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in reply to a message by Rachel
I think people get more creative with girls names, at least in spelling. For historic names, ignoring such spelling and dialect variations, there are more boy's names, simply because they are more likely to be recorded in tales and historical documents such as histories (male-centered political and military focuses), land grants, charters etc. E.g. in king lists, a kings son's may all be named, but daughters, if even mentioned, may not all be named.
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They had to have some way to distinguish which daughter they were addressing... (at least better than "Hey, you...")
This message was edited 10/27/2016, 7:09 AM
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Well, spealing as somebody with more than one daughter and a poor memory in the heat of the moment, sometimes you do end up resorting to such things! ;)
In general though, what many people are hinting at in replies here is the fact that the nature of the English language, in terms of the tools it puts at our disposal and the range of things thought "acceptable", means that there's probably a little more room for playing around with female names. English is a bit short on diminutives, compared to many other languages, and many that we do have are not associated with male names or maleness in general.
In general though, what many people are hinting at in replies here is the fact that the nature of the English language, in terms of the tools it puts at our disposal and the range of things thought "acceptable", means that there's probably a little more room for playing around with female names. English is a bit short on diminutives, compared to many other languages, and many that we do have are not associated with male names or maleness in general.
This message was edited 11/3/2016, 9:15 AM
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My generic address for our unremembered children's names was "Hey, Bible dude or Bible chick..."
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