More on Names

I got a note from someone I work with congratulating me on the birth of my son that ended by asking "isn't that a girl's name?"

Well, yes it is. But, of course, it's also a boy's name. And, coincidentally, there is sweet vindication for using a gender-ambiguous name in yesterday's NY Times. The pertinent part states that

“Researchers have studied men with cross-gender names like Leslie,” Dr. Evans explained. “They haven’t found anything negative — no psychological or social problems — or any correlations with either masculinity or effeminacy. But they have found one major positive factor: a better sense of self-control. It’s not that you fight more, but that you learn how to let stuff roll off your back.”

In addition, there is also a very cool site that shows the historical popularity of all names that have appeared in the top 1000 most popular names for any year going back over a century. It does look like we're at a historical low for male Guadalupes as opposed to females. For perspective, though, type in Leslie to see the trajectory of name that truly went from male to female. Anica doesn't show up at all, but Anika is becoming quite popular.

Try it, it's kinda fun.