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J'adore!

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Yes yes yes and yes

Cassidy is like Kelly in that it can technically be a boy's name but it's an awkward fit. For both names the secret is to call the boy by a more masculine sounding nn, e.g. Cass and Kell.

I've met two people named Cassidy in my life, and both have been male. I think it's nice, but I prefer it for a girl. On a boy, it might make some people do a double-take, but I don't think its so strange that it needs restrictions.

I don't really like it for boys or girls, so I think it would work best as a middle name. As a first name, I would assume, sight unseen, that a Cassidy was female, just because I know it's much more common for girls.

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I wouldn't be thrown by a male Cassidy, however.

Eh....not a fan.
I'm alright with Casey on a boy though. I think I see Casey more for a boy than for a girl
Cassidy: too girly and feminine in my opinion

I still don't like it, but it's a hell of a lot more dignified and fitting on a boy than a girl. It might be better as a middle name, but either way I def. prefer it on a boy.

I love Cassidy for a boy, I'm very fond of softer sounding boys names and tend to really like boys names that have gone unisex (ie. Ashley, Aubrey, Ariel).

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I've known several male Cassidy's and only one female Cassidy, I don't know how popular it actually is, but it isn't similar to either popular girl or boy names right now so I doubt a little male Cassidy would have many female class mates to contend with.

I was a child in the 70s and I am stuck with the impression that the original inspirations for using Cassidy as a first name were pretty boys Shaun Cassidy - The Justin Bieber of the early 70s, who looked like this
http://images2.fanpop.com/images/photos/7300000/Shaun-Cassidy-shaun-cassidy-7382979-761-869.jpg
...and actor David Cassidy who looked like this
http://images.starpulse.com/Photos/Previews/David_Cassidy_umvd001.jpg

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So that probably is part of why I have this impression that it's a pretty-boy name. The other part being, that it has sounds from feminine names (Cassie, Melody, Charity) and none from masculine names I know, so it sort of "sounds feminine" to me. I struggle a little with imagining it as the first name of a guy. I don't like it!

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I don't think it's unusable as a boy name. I think it's within normal limits, so to speak, for names of baby boys presently. I'm not sure whether my impression of pretty-boy-ness is totally out of date or not. As a middle name, I would assume it was a reference to a family surname.

YES.

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Yes in that I adore Cassidy for a boy, not that I think it should be restricted to the middle area. Cassidy is wonderful for a boy; it puts me in the mind of rough-and-tumble cowpunchers and suave businessmen simultaneously, somehow, and it's pretty great when a name can be so versatile. Would love to meet a little boy Cassidy!

Cassidy has been on my boys list for ages! I originally started liking it as a full name for the nickname Cass - which came onto my radar after watching a short TV series with the main male protagonist of the same name.
For me, I would prefer it as a first name so I could use the nickname Cass, which is the whole reason why I started liking it in the first place. I think it will be hard, but people live and grow up perfectly happy with much "stranger" names. At least everybody knows how to say and spell Cassidy. (You'd hope anyway.)

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Wasn't it originally a boys' name?

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I think it's fine. One of my old bosses had a son named Cassidy, and no one thought it was strange.

I like it. I like Cass as a nickname for it too, but Sid could work as well. If you're concerned about the fact that it's generally used more for girls, then yes, it'd be better as a middle name.

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(If you look at the extra SSA data, Cassidy as a boy's name appeared first, but only a year before Cassidy for a girl. It spent a good decade being pretty much unisex until it caught on a lot more for girls).

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eta: The book I'm reading just introduced a male Cassidy. Not a major character, but there you go. And it was published in 2012.

This message was edited 9/4/2014, 9:44 AM

Cassidy was never even what I'd call a boy's name; it was used so rarely on boys and it only became popular as a girl's name. So I'd say, no, it is not a boy's name.