I think Eddie is a cool nickname, and I like it for both genders. Although, if it’s for a boy, it should be for Edward, Edmund, Edgar and Edwin and for girls it should be reserved for Edith and Edna. Other than that, a cool name for a boy and a girl.
My family has called me Eddie my whole life (52 years). My given name is Edward, and I really don't mind people calling me Edward. I mind very much when people see either name in print, and change it to Ed. My name is not Ed, and there's no reason anyone should call me Ed.
I hate it when people call me this. I go by the nickname Ed, but not Eddie, which reminds me of the Ab Fab character who shares my name. I get called this all the time though.
― Anonymous User 4/5/2009
1
It sounds more like a nickname that a guy with the nowadays rather old-fashioned name Edward could go by up to the age of 15 and start going by Ed once he's older, as the nickname sounds so youthful and boyish. On a girl, the name sounds very masculine, and it makes it seem as if the parents were never particularly eager to have a daughter in the first place and thus take no interest in good feminine names and wish to have a daughter that isn't much of a girl in the mainstream sense. That, or that the girl is such a tomboy that she can't go by her real, feminine name, because she hates all things feminine, like other girls, for instance, and wants to be above all that.