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Meredith is perfectly fine for a boy or a girl. I live in the U.S., and Ashley is much more common for girls than boys here, but I think it could still be used for a boy. I went to school with a male Ashley, and although I didn't know him well and wasn't in any of his classes, I don't really remember hearing him being teased. I think that a lot of people in the U.S. have at least heard of Ashley as a male name because of Gone with the Wind. I'd be much more inclined to use Ashley as a middle name mainly because it's so popular.

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If you're not in an area with a lot of French speakers, I'd avoid using Clair for a boy.

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More ideas:
Clarence - Close to Clair, but it's well known as a masculine name.
Kelly
Terry
Lee - I tend to associate this spelling with boys and Leigh with girls.
Sidney
Lane
Beck
Aubrey
Blair
Kerry
Dana
Ellery
Avery
Casey
Mallory
Haley
Kelsey
Kendall
Marley
Morgan
Noel
Shelby
Shea / Shay
Sage
Winter
Autumn
Sommer - I think it would be okay for a boy with this spelling.
Alexis - I love it for a boy.
Harper
Courtney
Rain
Hadley
Delaney
Ainsley
Perry - Still masculine, but it's close to other unisex names like Kerry that are used for girls more often these days.

This message was edited 5/18/2010, 1:28 PM

Meredith and Ashley both sound fine to me on boys - Ashley is more common on boys in the UK, and while Meredith is dying out as a boy's name here, it's still acceptable. Clair sounds very female to me, but then I guess it depends on whether there are any male Clairs around in your area. Sinclair might be a way of getting your Clair in a less ambiguous way.

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Other suggestions:
Evelyn / Jocelyn
Sidney
Bryn - totally a male name here, but not so much in the US
Laurence nn Laurie

Clair is masculine to me because it's my grandfather's middle name and a great-great uncle's name. Meredith I like on a boy, too. Ashley seems preppy to me on a boy, but I'm not a huge fan of that name in general.

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If you name your son a name that is generally feminine, you'll surely encounter issues with having to correct people on his gender when they only have seen his name. However, there are tons of girls out there with boy's names having to go through the same thing. I'm sure they'll all live, even with an occasional annoyance like that. Just make sure you give him an undeniabley masculine middle name.

Clair as a mn, certainly; too much of a risk as a fn. Ashley is the fn of one of the England FIFA World Cup squad, Ashley Cole, so that could hardly be a more masculine association. And although I was at school with a pretty blonde Meredith girl, I always see Merediths as huge, hairy Welsh rugby players happily intent upon taking the opposition apart with one vast hand ...

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That said, I think it might be considerate to put something unambiguously male with any of these names if you use them, since clearly things are different where you live. Bernard Ashley? Ashley Joseph (if your ln is Cole ...)? Meredith James? George Clair?

I love Kelly on a boy.

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I wouldn't use Clair at all but Meredith would be a fine mn.