Names: Male or Female?
What's in a Name?
There are some names that we know to be female, but they are given to males. Then there are some names we know to be male, but they are given to females. Then there are some names that could be either male or female. We called them unisex names.
While some countries and culture have unisex names, there are other countries that require a given name be gender-specific.
Unisex Names
Sometimes unisex names are shortened forms of given names such as Pat, Alex, Chris or Sam. If you do not know these people, there is no way you would know if they are male or female.
- Pat could be the shortened form of Patricia or Patrick.
- Alex could be the shortened form of Alexandra or Alexander
- Chris could be the shortened form of Christine or Christopher.
- Sam could be the shortened form of Samantha or Samuel.
Sometimes unisex names are homophones. That means the pronunciation is the same for both females and males; however, the spelling is different.
Male
| Female
|
|---|---|
Tony
| Toni
|
Jerry
| Jeri
|
Terry
| Terri
|
Johnny
| Joni
|
Francis
| Frances
|
“What's in a name? that which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet.”
― William Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet
Morgan Freeman Is A Male
Morgan Fairchild Is A Female
Male
| Female
|
|---|---|
Tracy Morgan
| Tracey Gold
|
Sean Connery
| Sean Young
|
Michael Strahan
| Michael Learned
|
Leslie Nielsen
| Leslie Stahl
|
Taylor Lautner
| Taylor Swift
|
Glenn Beck
| Glenn Close
|
Morgan Freeman
| Morgan Fairchild
|
Blake Shelton
| Blake Lively
|
Drew Brees
| Drew Barrymore
|
