TIGER WOODS NAMES BABY CHARLIE, A SIBLING FOR SAM. But Which Is The Boy and Which Is The Girl?

February 11th, 2009 at 2:22 am

I actually have a relative named Ally, which pains me to no end. That’s her name. Ally. Just Ally. Yeesh! When they told me her name, I somehow managed a smile with a kind comment. I do like Ally as a nickname (Allie, not Ally), but as a first name? Uh, nope!

I think Sam Sheen is named after Charlie’s cat, and to make matters worse, her middle initial is the extremely feminine letter “J.” No name. Just the letter “J.” So, poor Sam has one sister, Lola Rose, whose name is obviously female and feminine. Can you imagine being Sam J. when your sister’s name is Lola Rose? Poor thing…

Anyway, Max is already used as a name, as is Theo. I don’t mind Max in and of itself, but Theo used as a first name is just too nicknamey for me.

Some other nicknames that are also used as first names include:

Archie
Gus
Judd
Kit
Lev
Nico

Maisie
Liv
Gracie
Emme
Daisy
Cleo
Abby
Bree

My name, Jill, is a dimutive of Julia and Gillian, but that doesn’t bother me. (My name does bother me, but not because it’s a nickname!)

February 11th, 2009 at 9:59 am

I dislike Boyish nicknameson girls, even when they’re an option. My daughter Josephine has a friend named Samantha and neither of them are Jo/Sam. In my family, the Jo-sound is for boys. And Samantha, well she’s too frilly sweet at 3 to be a Sam. I’ve already told her parents, “I can’t call her Sam, she’s not a Sam” off Jill’s list up there, Lev & Cleo are the only standalones to me. And on your list, Clem? When did Clem & go anything girly? Gods that’s an ugly sound! I know a girl who goes by Mo, it’s short for Maureen and he mom calls her Mo; she hates it!

And for the recored, The Sheen girls? I feel sorry for them too. It’s like they have clear and differing expectations for them both and that saddens me a bit.

February 11th, 2009 at 12:03 pm

I think an ambiguous/ambi-gendrous name can be empowering – and not just for girls. With So many parents out there freaking out if their “Boy” choice suddenly migrates into the “girl” camp (sigh…playground mentality), it’s refreshing to see that the trend can work both ways. I do think it can be confusing it mixed pairs, just because it doesn’t present a consistent gender-image.

I’ve got to say, may faves have long been sisters Reggie (Regina) and George (Georgia) from “Dead Like Me”

February 11th, 2009 at 12:29 pm

I have a great aunt, who’s probably 86 or 87 years old, named Matilda. She has always been called Mat.

February 11th, 2009 at 12:46 pm

Um, yeah. I just realized I listed a bunch of gender-specific names in response to an article pertaining to ambigender names. (Memo to self: Don’t reply to blogs when you’re half asleep.) Sorry about that!

I was on track at one point in my reply when I referenced Sam Sheen and her sister, Lola, but then my remaining brain cell decided to check out.

Anyway, I’m not a fan of ambigender names, be they nicknames or whole names, but if they are to be used, I prefer the names of all the siblings to fall under the theme. In other words, if you’re going to name a little girl Sam, don’t name her sister Lola. (Larry would be more appropriate.)

February 11th, 2009 at 1:49 pm

I dislike both gender ambiguous names and nicknamey names. Gender ambiguity is a matter of taste and even though I tend to not like them, I still think a lot of them are perfectly acceptable names. Nicknames however, I absolutely can’t stand. I understand that some of them are very cute, and some people prefer simple names. However, I absolutely can’t understand how parents would deny their child the possibility of a full name. You can still use the nickname 100% of the time, but when the child becomes an adult he or she will have the possibility to keep going by the nickname or go to the more grown up option. Sam J. makes me cringe. So do Charlie and Dolly.

February 11th, 2009 at 2:34 pm

Don’t do it people!! I have hated my name since the first time in kindergarten that I realized it was a “boy’s” name. I was teased endlessly in grade school and have had confusion in my professional life when people were expecting “Tony” and got “Toni” (and yes, for the 50000th time, it IS my real name). It’s not cute, it’s not stylish, and it’s certainly not an asset to your daughter. Give girls girls’ names and leave the boys’ names to the boys!

February 11th, 2009 at 6:09 pm

I remember there was a family at my church growing up and their parents’ names were Pat and Chris. I didn’t know which one was the dad and which one was the mom!

well obviously, I could tell when I saw them, but I never knew who was named what!

February 11th, 2009 at 7:19 pm

I met an older woman named Tommie today. I asked her what her real name was and she said Thomasine. I said, “That’s cool,” and she made a face and said “I hate hate hate it.”

February 11th, 2009 at 8:17 pm

Jerry O’Connell’s daughter was named after her Uncle Charlie, according to the dad when he guest hosted on Regis and Kelly. Apparently either O’Connell or his wife has a brother they’re very fond of named Charles or Charlie. Dolly is after Dolly Parton, he said.

February 11th, 2009 at 11:59 pm

I know an older Tommie too (but that’s her full name) I looked it up and there it was in the top 1000 back in the 40’s.

I think it takes a girly girl to pull off a boy’s name.

February 12th, 2009 at 8:19 pm

If there’s one think I hate, it’s nickname-names.
Sam is short for Samantha, it’s not a name.
Charlie is short for Charles or Charlotte, it’s not a name.
Allie is short for Allison, it’s not a name.
Joey is a nickname for Joseph, it’s not a name.

I think one of the worst culprits of nickname-names:
Gracie.

I think that some parents think: “Oh, I’m having a BABY, let’s give him/her a really cute name!”
They don’t think that one day that baby will be a child, then a teenager, then an adult. I can’t imagine a CEO or doctor being taken seriously with the name Gracie or Ollie.
Poor, poor kids

February 13th, 2009 at 6:34 am

I know a girl named Allie – just Allie – on her birth certificate. I don’t know her mother well enough to ask why. (We met when we were both calling the same name at the playground. Only my Aly is a boy!)

Thomasine – what a cool name! I came across an older woman called Henry the other day. Same thing – she’s a Henrietta who *hates* her name.

I far prefer Charlotte/Charles to Charlie, etc. But my ideas about nicknames have changed over time. To me, Jack is short for John. But more than 10,000 parents put Jack on their sons’ birth certificates in 2007 – just in the US – so I’m rethinking. And I can see the appeal of using just Kate, too – even though a few years back it seemed too short.

Toni, my sister has a similar name (Teri) and feels the same way! She often has to insist that it REALLY isn’t short for anything.