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ArchivesRe: Place names ... masculine or feminine??
in reply to a message by Benni
Place names are, in truth, unisex, but they are generally allocated to males or females based on their form. For example, place names like India and China are given as female names in English-speaking countries because almost all names ending with 'a' are female in English. Place names like Camden and London, on the other hand, are considered masculine (even though they're often given to girls as "boyish" names!).
Since I live in Perth (Australia, not Scotland), I can't imagine it as a child's name. But there's no reason why you couldn't use it as a girls' name - 'th'-ending names for girls aren't unusual (Beth, Faith, Ruth, Judith, Kath, Lilith etc). The best way to find out whether it's workable is to ask your family and friends: "if there was a baby named Perth, would you think it was a boy or a girl?" and see what the majority say.
When it comes to giving a male name to a female, it's a matter of much debate over whether it should be allowed. "Boys' names on girls?" is a very divisive question. It isn't allowed in many European countries, but English-speaking countries don't seem to have a problem with it, at least legally. If you want opinions on that question, you should search for previous threads about it on the Opinions board.
~Chrisell~
Proudly Australian
www.archaeochrisell.blogspot.com
Since I live in Perth (Australia, not Scotland), I can't imagine it as a child's name. But there's no reason why you couldn't use it as a girls' name - 'th'-ending names for girls aren't unusual (Beth, Faith, Ruth, Judith, Kath, Lilith etc). The best way to find out whether it's workable is to ask your family and friends: "if there was a baby named Perth, would you think it was a boy or a girl?" and see what the majority say.
When it comes to giving a male name to a female, it's a matter of much debate over whether it should be allowed. "Boys' names on girls?" is a very divisive question. It isn't allowed in many European countries, but English-speaking countries don't seem to have a problem with it, at least legally. If you want opinions on that question, you should search for previous threads about it on the Opinions board.
Proudly Australian www.archaeochrisell.blogspot.com
This message was edited 12/3/2006, 5:13 PM
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