Talk:Unisex name

message: Please add this... I don't know where to add it. There are variations to the spelling. I'm fairly sure its an American name? 138.23.5.162 (talk) 17:39, 1 May 2013 (UTC)
thread_title: Micah/Mica/Myca

message: Isn't Rene spelled differently by gender? Andrea is a male name? Perhaps we should list this by which nationality uses them in a unisex manner. Rmhermen 20:20, May 20, 2004 (UTC)
:Yes, in French there is Renée (f) and René (m).  However, if the parents don't speak French, they might not know which form to pick for their child.  Also, there is the possibility that "Renee" would be mispronounced by English speakers. In any case there are women called "Rene": just do a search on IMDb for actresses named "Rene" and you'll find plenty of examples. --MarkSweep 20:18, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: This brings up an important point - though one that should be obvious - namely that grammatical gender can be discussed only in the context of a language. Rene may be a unisex name in English but René is definitely masculine in French. As for mispronouncing Renee, most English-speaking people will do that as soon as they hit the letter R. Axel 03:52, 15 January 2008 (UTC)

text: In French Claude is definitely a unisex name, though predominantly masculine. Axel 03:52, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: René(e), Claude, etc.

message: Cory or Corey -- dominantly male names 
Kori or Corrie or Cori or Corri or Korrie, etc -- usually female
:Not so.  I've added examples for "Cory". --MarkSweep 20:18, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Cor(e)y

message: 1) Should there be examples of individuals with particular names? My personal opinion is to NOT include them. If we do start including them, this list will soon become very cluttered. gK ¿? 06:20, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Re 1: I'm in favor of adding a single pertinent example for each name, or perhaps a single example of an exception.  For instance, Marion Barry is currently listed under Marion as a notable exception.  However, adding female/male pairs might be beneficial for readers with different cultural backgrounds.  I agree, however, that this should not turn into a list of people by first name. --MarkSweep 06:56, 14 Dec 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Marion used to be a slightly more common male name (look at [[John Wayne's original name for example), although its current use as a male name is probably so small that I don't think it qualifies as a unisex name and should therefore be deleted from the list.
3) Finally: Do we need the definitions of names? They are already starting to put name definitions into the Wiktionary, although that part of the project is still in its infancy. Again, my opinion is that it clutters of the Unisex name list. gK ¿? 17:01, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Examples?/Alternative spellings?/Definitions?

message: What should be the criteria for inclusion in this list of Unisex names? When I added a bunch of names to the list, I tried to keep most of the names within the following criteria:
1) A fairly popular name for at least one of the sexes (I used a top 500 list from one baby-naming book as one measure of popularity).
2) either a minimum 25% usage for the less-often named sex, or at least 15% if the percentage had dropped quite a bit in the last 25-50 years (in other words, it used to be at least 25% within recent history).
3) I fudged some by including a few names that were close to these criteria. 
4) I also included a few names that currently had a fairly low percentage of females with that name, but had a fairly recently famous female with that name that was likely to help increase the number of female babies given that name.
5) I also fudged a bit by including a few names that were historically males names but are now primarily female names. I added those mostly for a little "flavor" to the list but also because they were names that might be encountered in history books attached to males.
I mention these criteria because there are some names from before I started adding to the list that don't really meet any of these criteria that I didn't delete from the list, and there have been some new additions to the list (for example Jaden, a rare male version of the fairly rare Biblical Jadon and probably very rare female name (as a variation of the fairly popular Jade?) that I couldn't find in any of my references) that also don't meet any of the criteria that I used.
Are these proper criteria for this list? And should there be some mention of the criteria in the on the main article page? gK ¿? 17:01, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: I'd say the main criterion should be whether a name is/was systematically used for women and men, perhaps at different points in time and/or in different cultures.  It might be that Evelyn, Marion, etc. were more common as male names in the past and have gradually fallen out of usage; all the more reason to include it here, so a reader who's unaware of this can go to the present article.  Insisting on temporal and cultural homogeneity is not warranted. --MarkSweep 20:46, 16 Dec 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: It is probably best to leave this as an a "List of modern unisex names" (and perhaps change the article title to match). Otherwise, I think that the list might end up too long and too confusing (unless there were lots of notes about time periods and usage). I had been thinking of adding a list at the bottom of names that have historically been unisex, but it might be better to create a separate article: List of historical unisex names. gK ¿? 16:22, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Let's hold off for now and await further developments.  There are much longer lists on Wikipedia.  As long as everything is in alphabetical order, it shouldn't be confusing.  If no more than one pertinent example is added for unusual cases, it shouldn't get too cluttered either. --MarkSweep 20:18, 19 Dec 2004 (UTC)
thread_title: Criteria for inclusion?

message: A male name -- http://www.thenamemachine.com/gendercompare.cfm?Name=Carey
Equivilant on this list would be Bobbie -- Carrie is female, Carey is male. User:C Hanna
:I am not sure if I want to trust a website that does not give any information on where their data comes from. I did find Carey listed as a female name in the three name books that I checked: The Cassell Dictionary of First Names by Adrian Room (U.K.), Baby Names for the '90's by Barbara Kay Turner (U.S.), and Beyond Jennifer & Jason by Rosenkrantz & Satran (U.S.). Alternative spellings suggested: Carrie and Kerry. The '90's book says their data is 63% boys, 37% girls (for the Carey spelling, based upon the birth registration data from 12 US states). I think that this is one of those names that is in the process of going from a predominately male name to one that will eventually be a predominately female name, so it is very appropriate for this list.  BlankVerse ∅  09:59, 4 Mar 2005 (UTC)
thread_title: Carey

message: I know a girl named Barrie.  I have never heard of any other female by that name though.  So, should it be added under unisex names or not?
:Barrie Chase is a famous dancer and actress.  Kostaki mou (talk) 20:08, 3 October 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Barrie/Barry 

message: I am confused by the latest edit which says that Lee is more common for females and Leigh more common for males.  Where do you get your information?  I would think it would be just the opposite, at least in the US. Shoaler 11:44, 25 Apr 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Lee is a more common male name in the UK, Leigh for both sexes, and Lea (also pronounced 'Leah') for females. No stastical data for this, it's just what I've foundBig Moira 23:12, 8 March 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: Lee/Leigh

message: Some of these look as if their origin was a misinterpretation of a French name when bringing it into the English language, for instance:
* «Jean» (m) is "John", the female name is «Jeanne» (as in "Joan of Arc"). For some reason, "Jean" became misused as an English female name?
* «Jocelyn» (m) is the male form of the female name «Jocelyne» (f), meaning "supplanter." For some reason, "Jocelyn" became misused as an English female name?
In both cases, it would appear as if the name exists in both forms but the wrong one was mistakenly copied into English. What is the etymology of these?
Is it just a mistake like confusing blonds (m) with blondes (f), brunet (m) with brunette (f), fiancés (m) with fiancées (f), divorcés (m) with divorcées (f) and the like? or is there more to this? --carlb 22:56, 25 July 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: One can't apply the rules of a language to another language. The English feminine name Jean is no more a misuse of French Jeanne than the masculine name John is a misuse of the French Jean (unless one wants to argue that they are all misuses of the original Hebrew name). See also the note "Names across languages" below. Axel 03:52, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Mistranslation of French names? 

message: I removed the part regarding lesbian sex as it means nothing of the sort in Japanese.  Yuri means lily, otaku use that term to refer to lesbian sex in anime.  Perhaps whoever added that should do some research before stick his/her electronic foot in his/her electronic mouth. -209.115.232.94 18:55, 3 April 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Yuri 

message: The name "Kim" can be rendered as Kimberly in English (as in photographer (?) Kim Anderson and singer Kim Wilde). In Suomi and many Asian languages is refered to a male. Does anyone know more? --Wendelin 19:02, 9 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The English-language usage of Kim for males has been influenced by the Rudyard Kipling story "Kim". I had one male friend in high school named Kim for that reason. There is also more information in the Kim disambiguation page. BlankVerse 06:55, 13 April 2006 (UTC)
replies: text:  I've known two male Kims in my time.  I see Kipling's Kim is short for Kimball, a name I haven't heard of before.  I've also seen one or two sources suggesting that Kimberl(e)y is long for Kim rather than the other way round. -- Smjg 16:24, 20 August 2006 (UTC)

text: The Kipling story makes clear that Kim's full name is 'Kimball' - "Kimball O'Hara". Although Kipling does not say so, Kim's full name may have been his mother's maiden sir-name, a Celtic custom. And Kim's father's regiment was Irish. This custom was followed in the USA (by those who 'identified as Irish') up until recently which explains why so many Americans had strange-seeming (to other English-speaking peoples) Christian names, appellations which ought to have been sir-names.2001:44B8:3102:BB00:C46F:E9E3:D4E1:1B19 (talk) 20:42, 6 November 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Kim 

message: I changed the spelling of Jesse in a paragraph and in the list of unisex names.  The correct spelling for the original Hebrew name is Jesse (King James version or the Bible).  Jessie, Jessi, Jessica, etc...are to my knowledge later variations of the original spelling from the Bible.  As such it seems to make sense that the reference to the name should be in the original spelling and not a variation.  Or am I thinking incorrectly?
Thanks!
:I somehow doubt that the correct spelling for the original Hebrew name involves the use of Latin characters. --DavidConrad 03:51, 19 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Jesse...Jessie...Jessica...made a change. 

message: In an attempt to create parameters for inclusion on the "List of names that can be unisex," I propose something like this be added to the top:
"For inclusion on this list, a name must either:
*have originated as a unisex name (i.e., Abijah).
*have multiple origins as both a masculine and feminine name (i.e., Alva).
*have been used significantly at some point in the past or present as a name for both males and females (i.e., Tristan).
*be used as a nickname for both masculine and feminine names (i.e., Chris).
*be otherwise significant in a historical context as a unisex name (i.e., Zooey)."
Comments?  Additions? -Shannernanner 08:53, 22 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: These sound excellent to me.  I can see the "used significantly" part being a source for debate, but naturally, that's what the talk page is for.  Seems like a good idea to me! --TN | ! 00:21, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Yeah, I know it's rather vague, but it needs to be verifiable per Wikipedia guidelines anyhow.  If there are no objections, I'll go ahead and add it, and it can be modified as needed. -Shannernanner 11:24, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Proposal for list header

message: Here's a question: what constitutes a unisex name?  The easiest definition is, a name that can be used on either sex.  But wouldn't a truly unisex name be a name that can be applied on a boy or a girl in a single culture or language group?  Some of the unisex names we list here are not considered unisex in their native languages; they merely sound identical to a oppositely-sexed name in another language.  Aaron/Erin.  Lani/Lonnie.  Bela/Bela.  Should we perhaps create a separate section for these names?  Or would that get too complicated?--TN | ! 00:45, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I understand your question, but as I've mentioned, we're listing names which are unisex in usage, not solely in origin.  The names you've brought up--names with the exact same spelling in multiple languages, such as Bela, yes, those are unisex, in usage.  Aaron and Erin are used interchangeably for both sexes.  Lonnie is also used for both sexes, but as I mentioned, I can't find a source for Lani's use on both sexes.  We could divide the list into sections by usage vs. origin, but I think that would be too complicated, yes.  I think that currently, they just all need sources and further information. -Shannernanner 11:24, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Homonyms 

message: Does anybody know if Sam is also a short form for Simon? I've always thought it was a short form for Samuel\Samantha only.
In another wikipedia article too is said that Sam is a short form also for Simon.
Is it true?
:No. 91.105.37.194 18:15, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sam=Simon? 

message: Hi All,
Just wanted to summarize/explain the edits I made tonight:
*Tried to wikilink where possible
*Standardization of female/male examples in this format:  "(female: Daryl Hannah; male: Daryl Hall)"
*Removed definitions; not relevant
*Removed extraneous entries - Sydney was listed twice under S, for example
*Removed names in which spellings AND pronunciations are different between the sexes in the same language group.  For instance, Daniel and Danielle.  No one is really going to argue that Danielle can be applied to a man, are they?
*Added slashes between names with two or more variant spellings, so instead of "Cody, Codie, Codee, Kodie, Kodee," you'd get "Cody/Codie/Codee/Kodie/Kodee," which is a bit cleaner to look at, I think.  In cases of only one variant spelling, I pretty much let sleeping dogs lie.
And some questions I have:
*Ailin is listed as an "Asian name" - as "Asian" is not a language, does anyone have more info on this?
*Willow cites two movie/TV characters as examples, and Asia cites its male example Eja as a celebrity baby.  I feel these two standards are a bit iffy, as movie/TV characters/celebrity babies often have unusual names that do not signify a wide trend of usage.  Does one use make it a unisex name?
Hope these are agreeable to all. --TN | ! 09:05, 3 January 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: New Edits

message: Anyone use this page as a reference tool for Wiktionary entries on proper names?? Georgia guy 00:06, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: I feel like that could get rather circular, don't you?--TN | ! 03:19, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Well, how is it circular?? Georgia guy 15:23, 13 February 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Use of this page for Wiktionary 

message: Should these Indian names really be on the list? I think the brief mention in the article about the confusion is enough, as they are not actually unisex names. --217.38.66.9 16:15, 2 April 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Indian names 

message: The version stated that names like "Chandra" and "Krishna" "when spoken by a Western audience" are pronounced in such a way that they become unisex. In fact, this is a sloppy way of stating the matter. The issue is not whether the speaker is "Western" or not. Most East Asian and Southwest Asian speakers (Chinese, Japanese, Arabs, Iranians, etc.) would also mispronounce these names in the same unisex way. And "Eastern" speakers shown only the Latinized spellings would also not know how to pronounce them. The crucial matter is that there are, as I put in in my revision, "speakers unfamiliar with Indian languages". As a second point, the "audience" here makes no sense. An audience is a group of people who hear something, but the example in the article were about reading rather than hearing. Interlingua 15:55, 31 December 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Indian names: "spoken by a Western audience" is incorrect 

message: Shouldn't Erin (Female) & Aaron (male) be considered a unisex name? 71.59.231.70 19:51, 4 May 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Most English dialects do not merge them. 91.105.37.194 18:14, 10 October 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  What about Erin/Aaron? 

message: The page for George Sand says: "Amantine-Aurore-Lucile Dupin, Baroness Dudevant (July 1, 1804 – June 8, 1876), best known by her pseudonym George Sand."  If this was used as a pseudonym, it probably shouldn't count as a unisex name, since female authors often took male pen-names for purposes of publishing.  The only other female George I can think of is George Eliot, which is also a case of a male pen-name. Are there any examples of George as a female given name, or is it all this kind of thing?TheStripèdOne 23:10, 6 July 2007 (UTC)
thread_title: George Sample Name 

message: I'm not going to list it but I have a great uncle named Lois and a great-great uncle named Bonnie. Anyone else heard of men having these names?
:Certainly.  I know several male Lois and Alois.Trishm (talk) 04:39, 16 January 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: Bonnie and Lois

message: My feeling about this article is that either it must be abandoned as an unattainable ideal or else thoroughly reformed to reflect linguistic and cultural differences. I don't think Ashley, Beverly, and Meredith were ever masculine names; they were family names that have been given widely, if not mainly, to girls. As for the homophones, we enter the minefield where formal authority is pitted against populist authority. For example, as someone whose middle name is Francis I can't help thinking that the people who confuse Francis with Frances are either careless or illiterate. Surely Francis rhymes with oasis and Frances rhymes with dances, and the millions of people who pronounce Frances "Francis" can't change that; but someone who espouses descriptive linguistics will insist on imposing popular usage on me (and call me authoritarian to boot!) Then there are the nuances of local culture. I think names such as Evelyn and Vivian are more readily accepted as masculine in England than in the United States. 
Different jurisdictions maintain and publish statistics about given names; I know Quebec does, and I suspect all other provinces and states in North America do also, as well as various countries. These would be valuable sources for the present article but tapping them would be monk's work. Axel 15:16, 12 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Scrap or reform

message: On further thought, I am convinced that any article on this subject must be broken up according to languages. The fact that Andrea is a masculine name in Italian does not necessarily make it a unisex name unless it turnes out that there are a significant number of male Andreas in North America (in which case one might also have to distinguish between American English and English English). 
The perception of names - and here I can only speak for the European-language area - has changed drastically in the last hundred years. Circa 1900, a Russian nobleman called Yevgeny might winter in Biarritz and be called Eugène by his neighbours. If he had stopped over on the way with German-speaking friends in Vienna, they might have called him Eugen. Educated people would all feel Yevgeny, Eugène, and Eugen to be "the same name", though they would use the form that sounded most natural in whatever language they were speaking. Being an educated European in 1900 practically amounted to being an amateur philologist. Today in North America the opposite situation prevails, so that a Yevgeny might feel insulted if he was called Eugene. On the other hand a unilingual Nebraskan (let's say) might see the name Yevgeny in the newspaper, think it was pretty, and call his daughter Yevgeny. Whether or not that made Yevgeny a unisex name depends on what definitions one adopts and what statistical methods one uses. Names are a linguistic minefield. Axel 03:52, 15 January 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Names across languages

message: Tristan = Boy, Tristin = Girl. I have met several of both genders, but I guess we need a source for this kind of thing. --70.105.161.188 (talk) 01:46, 30 July 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Tristan vs. Tristin

message: "Surnames (e.g. Bailey, Courtney, Darcy, Elliot) and place names (e.g. Dakota, Devon, Montana) have become fashionable sources for names for boys and girls in English-speaking countries." Not true - in the UK these are distinctively American ways of naming. 89.243.219.252 (talk) 21:32, 25 October 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Only in Amerika 

message: REQUEST==Can someone please return the list of names to the article with "citation needed" or some other call for citations? Many Wikipedia articles contain unsourced material with "citation needed"--why can't this be done here? The list is essential to the value of the article as a reference item. Not including it is like not including recorded song titles in an article about a musician, or leaving out film titles in an article about an actor. Myself and many others I know used to access this article frequently because of the value of the list--now we have to go into the "view history section" and scroll to find it. Thanks! 15 August 2010
It's purely original research and should be removed.  If anyone wants to source it, that's fine but wikipedia is not the place for original research.  Corpx (talk) 18:39, 24 June 2009 (UTC)
thread_title: The List of Names

message: REQUEST==Can someone please return the list of names to the article with "citation needed" or some other call for citations? Many Wikipedia articles contain unsourced material with "citation needed"--why can't this be done here? The list is essential to the value of the article as a reference item. Not including it is like not including recorded song titles in an article about a musician, or leaving out film titles in an article about an actor. Myself and many others I know used to access this article frequently because of the value of the list--now we have to go into the "view history section" and scroll to find it. Thanks! 15 August 2010  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.28.168.220 (talk) 14:45, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm unable to understand how a list of names would be at all useful. This is an encyclopedia, not a baby name website. Lists should be avoided in this sort of article, an explanatory paragraph is a lot more useful. raseaCtalk to me 22:32, 16 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Well I can see how it'd be useful for people to actually see which names are considered unisex. The Rory mentioned in the article totally surprised me. We've got oodles of name lists on Wikipedia; here's the hub of popular given names: List of most popular given names. As far as I'm concerned there's no real problem with such a list as long as it is well referenced. It can also be moved into a stand-alone list if it is a distraction to this article. I've got A Dictionary of First Names, Oxford University Press, and it mentions whether a name is masculine/feminine/unisex; it also has a table of about 200 unisex names in an appendix. There goes the original research argument. The only problem I can imagine is people adding names because they know of someone with a certain name - that kind of original research. If we just follow published sources there is no problem.--Brianann MacAmhlaidh (talk) 07:02, 14 October 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: List Of Names Removed

message: "Terry" is by no means exclusively masculine.  It has long been used for "Theresa" or "Teresa."  Kostaki mou (talk) 02:41, 16 June 2011 (UTC)
thread_title: "Terry" and "Teri"

message: "Some countries, however, require that a given name be gender-specific (see German name)." This implies that German law requires given names to be gender-specific, which isn't the case. It only requires that if the first given name isn't gender-specific, a second one that is must be added to the birth certificate. This is significant insofar as many, if not most Germans, have only one given name. Even if they do have more, they rarely use them in public; "middle initials" are rarely used. This also goes for people with non-gender-specific given names: Although they must have another gender-specific given name on their birth certificates, no one can actually make them use the gender-specific name (unless on official documents that require to state the name as on one's birth certificate). In sum, the legal requirement is of very little importance in everyday life. I'm not sure how to make the text reflect this without getting too wordy, but it definitely shouldn't stay this way. --kate theobaldy (talk) 11:00, 1 September 2011 (UTC)
replies: text: Actually, there is no longer any such requirement in German law, as it was struck down by the Constitutional Court in 2008. The Mysterious El Willstro (talk) 05:46, 3 July 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  German law 

message: I added a "Purest examples" Section, but it could maybe be renamed later under WP:NPOV. I figured that it might get confusing with all the adjusted spellings and comparisons to other languages. So, I figured that a section on formal given names (not nicknames like Alex, Sam, Andy, etc.) that are spelled the same for both sexes was warranted in case any user was looking for such a list. This being the English version of Wikipedia, I do mean spelled the same in English. (None of them would be spelled the same for both sexes in Latin for instance. Jordanus/Jordana, Morganus/Morgana, etc.) So, can anyone suggest a better Section Name or another 1st name to add to the Section? The Mysterious El Willstro (talk) 05:53, 30 October 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Added section, but could rename it 

message: it is another full first name.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.49.205.20 (talk) 11:50, 21 May 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  russian names: "Nikita" is NOT short for "Nikolay" 

message: Usage among hair-cutting salons notwithstanding, unisex clearly refers to "one sex" (just as unicycle refers to "one wheel"), which is the very opposite of what the article is about.  The article should be moved to "Dual-sex name" or some other title that accurately expresses what it's about.  (Best would be, "Bisexual name", but that has unwanted implications regarding sexual identity.) J. D. Crutchfield | Talk 15:34, 10 September 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Do you have a citation for this claim about semantics?  The OED disagrees, for instance, defining the adjective as "designed to be suitable for both sexes"; while it does say "especially of clothing or hairstyles", it doesn't offer any other meaning that might be relevant.  Arguments from etymology are often wrong when held up against actual usage, and the usage in this article's title seems completely natural to me. Colin Watson (talk) 12:53, 25 October 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Proposal:  Rename article 

message: the Name Dale is given in the nickname section as a nickname for.... drumroll please... Dale. What's up with that? Paradox (talk) 06:33, 8 May 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dale 

message: That list of allegedly "common" unisex names in English really is problematic. Define "common". Since when is "Teagan", for example, a common name? Or "Sage"? Or "Iman"? I think we've got some serious reliability problems with this pile of names. --jpgordon::==( o ) 16:37, 5 November 2015 (UTC)
thread_title:  That list 

message: Link [14] about unisex names being strictly illegal is dead. The name Auður probably doesn't count since it's a homonym and the genders have different declension. There are only five main rules about names used by Mannanafnanefnd. 
They are (roughly):   1. A name must have a (Icelandic) genitive form or has to have earned a traditional basis in Icelandic.   2. A name may not conflict with Icelandic grammar.   3. A name shall be written in concordance with traditional writing style of Icelandic except in cases of tradition.   4. A name may not cause its bearer discomfort.   5. A girl can only have a female name and a boy may only have a male name.
Reading through some rulings, it's mainly a traditional (within Mannanafnanefnd) interpretation of the rules which produces the corollary that "A name can not be approved as both a female and male name" which in turn produces the rule that prevents unisex names. But due to the ruling in the case of Blær this might change.
89.160.203.162 (talk) 00:41, 30 May 2017 (UTC)
thread_title:  Better source for Icelandic section 

message: The article claims that Nancy was a masculine name and is now unisex.  I find this unlikely: it's a diminutive of Ann, and while it does seem to exist as a masculine name, it appears to be rare even historically.  Am I missing something? Colin Watson (talk) 12:45, 25 October 2017 (UTC)
replies: text: Defo feminine from Ann. I suspect confusion with the near-obsolete insult nancy. Narky Blert (talk) 10:22, 12 October 2018 (UTC)
thread_title:  Nancy 

message: What is Thresholds to consider Unisex names? 20% or 30% or what Kaiyr (talk) 18:05, 16 May 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Thresholds 

message: In English, any surname can be used as a first name (or middle name) for either a male or female, and so your list of unisex names must be expanded thousands of times. The answer is that using a surname as a given name, for either sex, does not make it a unisex given name. It remains simply a surname being used as a given name.  108.7.43.95 (talk) 05:02, 5 December 2023 (UTC)
thread_title:  Surnames