Re: Gender-bending Mythology/Biblical names?
in reply to a message by MasterCiaraXo
I think it could come across as... if not...ignorant per se, but really uneducated. It wouldn't matter your personal reason for doing it, on first glance a girl with a mythological male name is going to come across like you liked the sound but didn't know the association. At least to nerdy people like me who like mythology and history. I have a friend who wants to name her daughter Osiris. I cringe every time I hear it. It's just... eugh. She likes it because it's 'edgy' and she's a grown-up former goth, but she doesn't know the first thing about Egyptian mythology and finds history boring. I don't react any more, just smile and nod.
There's the question of whether it's offensive or misusing people's culture and history, yadda yadda. I'm not opening that can of worms, but it's something to be considered. Some people might be offended, some might not, it's still something that might come up if you 'misuse' a name. The Biblical thing could upset people, because we are talking a living religion people believe in and care about. Again, a can of worms.
But my main takeaway from someone using a masc. mythological name on a girl would be that a) they seem like they don't know the background, I'd think they have no interest in mythology and misused the name because they liked the sound, which isn't a crime or b) if they did have an interest in mythology/culture/history, I'd assume they were being 'edgy' and that'd probably make me cringe more. I also think a lot of mythological names are so masculine that they just couldn't work - you couldn't have a little girl called Hector, Jason, etc. When it comes to the -a/ah endings, names like Zephaniah, Jedidiah, I still think they sound quite masculine. I don't think -a endings make a name sound feminine (maybe to speakers of some languages, but that's not universal) and there's nothing like a clunky great Biblical name like Obadiah that makes me think 'cute little girl' or 'strong, capable woman'.
There's the question of whether it's offensive or misusing people's culture and history, yadda yadda. I'm not opening that can of worms, but it's something to be considered. Some people might be offended, some might not, it's still something that might come up if you 'misuse' a name. The Biblical thing could upset people, because we are talking a living religion people believe in and care about. Again, a can of worms.
But my main takeaway from someone using a masc. mythological name on a girl would be that a) they seem like they don't know the background, I'd think they have no interest in mythology and misused the name because they liked the sound, which isn't a crime or b) if they did have an interest in mythology/culture/history, I'd assume they were being 'edgy' and that'd probably make me cringe more. I also think a lot of mythological names are so masculine that they just couldn't work - you couldn't have a little girl called Hector, Jason, etc. When it comes to the -a/ah endings, names like Zephaniah, Jedidiah, I still think they sound quite masculine. I don't think -a endings make a name sound feminine (maybe to speakers of some languages, but that's not universal) and there's nothing like a clunky great Biblical name like Obadiah that makes me think 'cute little girl' or 'strong, capable woman'.
Replies
Oof. Osiris on a girl, lol. Definitely find it masculine. I probably would’ve recommended Isis because of it’s gender exclusive meaning (Literally “woman of the throne.”) and it’s powerful origins, but obviously the name isn’t the most recommended for a child these days. Iris could work though. To each their own.