, most of them being nicknames rather than formal names.

[edit] France

Popular unisex names of French origin include Camille, Claude, Dominique, and Frederique.[8] In France and French speaking countries, it is not unusual for people to have a combination of both male and female given names such as Jean-Marie, Marie-Jean, Marie-Pierre, and Julie-Pierre.[9] Marie is commonly seen in both males and females due to the presence of the Catholic Church in France. Notable examples of people with a combination of male and female given names Jean-Marie Le Pen (male), Marie-Jean Hérault de Séchelles (male), Marie-Pierre Kœnig (male), and Marie-Pierre Leray (female).

European royals often bear the name Marie, the French form of Maria, in their names. Prince Amedeo of Belgium, Archduke of Austria-Este (Amedeo Marie Joseph Carl Pierre Philippe Paola Marcus), Prince Jean of Luxembourg (Jean Félix Marie Guillaume), and Jean, Grand Duke of Luxembourg (Jean Benoît Guillaume Robert Antoine Louis Marie Adolphe Marc) are examples of male royals who bear Marie in their names.

[edit] Japan

Despite there being only a small number of Japanese unisex names in use, unisex names are widely popular. Many high-profile Japanese celebrities such as Hikaru Utada, Jun Matsumoto, Ryo Nishikido, Tomomi Kahala, Harumi Nemoto, Izumi Sakai, and Shizuka Arakawa have unisex names.

[edit] Nicknames

Many popular nicknames are unisex. Some nicknames, such as Alex and Pat, have become popular as given names in their own right. The following list of unisex nicknames are most commonly seen in English-speaking populations such as Canada, the United States of America, Australia, South Africa, and the United Kingdom. To some people, nicknames ending in -y may be thought of as masculine and nicknames ending in -i may be thought of as feminine.

[edit] In popular culture

Unisex names can be the source of humor, such as Julia Sweeney's gender-ambiguous character "Pat" on Saturday Night Live. A running joke on the TV show Scrubs is that almost every woman J.D. sleeps with has a unisex name: Jordan, Alex, Danni, Elliot, Jamie, etc. Similarly, the sex of the baby Jamie in Malcolm in the Middle was purposely kept ambiguous when first introduced at the end of the show's fourth season leading to speculation that it would remain unknown. However, the character's sex was revealed at the end of the first episode of season five.

In Japanese dramas and manga, a unisex name may be given to an androgynous or gender-bending character as apart of a plot twist to aid in presenting the character as one gender when they are actually another.

In mystery fiction, unisex names have been used to tease readers into trying to solve the mystery of a character's gender. The novels of Sarah Caudwell feature a narrator named Hilary Tamar, a law professor who is never identified as either male or female.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jayden at BehindtheName.com
  2. ^ Madison at BehindtheName.com
  3. ^ 10 American Baby Names
  4. ^ Logan at BehindtheName.com
  5. ^ Sikh Names (SikhNames.com) Sikh Names, Meanings & Pronunciation
  6. ^ "Oh no, you can't name your baby THAT!" CNN.com
  7. ^ Flippo, Hyde "The Germany Way" Published by McGraw-Hill (1996), Pages 96-97
  8. ^ French Unisex Names at About.com
  9. ^ French First Names at About.com

[edit] External links

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