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That Used to Be a Boy's Name?!
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Courtney
English from French
"short nose; courteous, from the court"
This courtly old Southern name has several cool male bearers: NFL player Courtney Brown, British jazz musician Courtney Pine, and Barbados-born economist Courtney Blackman, to name but a few.
Shelby
English
"estate on the ledge"
Southern name still occasionally heard in a male context (author Shelby Foote and the son of singer/sitcom star Reba McEntire), but it's much more associated with girls.
Vivian
Latin
"life"
Deriving from the Roman cognomen Vivianus , Vivian was originally a masculine name, with Vivien being a feminine soundalike coined by Alfred Lord Tennyson for the Lady of the Lake in his famous…
Whitney
English
"white island"
Deriving from an English locational surname meaning "white island", Whitney was in rare but regular use for boys in the US until the early 1960s, when actress Whitney Blake popularized it for girls.…
Lindsay
English
"island of linden trees"
Lindsay is one of the few truly unisex names (rather than being a name that has changed genders). Over time the ey ending was usually reserved for women and the ay ending reserved for men, although…
Lynn
Welsh
"lake"
Traditionally used for boys before the 20th-century, Lynn was solidly used as a masculine name in the US, right up until the 70s when it fell out of favor. Prior to that, however, it had already…
Carmen
Spanish variation of Carmel or Latin
"garden or song"
While the variation Carmine is more familiar for boys, Carmen has also been used as a masculine name; consider the very macho Carmen Basilio — the American boxer famous for defeating the great Sugar…
Beverly
Jocelyn
Shirley