Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2022 February 23

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February 23

Gender shift of given names

This site claims that Beverly became a popular girl's name because of the 1904 novel Beverly of Graustark by George Barr McCutcheon, but I can't find any confirmation. Is this true? Also, what was the catalyst for Evelyn switching nearly exclusively to the feminine camp? Clarityfiend (talk) 07:41, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

"Shirley" was an earlier example. It was almost purely a surname before the publication of an 1849 novel by Charlotte Bronte, one of whose main characters was intended to be a masculine-named woman (since giving men a surname as a first name was a recognized practice -- FitzWilliam Darcy in "Pride and Prejudice", St John Rivers in "Jane Eyre" etc). There was an article "Ora Jones Married Ora Jones" in a 1942 issue of the American Speech scholarly journal about gender-shifting names... AnonMoos (talk) 08:03, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

Sharon was an unusual unisex name until popularised by a book and a film, fixing it as feminine. Tracy (name) was likewise an obscure unisex name until Spencer Tracy happened: then, for reasons I can't explain, it became feminine in the UK, while remaining unisex (but becoming more popular) in the US.  Card Zero  (talk) 11:52, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

Stacy is another formerly masculine name that drifted to unisex and eventually feminine. Stacy Keach, a popular American television personality born a generation before me, when the name was still commonly masculine, for example. I know many women named Stacy from my generation, but I've never personally met a male Stacy of my age or younger. With many (but not all) of these, they are often of the -y format (Tracy, Stacy, Lacy, Courtney, Shirley etc.) which seems to be a diminutive marker in English, perhaps explaining the shift in feminizing the name. --Jayron32 13:36, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

Stac(e)y was always a masculine name when I was a boy in Cornwall. I knew several. I'm in my 50s, I don't know how old Jayron is, or whence they hail. Jackie was usually masculine, tho' not exclusively. DuncanHill (talk) 14:24, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

I'm in my 40s, from New England as a youth, also lived in the midwest and now in North Carolina, for context. Also, I would draw a distinction between shortened nicknames, and full names. Jackie is a common enough nickname for both John/Jack and Jacqueline that I would expect to see it for both genders, similarly for Sandy (Alexander/Alexandra), or Stevie (Steven/Stephanie), etc. Stacy is given in the Wikipedia article as a shortened form of Eustace, but I've never heard that before, even among male Stacys. --Jayron32 16:52, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

I'm in my late '40s, life-long North Carolinian. While I am familiar with male examples for all of the nicknames you listed, they are all of individuals from previous generations. In all cases, I would be very surprised to meet a male younger than myself that used those forms. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 16:03, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

Evelyn is originally a female given name. From its use as a matronymic surname, as for Sir John Evelyn, it was also given to men, as to Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull, son of Robert Pierrepont and Elizabeth Evelyn, a daughter of Sir John.  --Lambiam 11:59, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

Cue for a mention that Evelyn Waugh married Evelyn Gardner, and the two were referred to by their friends as "He-Evelyn" and "She-Evelyn". {The poster formerly known as 87.81.230.195} 90.209.121.1 (talk) 16:32, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

What, not "Hevelyn and Shevelyn"? – In America the first vowel is /ɛ/; in Britain it's /i/ in the masculine; is it also /i/ in the feminine? — Herb Caen mentioned a married couple of writers named Dominique iirc; I do not recall their surname(s). —Tamfang (talk) 01:50, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

A Beverly reference: In the early twentieth century the name was much used for women, largely because of the enormously popular novel by G. B. McCutcheon, Beverly of Graustark ( 1904 ).

American Given Names: Their Origin and History in the in the Context of the English Language by George R. Stewart - Page 69 (snippet view).

Alansplodge (talk) 13:13, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

Resolved

An "enormously popular novel" nobody knows of now? Sic transit gloria mundi. Thanks. Clarityfiend (talk) 00:57, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

The adjective "Graustarkian" was fairly well known during much of the 20th century, but maybe not now (not in Wiktionary, though explained on our Graustark article; apparently "Ruritanian" is more known)... AnonMoos (talk) 22:25, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

Foul Play (1978 film) was a funny movie, but few remember it now. :) -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 22:35, 1 March 2022 (UTC)

I felt inclined to add Carol here. I don't know if it was ever predominantly male, but it's funny]] since it's etymologically derived from a Germanic root meaning free man or man. (Caroling seems to be derived from the unrelated chorus/ χορός.) 惑乱 Wakuran (talk) 13:51, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

Carol in various spellings is well attested as a male name, see Carroll O'Connor, Carroll Shelby, Caroll Spinney, Carol Reed. AFAIK, in Romania, it is the standard spelling for the cognate of Charles. --Jayron32 16:52, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

Also, NHL player Carol Vadnais, which was typically pronounced like "Carl" plus the "o" sound inserted. --←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 17:11, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

The names "Charles", "Karl" etc. come from an early Germanic word for an ordinary Germanic male tribesman, which developed connotations of "soldier" or "farmer" in various daughter languages (English housecarl and churl). See Wiktionary Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/karilaz. The feminized forms used as names (Carla etc.) are definitely a little peculiar from an etymological point of view (similar to the obscure obsolete English word "maness" found in the OED, meaning "woman" -- i.e. man + -ess suffix...) AnonMoos (talk) 15:35, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

man was not always strongly gendered. —Tamfang (talk) 01:52, 24 February 2022 (UTC)

Reference for the timing of Evelyn: In the U.S. at least, the name was overwhelmingly female already in the 1880s when this source starts. 70.67.193.176 (talk) 18:16, 23 February 2022 (UTC)

I believe that Vivian (personal name) is almost exclusively female in America -- Q Chris (talk) 16:34, 28 February 2022 (UTC)

It certainly has been in this American's (specifically North Carolinian) experience. --User:Khajidha (talk) (contributions) 23:04, 28 February 2022 (UTC)