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I like Karen Blixen aka Isak Dinesen. I would much prefer to see Karen not only because it was her given name, but I would not like to see Isak used for a girl. It's too masculine.

...Um, no. Unless you know that your little girl will grow up to be a bulldyke or get a sex change, then no. It's far too butch.

Uh NO. It's a boys name.

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Are there not enough actual girls names to choose from?

In a word: NO! Isak would not be at all pretty for a girl. Masculine all the way.

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:)

it wouldn't be pretty. It would be horrible to use such masculine name on a girl.

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You wouldn't name your son Charlotte, so don't name your daughter Isak.

This message was edited 11/9/2009, 12:41 PM

While the trend is that you can pretty much use any name for a girl, I find it sad that there are fewer and fewer names that are "purely" boy's names. I think Isaac is a great boy name, so I'd hate to "give it up to" the girls.

I don't think it would be pretty on a girl at all. Some biblical male names, like Noah, I could see on a girl, but Isak's not one of them. How about Isaaca (AI-zuh-kuh)?

This message was edited 11/9/2009, 12:16 PM

hmm, no

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The fact that it was used as a pen name by a female writer doesn't make it more feminine. What's wrong with Karen if you want to honour Blixen? Or with Isak on a boy, for the matter.

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Call me rigid, but the appeal of boys' names on girls baffles me.

To play devil's advocate,

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I actually think it's neat to give a child a unique namesake name for a favourite author. Gender-bending is also becoming quite popular, so I'll go ahead and say that you would only get a minimum of odd looks when introducing your pink-tutu-clad Isak.

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You know what would be an equally neat name in Dinesen's honour though? Christenze! It was her middle (birth) name, Karen Christenze Dinesen. Now there's a nifty name!

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Also Dinesen would be neat to see as an option; somehow it has a more feminine ring to it, and would be less noticeable in the wave of surname-names that many girls are sporting.

Isaac/Isak is too masculine, IMO. Great for a pen name, not so great for a god-given name.

Would you use Isaac itself on a girl? If not, I don't see how changing the spelling/nationality makes it much better. Especially considering that most people won't know the etymology of Isak, I think it is likely to seem like a kre8tyf spelling of Isak to feminize it. The way people think adding a Y makes Aidan (Aidyn) feminine or something. It doesn't.

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Besides, I love Isaac itself for a boy; why mess with an already good thing?

Pretty? Not in my opinion. It's too familiar as a male name to me, I guess.

Other than as a pen name, I don't find it suitable for a girl at all.