tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post1016038801144158787..comments2024-03-27T03:19:11.216-04:00Comments on Assistant Village Idiot: OnomasticsAssistant Village Idiothttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-36580044784277883202010-11-17T19:09:25.419-05:002010-11-17T19:09:25.419-05:00Don't forget Lynn and Fay. Nowadays anything ...Don't forget Lynn and Fay. Nowadays anything goes for girl's names, which makes doing these comparisons moot unfortunately. <br /><br />Incidentally, I work with 2 people named Courtney. They are of different genders.Annahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05456587175845040114noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-53347784505119307352010-11-17T17:59:14.414-05:002010-11-17T17:59:14.414-05:00I had a great-uncle Shirley up in Nova Scotia. Wo...I had a great-uncle Shirley up in Nova Scotia. Would have been born in the 1890's, I think.<br /><br />Florence was a boy name up until the mid 19th. I don't know of any earlier examples, though there may be lots. But as names didn't vary much anyway, and people took their unusual names from classical sources, I will guess there weren't many. More common were feminised forms of male names, usually by adding an -a or -ina. The -a form for feminine nouns is found worldwide, BTW, not just English.Assistant Village Idiothttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01978011985085795099noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-64673822818434500212010-11-17T15:51:22.611-05:002010-11-17T15:51:22.611-05:00It would be interesting to get a timeline on when ...It would be interesting to get a timeline on when those began to be used as female names, and when they became predominantly female names. Some of those I recognize only as female names. Others, such as Casey, as in Mr. Stengel, I can see as being male names.<br /><br />I recall reading once something dated around 1945 where there was a male named Beverly, which was the only time I had come across Beverly as being a male name.Gringonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-19305198.post-62438681599192822632010-11-17T10:51:35.965-05:002010-11-17T10:51:35.965-05:00Seems to me that Vivian is used as a man's ...Seems to me that Vivian is used as a man's name in England--or used to be.Sam L.noreply@blogger.com