That’s right, the new style in baby names according to those in the know is names that can work for either male or female babies. There used to be a time where you could beautiful much guess the sex of a child when you heard a name. Perhaps I am dating myself? When I was born, parents were naming their children Michael, John, Michelle or Jennifer. They wanted something conventional and reasonable for the most part.

I notice that my friends who are having children today all want something exclusive and different. It strikes me funny that those who are looking for unique end up inexorably naming their child the same thing as many other parents named their children. The unique name is now–well-liked.

I think of when I named my daughter Emily 13 years ago. No one at that time was identification their child Emily. In fact, she was named in honor of her great-great-great grandmother Emily who came to America to start a new life. Emily is now the most popular name for girls and has been for several years.

Nine years ago I named my youngest child Grace. Many people asked me why I would chose to name a young child such an “old lady” name. I chose it for many reasons, but mostly because I liked it. Today, when I go to the park, I hear a number of parents calling out the name as they search for their drifting offspring.

Currently, there seems to be a bunch of Logans, Morgans, Madisons and Hunters. All of these names can be for both boys and girls. I think of how my friend from high school and I both measured naming our children the same name when we became pregnant in 2007. Her child was a girl; mine was a boy.
Oddly enough, I didn’t have a dilemma naming our son Kendall. My father’s name is Kenneth and it seemed to be a contemporary take on his name.

I viewed it as a positive thing. My husband, upon finding out that our chosen name could also be given to a girl, nixed the name from his list. He wanted a male name for our son as he felt this was very important. He also wanted a unique name for our first born son. After naming four feminine children, I was ok with this.

What did we lastly end up naming our son? Marshall. It was unique, but also mannish declared my husband.

How do you feel about this baby naming style? Does it bother you to name a girl baby a name that can be considered masculine? Would it problem you to find out that your son’s name can also be a name for a girl?