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Novus, if you must! Or acquire a goldfish, gender unknowable, and name it Nova. But whatever gender or species you call Nova, they will age and the name will become less and less appropriate. Just, not a good choice IRL.

I don't really like it on either gender, to be honest.
On a girl, it's doable, and won't seem too weird.
On a boy, it's just too strange. It wouldn't work. People would tease him about having a girl's name.

Gah, it's just so brand-namey and tacky. On either. Dunno how it sounded in other times, but that's how it sounds to me now.

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I think as a guy's name, it comes off too explosion-y. Comic-booky (it's the name of an Avenger, IIRC). Hollywood style gonzo. Like Moxie, Pixie, Pilot, Morocco, Legend, Laser, Cannon, Dash.

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People are using it for boys, a bit, and it probably doesn't matter that much that it's also a girl name, because this generation will be used to uncertainty about the gender of the names of people in certain demographics. But more people will encounter it as a girl name first, and tend to assume girl, and a lot of guys would hate that - so I probably wouldn't consider it very seriously as a name for a son if I did like it.

This message was edited 5/19/2021, 7:04 PM

My first association with the name was on a male character, and I think it sounds awful and too masculine on girls, so yeah I think it could work.

I like it. I can see it on any gender.

No Way

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For a girl of course! For a boy is just weird

This message was edited 5/19/2021, 1:38 PM

My cousin named his son Nova, but he spells it Novah. So, for me, this name feels masculine because I've never met anyone else named Nova or Novah. His other kids are named Lochlan and Makayla.

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The name is not common enough or well known enough (at least where I live) to be "too feminine" for a boy. It is quite a strange name here, especially due to a province being named Nova Scotia and a pizza parlour being named Pizza Nova. I'm not a fan, but I suppose there are worse names.

If it wasn't so trendy for girls right now, it might have worked as a middle name for a boy. However, Nova is very feminine in use right now and increasingly gaining in popularity for girls, so I would leave it as a guilty pleasure for boys.

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Noah has similar sounds and is certainly a boy name. Do you like it as an alternative or is it too popular?
Neo on a boy has a similar vibe to Nova, but it is very wordy and Matrix associated.

No, please no. It's already awful on a girl. A boy with this name will grow up knowing lots of girls with his name which he probably won't enjoy. It's like naming a boy Ella or Ava. It will have the same level of popularity soon.