Girl named Micah, her brother named Eden. Too much unisex confusion?

[hannah_elizabeth]

My first daughter is definitely going to be named Micah after my grandmother. Her name was Beverly but her entire family just always called her Mike. They were expecting a boy named Michael and were quite surprised when a Beverly showed up instead. She made it work, but I'm not brave enough to actually name a girl Mike, so Micah it is.

With a girl Micah is it too much to then name her brother Eden? I don't want constant confusion over which sibling is the boy or girl. If Micah has a clearly feminine middle name and Eden a clearly masculine one is that enough to clear up confusion?

[aj_bear]

This has way too much confusion. If you want to name your daughter Micah with a feminine middle name, that's fine. But Eden is much to feminine to be used for a boy, even with a masculine middle name. It would be so confusing.
Hope that helps!
-Athena

[jroflo]

What a neat story to be able to share with your child about the person for whom she's named!

While Micah and Eden are lovely names, I definitely think they invite gender confusion individually, but especially when paired together. Although giving the female Micah a feminine mn and male Eden a masculine mn would help in some situations, unless you plan on using the middle names all the time, you will have some confusion. If I met you at the park and you introduced me to your children but didn't say which name belonged to your daughter and which belonged to your son, I would assume that your daughter was Eden and your son was Micah.

If you are really concerned about gender confusion, avoid using Micah for your girl, and don't use Eden for your boy. I have known a female Micah--and for that matter, a female Michael. It's not unheard of to use these names for a girl, but people will overwhelmingly think "boy" when they hear those names.

Still, Micah is one of the softer male names, so I do think it's a great way to go if you want to give your girl a masculine version of Michael/Mike in honor of your grandmother but are willing to deal with some confusion--and there will be lots of confusion. That being said, I can't imagine a better, sweeter reason to give a girl a name that's usually used for boys!

Eden is newer to the name scene, but so far, I've only seen it used on girls.

Other ideas for honoring your grandmother:
- Use Michael or Micah as a first or middle name for a son.
- Use Micah (or Michael, or Michel--pronounced like Michael) for a daughter's middle name.
- Give your daughter a feminine version of Michael (such as Michaela or Michaele or Michelle) for her first name or middle name.

If you like Eden, save it for a girl or use it as a middle name for a boy. Or consider using a similar sounding name for your son (such as Evan or Ethan or Aiden).

[saramee]

Please don't name your son Eden. There's no way that will ever be considered the least bit masculine.

[spring13]

I was never aware of Eden being used as a masculine name. And while i know some people think of Micah as unisex, i really don't think it is - or if so, it definitely leans far more towards being male than, say, Quinn.

So yeah, i'd rethink this pair, to the point of using neither name as you intend, not just avoiding the sibset. What about Micaela, Mika, Makayla, Marika, to arrive at the nn Mike? Or Eden Micah as a girl's full name?

[babeinthewoods]

Eden is actually in the top 1000 names for boys so it's not that much of a stretch. If you name a girl Micah and a boy Eden, I think you do need to be prepared to occasionally correct people as far as your kids' genders. If that's going to drive you nuts, you may want to avoid those names. If you can handle the occasional correction, than I'd say go for it. 'Cause you know what? Despite the prevailing wisdom here that being mistaken for the opposite sex now and again will ruin your kids life, it really won't.

[jeska]

I wouldn't.

Micah is all boy to me, and Eden all girl.

[vicioustrollop9]

It would confuse me if I heard the two names together. And middle names aren't going to make that big of a difference in life unless you go around calling them by their first and middle names together all the time, which you likely will not be doing. But Micah can work on a girl, definitely. Eden is all girl to me, I do not like it for a boy at all. I would choose something more masculine to avoid confusion.

[elisabeth rae]

Yes. Micah is a boy's name and Eden is a girl's name so there would be a lot of confusion. I promise you the majority of people will assume your daughter is a boy and your son is a girl with those names.

What about Michaela, or even Everly, to honor your grandmother? Or maybe name your daughter Eden and your son Micah?

Also I really recommend you don't name your son Eden. It's so feminine.

[essjay]

I disagree with the posters who say Eden can't work on a boy. It's so close to the uber-popular Aidan trend I think it definitely has the masculine ending to it. I'm not a fan of masculine names on girls as a whole but Micah would honour your grandmother well. There's the alternate spelling Mika which I've seen on girls, though since the pop singer Mika spells his name that way too I don't know if it'd eliminate gender confusion. And I know both male and female Edens.

If it's going to bother you with your kids being called the wrong name on occasion, I'd only use one or the other and maybe keep the other one for a middle, but I don't think it's the worst thing in the world. Unisex names are just that, unisex, and girl Micah and boy Eden is far more acceptable than, say, girl Jason and boy Rose.