I like the way it sounds, it's not too mannish sounding - but
Merlin is a dude, no question about it. Besides, hardly anyone even names their boys
Merlin because it is too dorky on boys. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to go through life as a woman named
Merlin. It's still a man name, and until everyone else is using it for girls, I wouldn't even remotely consider using it for a daughter. It just seems lame to use a name for a daughter that you know everyone will assume is a guy's name ... it seems to suggest you thought there's something cool or sexy about sounding like you're male when you're not. "
Merlin Elizabeth" just sounds comical. If it were already trendy to use it for girls, though, and there was a common expectation that a
Merlin *could* be female - I have to admit I'd probably be guiltily on that bandwagon. It "feels" like it could be unisex to me.
Merle is unisex, and 'lin' is a common ending sound for female names, so IMO the only problem is just the perception that it's exclusively masculine. But I think that's a big problem.
This message was edited 3/21/2013, 1:20 AM