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| Inspiration :: Madison (Madison Square Park) |
This post follows on from Journeys of Androgynous Names:: Part 1. You may want to read it first if you haven't already.
Of course, there are a few
rebellious names that do not fit the mould of being male, becoming unisex and
then female. Sometimes there is a sharper change often spurred on by a catalyst
from the media. The jaunty surname Bailey went from female to almost completely unisex
in just a year. It is a similar story with Madison which
was always a male name. In 1983 it was unheard of to see a female Madison but
by 1985 practically all Madisons were female and it has been waving
the pink flag ever since. But what causes these sudden changes? I think that it
has a lot to do with celebrity culture and many of the sudden changes happened
in the 70s and 80s. For example the film ‘Splash’, which features a mermaid
named Madison,
is
an obvious contributor to the popularity of the name.
It seems unfair that the majority of
names move from male to female – the girls get the hand me down clothes that
are no longer fashionable in the boys’ world. But I’m not just being an angry feminist;
women get the short straw with language anyway. There are countless words in
the dictionary that get used negatively towards females but only a handful for
men. Our androcentric language seems to have influenced our naming culture as
well. However, there are a few misfit names that make the rare journey from
female to male. Theo is a well-established male name
today and the trendy diminutive of Theodore but from 1880 to 1930, Theo
was popular female name.
If the majority of names follow the
pattern of travelling from male to female, then we will start to hit a problem.
Where will new boys names come from? If something doesn’t happen, we are going
to be reduced to an ever smaller pool of boys’ names. But I think parents are
already finding the answer. They are looking at the historical roots of already
popular boys’ names and discovering more unusual names. Joshua
was rare for boys until the 1950s where I suspect that the group of parents
that started the trend were seen as courageous and innovative. Now, Joshua is
high in the charts along with other Biblical favourites such as Benjamin and
Isaac. Even characters like Ezra moved 115 places in the UK
popularity charts from 2013 to 2014. It seems strange that soon we might be
seeing little Zephaniahs or Boazez in nurseries and pre-schools.
However, these names seem safer to use, as names with strong historical
associations don’t often change gender. Invented or modern names usually have
unstable genders and make the switch from male to female.
