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HelpRe: Artemis for a boy
in reply to a message by Dianatiger
It doesn't really matter to me because I haven't met any people named Artemis. If I met a guy Artemis I wouldn't think much about it.
But I do think of Artemis as the name of the goddess, and I think if I were a guy, I'd rather be given a specifically masculine version of the name. It just feels incomplete to me, or like it says "I don't care about the kid as much as I care about the deity," when a gendered person is named directly after a deity of the other gender.
I'm generally okay with names for girls that are technically guy names, but which haven't been heavily used as guy names in my experience.
Kinda the same with genders reversed, like Artemis.
It only bothers me when I'm strongly conditioned to assume a name indicates a particular gender - because I feel interfered-with. Like someone's trying to play a cheap trick, exploiting conventions to draw attention and seem special/different. I'm talking like, gal named Aidan, or guy named Raven - names I'm really accustomed to being specifically gendered, that have come to feel to me as if they're actually masculine or feminine (even though I know that's not objectively true). Of course it's all just my personal conditioned reaction - but I can't help thinking that if it were me, I'd like my name to be chosen to not have that effect on anyone, according to my gender. I think there will always be gender, and it's human nature to learn conventions of which things are which, automatically, just like we learn language - so I think it will never be a total non-consideration, no matter how much people intend to disregard gender.
Generally the names that are cross-gender usages, are surname names, or names I haven't heard that much, or names I've always heard on both - so I get used to them easily and it's no big deal.
I like some unisex names, and a few names as cross-gender usages (they're generally names I haven't ever seen on any real person).
If a name isn't super familiar as a name for people, the sound of it affects my openness to cross-gender usage. Like, Merlin to me sounds like a girl's name. I know it's a guy name but I would only like it as a girl name. I think Vivian sounds more masculine, and also Valentine. And Diamond to me could be a nifty guy name, but dumb on a girl. I think Asa is far more appealing for a girl, and also Theo.
I guess most of my favorites are traditionally gendered. My daughter's name is never unisex, and my son's is traditionally masculine but is very occasionally used for girls.
I know a kid from Ukraine whose name is Artemii. I think Artemy would be a good English version of the name for a guy, and also it sounds more modern and cool than a name ending in -is. Or -as, which to me seems even dorkier, and not really more masculine.
- mirfak
But I do think of Artemis as the name of the goddess, and I think if I were a guy, I'd rather be given a specifically masculine version of the name. It just feels incomplete to me, or like it says "I don't care about the kid as much as I care about the deity," when a gendered person is named directly after a deity of the other gender.
I'm generally okay with names for girls that are technically guy names, but which haven't been heavily used as guy names in my experience.
Kinda the same with genders reversed, like Artemis.
It only bothers me when I'm strongly conditioned to assume a name indicates a particular gender - because I feel interfered-with. Like someone's trying to play a cheap trick, exploiting conventions to draw attention and seem special/different. I'm talking like, gal named Aidan, or guy named Raven - names I'm really accustomed to being specifically gendered, that have come to feel to me as if they're actually masculine or feminine (even though I know that's not objectively true). Of course it's all just my personal conditioned reaction - but I can't help thinking that if it were me, I'd like my name to be chosen to not have that effect on anyone, according to my gender. I think there will always be gender, and it's human nature to learn conventions of which things are which, automatically, just like we learn language - so I think it will never be a total non-consideration, no matter how much people intend to disregard gender.
Generally the names that are cross-gender usages, are surname names, or names I haven't heard that much, or names I've always heard on both - so I get used to them easily and it's no big deal.
I like some unisex names, and a few names as cross-gender usages (they're generally names I haven't ever seen on any real person).
If a name isn't super familiar as a name for people, the sound of it affects my openness to cross-gender usage. Like, Merlin to me sounds like a girl's name. I know it's a guy name but I would only like it as a girl name. I think Vivian sounds more masculine, and also Valentine. And Diamond to me could be a nifty guy name, but dumb on a girl. I think Asa is far more appealing for a girl, and also Theo.
I guess most of my favorites are traditionally gendered. My daughter's name is never unisex, and my son's is traditionally masculine but is very occasionally used for girls.
I know a kid from Ukraine whose name is Artemii. I think Artemy would be a good English version of the name for a guy, and also it sounds more modern and cool than a name ending in -is. Or -as, which to me seems even dorkier, and not really more masculine.
- mirfak
This message was edited 2/4/2021, 1:47 PM
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