Do you think of a BOY or a GIRL when you hear these baby names?

[Gemini529]

Morgan

Cameron

Jordan

Dylan

Avery

Elliot

Bailey

The reason I ask is because I am having a boy and these are all names that made my short list. I really really like Jordan but my parents are convinced it's on its way to being the next Madison or Ashley and that his teachers will assume he's a girl.  Then my sister looked over my list and said a bunch of the names are now girl names.  I don't know a ton of little kids or babies but I honestly thought these were boy names, or at least they used to be.  I personally don't care and want to just use it anyway, but now DH is second guessing them :( I want him to really love whatever we pick, too so we both have to be on board here.  

So what do you think...if you were a preschool teacher, would you be scanning the room for a boy or a girl on the first day of class? 

[Mom31]

I have heard of girls names ryan and michael.  I think you should pick the names you want and go with it. That said my son is Keagan and that is a boy name but becoming a girl name.  Morgan and Bailey remind me most of a girls name probably just because I know girls more with those names.

[macandcheese]

I only think of Morgan and Bailey as "girl" names. All the others are pretty gn in my mind, except Elliot--I've only heard that one used with boys.

[akind1]

Morgan - Girl

Cameron - Mostly Girl - though I know a boy Cameron or 2

Jordan - either way, but more Girl

Dylan -  Boy (but have known a girl or 2)

Avery - GN

Elliot - Boy

Bailey  -  -  -  

Bailey - Girl

I think a good compromise may be to choose whichever name you really like - Jordan for example - and pair it with a defintitely boy sounding middle name.  maybe not in preschool, but the rest of the school years, teachers usually have both your first and middle names on the roster and that may help. Also, if your LO decides that Jordan sounds too girly, it gives him an option if he wants to go by something else when he gets older.

[HopefulJo]

For me, I'd think Dylan & Elliot were boys (I have an Elliott myself!), and Morgan & Bailey were girls. I'd be unsure with Avery, Cameron & Jordan. 

[Gemini529]

Originally Posted by Emilie2 

I have heard of girls names ryan and michael.  I think you should pick the names you want and go with it. That said my son is Keagan and that is a boy name but becoming a girl name.  Morgan and Bailey remind me most of a girls name probably just because I know girls more with those names.

That's kinda funny because Keegan was another name that I liked!  Yeah, when I typed Morgan into the Social Security website, it came up pink.  But the only Morgan I can think of when I hear that name is Morgan Freeman.  Huh.  I guess it must be popular with little girls, though.  

[Mom31]

I think of morgan freeman to. As long as you don't name him sue. ;)

[coldandsleepy]

They're all boy names to me, though I think many of them are considered unisex (Morgan and Avery in particular) these days.

[janellody]

It's true a lot of those can be girl or boy, but who cares?  Jordan is more boy than girl to me, although there are girl Jordans as we know (Jordan Sparks from American Idol, for one).  Bailey and Madison, I have never seen those as boy names, only girl names.  I think you should choose what you LIKE as long as it isn't a blatant girl name like Suzy than who cares?  Teachers won't have to scan the class for long.. they will learn their names on the first day and that is that. 

[Trinket90]

Morgan - girl

Cameron - boy

Jordan - boy

Dylan - boy

Avery - boy

Elliot - boy

Bailey - girl

Honestly, the only reason Morgan and Bailey made me think girl are that I personally only know one person with each name, and they're female. There's Morgan Freeman, and Morgan Hamm is a male olympic gymnast... I LOVE Jordan for a boy. I think any of them would work for a boy. Don't worry about the trend. My brother's name is Dakota and it doesn't bother him that the best-know Dakota is female--Dakota Fanning.

[linnea27]

Morgan- boy... this is our #1 choice for a boy right now :)

Cameron- boy

Jordan- boy (Jordyn - girl)

Dylan- boy

Avery- girl

Elliot- boy

Bailey- boy

[Daffodil]

The only one that seems clearly boy to me is Elliot.  The others could be either, but once people start thinking of a name as gender-neutral, it seems to become almost completely a girl's name not long after.  So I don't think people will be thinking of those as "boy names" too much longer. 

I know of a girl named Morgan and a boy named Avery.  Also a boy Dylan, but I don't know for sure whether it's Dillon or Dylan.

[Gemini529]

Originally Posted by janellody 

It's true a lot of those can be girl or boy, but who cares?  Jordan is more boy than girl to me, although there are girl Jordans as we know (Jordan Sparks from American Idol, for one).  Bailey and Madison, I have never seen those as boy names, only girl names.  I think you should choose what you LIKE as long as it isn't a blatant girl name like Suzy than who cares?  Teachers won't have to scan the class for long.. they will learn their names on the first day and that is that. 

I feel the same way but my husband doesn't.  He's impossible to work with on this because he wants a name that is somewhat uncommon (he vetoed names like Michael and John) but the names that are left seem to be the ones that are popular for boys for a few years, then ultimately cross over into girl town, never to return.  Our last name is really common around here, and DH said at his school, there were several kids with the same exact name as him, first and last.  

Well, the only Bailey I can think of is Bailey from Party of Five, who was a guy, but I have heard it is pretty much a girl's name.  That wasn't my personal favorite, either.   We have a niece named Madison so I wouldn't even consider it, but she is a bit older, and when her mom named her, I thought (to myself) that it was a boy's name (son of Matthew?), although I hadn't really heard it before.   Clearly, I was wrong since it is like one of the top girls' names now!

[yellowdart]

Check this out:  http://www.behindthename.com/top/name/jordan

That shows stats for boys and girls through 2010 - Jordan has always been more popular for boys than girls, and its use in girls (and boys) is falling off.  I wouldn't worry at all about having a big resurgence of female Jordans.  I think Jordan is great for a boy.  

Change Jordan in the URL to any other name to see similar popularity comparisons.  

FWIW, I love Morgan on a boy too, even though Morgan is way more popular for a female these days.  

[Vermillion]

They all go both ways for me... maybe leaning a little more towards girl, but that's because I love more "boyish" names for girls!

[zinemama]

Originally Posted by Gemini529 

I feel the same way but my husband doesn't.  He's impossible to work with on this because he wants a name that is somewhat uncommon (he vetoed names like Michael and John) but the names that are left seem to be the ones that are popular for boys for a few years, then ultimately cross over into girl town, never to return.

What about these somewhat uncommon (but not terribly so) and unambiguously boy choices:

Julian
Miles
Henry
Jasper
Theo

[Gemini529]

Originally Posted by zinemama 



What about these somewhat uncommon (but not terribly so) and unambiguously boy choices:

Julian
Miles
Henry
Jasper
Theo

Thanks, those are cute names..we did already talk about Julian and he said he didn't like the nickname "Jules" since it is a common nickname for girls named Julie.  This poor kid...I never thought I'd be one of those parents who has no name for their baby after the birth, but it's looking like that might happen!  We had our last son's name picked out by the time I was 5 months along!
 

[Gemini529]

Originally Posted by yellowdart 

Check this out:  http://www.behindthename.com/top/name/jordan

That shows stats for boys and girls through 2010 - Jordan has always been more popular for boys than girls, and its use in girls (and boys) is falling off.  I wouldn't worry at all about having a big resurgence of female Jordans.  I think Jordan is great for a boy.  

Change Jordan in the URL to any other name to see similar popularity comparisons.  

FWIW, I love Morgan on a boy too, even though Morgan is way more popular for a female these days.  

Thanks!  I just typed in Jordyn and Jordin to make sure it wasn't just missing the alternate spellings that are usually favored for a girl....neither of them are really very common and it looks like they have never broken the top 100.  It was in the top 50 for boys last year so maybe there'll be more boy Jordans than girls in his class with him.  I like Morgan, too!  It's too bad our society totally abandons names for boys once a few girls take the names on.  I guess once it's pictured on a girl, the name becomes weakened or something. Kinda sad!

[LiLStar]

Morgan - girl

Cameron - boy

Jordan - not sure... leaning toward boy. Sometimes if its a girl its spelled Jordyn 

Dylan - boy

Avery - girl.. totally girl.. i have a hard time seeing this as a boy's name at all, it sounds SO feminine to me, way more than any of the other names on this list (which sound tomboyish to me)

Elliot - boy

Bailey - girl

[Gemini529]

Apparently there is a female Elliot on Scrubs or something that is making people consider the name for girls.  I don't watch that show so I didn't know about it til I started looking into the name.  I think it's the softest sounding name out of all of them, so I wouldn't be surprised if it switched over.  Thanks for weighing in for me!  I still don't know what I'm going to do!  

I have two "facebook friends" who named their kids Avery recently.  One is a boy and one is a girl.  They're the only two I've heard of since I saw "The Firm" 15 years ago.  And that character was an older man...but I always liked the name :)