The big list of names.

Being horrendously lazy, I'd love if someone else could make a list of names that have over time switched gender value (most from male to female). For the sake of it, I'll make a short list:

• Alexis
• Ashley
• Beverly
• Evelyn
• Jocelyn
• Kelly
• Leslie
• Meredith
• Shannon
• Shirley
• Tracy
• Vivian

Didn't Saoirse use to be predominantly a boys' name?

Hillary is one, I believe?

I'll be glad to write the So You Want To Page myself. We just need to agree on a formatting style and how to start it.

Leonardo belongs somewhere on this thread. Ashley is also a male name. And Audrey is another female name.

edited 3rd Apr '11 4:48:32 PM by Pseudonym

Talking of Audrey — Aubrey is a male name that fell out of use and has very recently been revived as female, almost certainly because of the similarity to Audrey.

I'm reviving this, but please don't contribute any new names at the moment:

Let's talk about the So You Want To: Name A Character page.

I'm going to start it, but I'm not sure how.

Do So You Want To pages get YKTTWs? Since the concept has been developed already, do we even need one? If not, should we move this thread to one of the trope forums?

edited 27th Jul '11 1:43:30 AM by Wheezy

I didn't see Sarah there, or are you searching for more obscure/non-western names?

Hahaha oh wow, it's been a while since I've seen this thread. My list has definitely grown. Mostly Welsh, Maltese, Russian, and Hungarian.

What would be in the So You Want To page other than a list of names? Because a list of names that sound nice is definitely YMMV.

edited 27th Jul '11 3:03:25 PM by melloncollie

Information on how to name a character - what kinds of names fit what kinds of people. The list should also be sorted by culture and time period of origin, IMO.

For example: Medieval English, Ancient Chinese, Modern American, etc.

I'd like to revive this thread. More to come later.

edited 3rd Aug '12 2:17:19 AM by Wheezy

1)SoYouWantTo.Develop Character Personality got a successful YMMV. YMMV in general is open for all page types although people will be quick to remind you that it's only mandatory for trope pages.

2) IMHO this should not be about information and lists of names that can be found elsewhere but about ideas and links to helpful sites (there's at least one baby naming site that lets users rank names by association, such as "sounds intelligent", "sounds friendly" etc... Gender flipped names then can be found in Behind the Name by setting the search for the relevant origins and "unisex". Not all will be flips but those that surprise you by being unisex probably are.). Naming info, that can be googled. Ideas specifically for character naming? Less so. What's more, name lists will easily bloat the page beyond recognition.

edited 4th Aug '12 1:23:27 AM by peccantis

True. So it should probably be mostly ideas instead of the actual names.

edited 4th Aug '12 3:08:20 AM by Wheezy

What about describing stereotypes associated with certain names and/or names associated with certain stereotypes? Or would that be too YMMV?