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HelpRe: No!
in reply to a message by Lily8
Well, I guess that if you told an Italian person that Andrea should be unisex s/he would also say it's strictly masculine. I'm Scandinavian so that might be the reason why I can't see August as a a unisex name.
But I never said that August can't be used as a girl name in English speaking countries but I understand people who say it's a masculine name. In my first reply I simply tried to explain why some might see it as strictly male (as you said that you couldn't see how it is strictly male) and I think my Japanese name example is a good explanation for how some feel about August.
I can't really argue against the whole month name thing. I tried to come up with a consistent theory of use and origin but failed ;) But according to the database May derivs from Maia, a Roman goddess and not from Maius (I wonder which is correct...)
But I never said that August can't be used as a girl name in English speaking countries but I understand people who say it's a masculine name. In my first reply I simply tried to explain why some might see it as strictly male (as you said that you couldn't see how it is strictly male) and I think my Japanese name example is a good explanation for how some feel about August.
I can't really argue against the whole month name thing. I tried to come up with a consistent theory of use and origin but failed ;) But according to the database May derivs from Maia, a Roman goddess and not from Maius (I wonder which is correct...)
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I understand that some people see it as strictly male, it's just that I think it can also be feminine. I was just trying to explain WHY I think of it as a unisex name, I never said it was wrong to see it as a male name only just that I don't.
The month of August was apparently named after an Augustus which I consider masculine because of the -us ending but I consider August unisex. Just as I consider Julius masculine but July unisex (tend to prefer it for a girl because of similarity with Julie).
hmmm some sources say the month of may comes from Maius some say from Maia and some say from both :P
The month of August was apparently named after an Augustus which I consider masculine because of the -us ending but I consider August unisex. Just as I consider Julius masculine but July unisex (tend to prefer it for a girl because of similarity with Julie).
hmmm some sources say the month of may comes from Maius some say from Maia and some say from both :P
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just wondering
would you advocate names like Adelaide, Virginia, and Carolina on boys? They're place names derived from female names.
People don't really use March and July anyway. The well-established month names are April, May, and June, and the latter two come from goddesses (debatably; maybe the goddess Maia and the god Maius are kind of the same figure?).
I really cannot see August on a girl, personally. Too many wikipedia articles and history classes with stompy masculine german/germanic Augusts in them. It gives me shivers on a girl, like Julius or Franz would.
would you advocate names like Adelaide, Virginia, and Carolina on boys? They're place names derived from female names.
People don't really use March and July anyway. The well-established month names are April, May, and June, and the latter two come from goddesses (debatably; maybe the goddess Maia and the god Maius are kind of the same figure?).
I really cannot see August on a girl, personally. Too many wikipedia articles and history classes with stompy masculine german/germanic Augusts in them. It gives me shivers on a girl, like Julius or Franz would.
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Uhm if you had read my post you would know that I consider all word names unisex that don't have a distinctive feminine or masculine sound such as August, which doesn't sound particularly masculine or feminine to me. Same with March, November etc.
I was also talking about WORD names, not PLACE names.
August was named for an Augustus. So while I see Augustus as male I don't see August as strictly male. Alexandria (city) was named after an Alexander which is male but I guess you wouldn't use Alexandria on a boy?
So I don't see why August has to be male just because Augustus is. Yes it has been used on many boys historically but so have Christian and Julian been used on girls.
Carolina and Virginia aren't words as far as I know so the whole comparison is kind of silly. They also have distinctive feminine sounds.
I was also talking about WORD names, not PLACE names.
August was named for an Augustus. So while I see Augustus as male I don't see August as strictly male. Alexandria (city) was named after an Alexander which is male but I guess you wouldn't use Alexandria on a boy?
So I don't see why August has to be male just because Augustus is. Yes it has been used on many boys historically but so have Christian and Julian been used on girls.
Carolina and Virginia aren't words as far as I know so the whole comparison is kind of silly. They also have distinctive feminine sounds.
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