Florence

Depending on how destructive the storm is, this name may go into hiding for a while.

I use to dislike this name, but now I really like this name.

At first I hated this name but now it's one of my favorites!

I adore Florence, for either sex but especially for a boy. It has always struck me as a bit masculine (à la Terrence, Laurence, & Clarence), and I never really understood why it’s not considered unisex since there have been quite a few male Florence’s.

My beautiful daughters name. She is Florence Ivy. We call her Flo. So sweet and suits her perfectly

Yeah, my first thought when I heard Florence was Lawrence of Arabia so I think of it more as a male name. However, I can also see this as a girl's name especially with a nickname Flora. I think Florence should be a unisex name.

I'm crushing on the combo Florence Isabella rn. I love Ren as a nickname for Florence as well as Flo

Beautiful, especially with the Florence Nightingale association

i love Florence-nn-Flora. my grandmother was Florence but i was thinking of Flora as an alternative, maybe i'll do what you did :)

I love this name so much! I could totally see it on a future daughter! Possibly with a little sister Rosalind!

I think the name is lovely and sweet already, even vintage, but Florence Welch gives it so much grace and elegance!

I've always though of Laurence as quite feminine sounding and the adding flower feeling of Florence makes it seem super girly to me. Strange how people names so differently.

How about Ren as a nickname?

I find this very surprising. It's number 26 in the UK, which I'm gutted about!

I would use this as a boy's name, too.

I know a baby girl named Florence Ruby and she is the sweetest thing! I love the name, particularly because it's so important to the family since her parents met in Florence and it's such a dear city to them.

Florence has a positive association in my mind for being the name of strong inspirational women, as I think of Florence Nightingale, and one of my favorite artists Florence Welch of Florence+The Machine. Aesthetically/phonetically, I don't quite love the name, but I like the idea behind it, and the great associations.

I love Flora but I really don't like Florence. I think it's kind of dated, and Flora is a more modern equivalent of Florence. It sounds and works better nowadays, I think.

I think it's a gorgeous name and definitely a fantastic reason to use it! :)

This is the name of my darling, beloved, sweetheart of a great-grandmother. I'm actually really surprised that it isn't in the top 1,000 yet, but glad because that might give me a chance to use it. All it'll take is the right movie or TV show to make it soar into popularity. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen yet. I adore the nickname Florrie, though it's lovely on its own.

Florian is a boy's name but Florence? I don't see it.

I agree Florence is more masculine than Flora, but personally I like it better because I have a thing for masculine-sounding names on girls. I like Laurence too, on both genders.

I just named my daughter Florence- but we will always use Flora as her name. Florence is just nice as a more formal name- it seems to have more weight, or gravitas, that could be useful when she is older.

Funny you say that, I have Laurence on my unisex list (I love it as a mn for a girl), but I don't like Florence at all for either sex.

I admit that I've never quite liked this name for a girl. Phonetically speaking, it's one letter away from being the ever-masculine Laurence. Not only that, but there is the ancient, Florence, son of Gawain reference (from the Arthurian tales) to consider. As well as Florence's consistent use as a boy name throughout history, right up until around about 1914 and, even now, it's still used quite commonly as a name for boys in West Cork.

While not a bad name for girls, I personally think it leans more towards the masculine side of the spectrum. As such, for a daughter, I would be wary of this choice and would much rather consider the ever-feminine Flora instead.

Nice name, but I like Flora better.

Such a pretty name, and great association with Florence Nightingale.