Anonymous
10/16/2025 19:13
Subject: Men who grew up with female names - how hard was it?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The Erin/Aaron distinction debate is making me laugh because there are so many names like this and the truth is the nuance in pronunciation is too subtle for a diverse society with lots of different accents and language backgrounds.
It's the same with the name Laura/Lauren/Laurie, the first syllable of which can be pronounced LOHR, LAHR, or even LAW (with the "r" attached to second syllable).
FYI Lauren used to be a masculine name until Lauren Bacall adopted it as her stage name in the 50s and it was popularized as a feminine name. And Laurie used to be a nickname for Lawrence, a masculine name.
Ralph Lauren’s Lauren is Luh-rynn but a good chunk of people say Lore-Rynn.
He made up the name. His real name is Ralph Lifshitz.
Made up the name and the pronunciation. He was intentionally trying to sound pretentious. No one pronounces Lauren "La-wren" (it's almost more like "La' Wren") or at least they didn’t until he started it.
Anonymous
10/16/2025 18:48
Subject: Men who grew up with female names - how hard was it?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:The Erin/Aaron distinction debate is making me laugh because there are so many names like this and the truth is the nuance in pronunciation is too subtle for a diverse society with lots of different accents and language backgrounds.
It's the same with the name Laura/Lauren/Laurie, the first syllable of which can be pronounced LOHR, LAHR, or even LAW (with the "r" attached to second syllable).
FYI Lauren used to be a masculine name until Lauren Bacall adopted it as her stage name in the 50s and it was popularized as a feminine name. And Laurie used to be a nickname for Lawrence, a masculine name.
Ralph Lauren’s Lauren is Luh-rynn but a good chunk of people say Lore-Rynn.
He made up the name. His real name is Ralph Lifshitz.
Anonymous
10/16/2025 18:47
Subject: Re:Men who grew up with female names - how hard was it?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:People crap on putting pronouns on emails, but I know people who have been doing it for years on their written correspondence for this exact reason. For men, the stakes of being misgendered are higher than for women given our societal biases about women.
"Sincerely, Mr. Morgan Freeman"
No pronouns necessary.
Who uses Mr. or Ms. to refer to themself??
Someone with a name that doesn't make their sex obvious? This is much less weird than "he/him" after ones name.
Anonymous
10/16/2025 16:28
Subject: Men who grew up with female names - how hard was it?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Unisex names have been around forever - Terry, Francis/es, Erin/Aaron, Lindsey/ay, Dana, Mika/Micah, off the top of my head.
Fwiw, I think people who have last names (mom's maiden name) as their first names (Miller, Gray, Smith, Holt, - type names) have it worse.
Some of the names you're calling unisex are just homophones. Francis is a male name originating from Franciscus, Frances is a female name from the same origin; they just sound the same. Erin and Aaron aren't even remotely related to each other, they simply sound alike.
Erin and Aaron don't even sound alike unless you have a southern accent.
I’m midwestern and I pronounce them the same way. I thought only New Yorkers pronounced them differently.
LOL yeah. Unless you are from Ireland or Long Island, they are the same.
My New Englander husband pronounced them differently. Like with his different pronunciations for marry/merry/Mary I can hear it but not replicate it.
Anonymous
10/16/2025 16:26
Subject: Men who grew up with female names - how hard was it?
If not René adding my second guess of Andrea like Bochello.
Anonymous
10/16/2025 16:25
Subject: Men who grew up with female names - how hard was it?
Anonymous wrote:Getting back somewhat on topic, I have a gender neutral name for which there appear to be more women than men with that name. It’s only hard if you GAF. Once you stop giving AF, it’s not so hard.
That’s why I chuckle about all of the pronoun nonsense and alleged misgendering. I’ve been misgendered weekly for my entire life and continue to be. It’s not the end of the world. Most folks just assume my gender based on my name and they happen to be incorrect.
Rene?
Anonymous
10/16/2025 15:48
Subject: Men who grew up with female names - how hard was it?
Getting back somewhat on topic, I have a gender neutral name for which there appear to be more women than men with that name. It’s only hard if you GAF. Once you stop giving AF, it’s not so hard.
That’s why I chuckle about all of the pronoun nonsense and alleged misgendering. I’ve been misgendered weekly for my entire life and continue to be. It’s not the end of the world. Most folks just assume my gender based on my name and they happen to be incorrect.
That’s why I chuckle about all of the pronoun nonsense and alleged misgendering. I’ve been misgendered weekly for my entire life and continue to be. It’s not the end of the world. Most folks just assume my gender based on my name and they happen to be incorrect.
Anonymous
10/16/2025 14:42
Subject: Men who grew up with female names - how hard was it?
Anonymous wrote:There’s a male baseball player named Shelby
I know a male Shelby, who named his daughter Shelby.