Bailey?

I like the name Bailey for a boy. Do you think that it's still usable as such or do you think it is too associated with girls and/or dogs?

P.S. I am in the U.S. where the name ranks quite a bit higher for girls (I wanted to mention this because in some other places it's more popular for boys). On the other hand, I don't have as much of a problem with unisex names on boys as much as some others do.

I always really like bailey, i asked dh about using it for a future daughter and he said "bailey is a dog name" so i guess alot of people think diffrently of it. haha

I don't know any child currently with this name, and I associate it clearly as a dog's name, honestly. If not that, then a girl name. Perhaps another unisex name, such as Riley, Findlay, Ainsley, Murray, Wesley, or Wiley might interest you?

I think Bailey would be better suited for a girl. I remember from a course I took in college I think sociology or psych. how guys with unisex names Taylor, Riley, Morgan etc. are perceived to have stereotypically feminine characteristics - ex. passive, weak and girls with unisex names seem more masculine - ex. strong.

I voted all 3. I noted a while back that Bailey is more a girls' name - if you look at the SSA statistics, it charted at 953 in 1983 and leapt up 300 spots the following year, and has shown to steadily increase, peaking at 60, from where it dropped below 100 and rose again slightly - currently at #82.

As a boys' name, it has history, but only charted moderately in the US before it fell out of favor by 1920 or so... it seemed to hover just around 1000, mostly below for a few decades, and who knows in the interim. It re-charted in 1992, 9 years after girls "took" it", a few years after "WKRP debuted, with a female "anti-Jennifer," Bailey Quarters - possibly correlated similar to Madison.

It showed a slight bump on the male names in popularity as high as 151 in 1997 (for girls, it was 65th that year), possibly due to the male character on "Party of Five," but then went back down, probably due to the popularity of it as a girls' name, not because it is, in fact, a girl name. It also started to decline as a girls name slightly at the same time, but not very far.

I can still see it on a boy, but I am not confronted with however many girls are likely to be in school with this name. To me, it is slightly too boyish for a girl, but that doesn't stop a lot of parents. Names like Charlie and Franky still seem "all-boy" to me, so I don't think they are cute nicknames girls can also have, and yet they do, and some people think it's great. Bailey for a girls name sets right about there for me. Not my taste.

Another thing, here, about dogs - many people when giving a dog a "person" name, like Max or Katie either like to choose a friendly name. Riley seems more like a dog name than a person name, it seems like there was a dog with that name in a movie or something. Bailey seems related to that. Bailey sounds like a dog who loves to lie in the sun, will help you keep the couch from floating away, but will run to catch a frisbee in his mouth if you throw it. He's on the big side and probably not a poodle. People who appreciate those qualities in a laid-back friend-dog are likely to think Bailey fits the criteria. Incidentally, I think of a person analog to this dog-character is the slightly rumpled, goofy but sincere guy in a romantic comedy. He could also be straight-A student, star quarterback, and very organized and ambitious. I try not to make associations, but I guess I associate the name with the kind of guy who would have a dog named Bailey if that wasn't his own name.

I think of it for all three so that's how I voted (obviously). At first it strikes me as a girls name, since there are quite a few now but then I remembered that when I was younger I used to think I would call a boy Bailey and it's appeal came back to me.

I like unisex names full stop. For both boys and girls. Ones that I prefer for boys; Taylor, Morgan, Courtney, Ashley, Bailey, Cameron (this is a boys name!), Jordan and Rhys/Reese.

I think it is perfectly acceptable to name your son Bailey, or any unisex name for that matter, as most (if not all) started off as boys names anyway. Ignore the people who tell you 'you can't call your son that, it's a girl's name!'. They are wrong. Yes, it's used for girls more but originally it was a boys name.

Dog's names can be anything, from Buddy or Scrappy to Rosie or Sarah, it doesn't mean that once a name has been used for a dog, or any animal, it is put into the category of 'dog's names' and is unusable. I know a family who have a daughter called Britney and a dog called Isabel and another who have son called Max and a dog called Rupert. Does that make Rupert and Isabel dog names? No.

So Bailey can be used as a name for a dog, a girl or even a car! (think Herbie) But in the end it is a boy's name so you should have no concerns about calling your son this if you really love it.

Good Luck:)

I know one male Bailey and he is in his 30s. I know 2 female Baileys and they are both under the age of 6. I know a gazillion Bailey dogs from Yorkies, to labs, to bulldogs... Riley, Bailey, Abby and Molly are the top dog names in our area. I also think of it in terms of the Irish Whiskey. I think its an adorable name, but I do think of it now 1. dog, 2. girl, 3. whiskey, 4. boy. I do like unisex names though. I know a male Kelly, Lindsey, Morgan and Brook and love their names on them.

I really like Bailey for a girl. I'm not a fan of the long E sound on the end for boys names. This is actually my grandmothers maiden name but it is spelled Baeli, which i'm considering for a girl.