Pros and Cons of a Unisex Baby Name

Thinking of using a unisex name? Read this first!

Posted on March 20, 2019 | Comments

There are many notions attached to the unisex name as they have been there for longer than we can date back to the history of name giving. Every group of people or individual had various different reasons for using unisex names for their child. In some ancient societies where the birth of a girl child was not considered honorable, parents often kept the gender of the child concealed perhaps with the fate of that child too by giving it an androgynous name.

We may have come a long way from the times where gender equality did not exist but instead women were exposed to unjustly behavior, inequality and looked down upon. But there still maybe some other reasons why one would or should benefit from a unisex name.

Let’s dig in for some unisex name’s pros and cons.

Pros

For the believers of gender equality, this perhaps is the best way to announce it. Why should a name be a woman’s name for a female? Why can’t it just be a name without representing the gender of the person in question?
In an interview where perhaps there isn’t a specific section that asks for your gender, an androgynous name will not give the gender of the person away. It will also not allow any prior opinions or biasness to build up based on the gender before calling them to the interview.
Statistics show that when a book is published with a name that conceals the gender of the writer, more books are sold. For example J.K Rowling the famous writer of the Harry Potter series.
Despite of the evolution of mindsets and people inclining towards a more open-minded perspective on things, there still are many sexists and bigots out there.
In a space that is somewhat hostile towards female, a name like Billie, Cameron or Stevie can perhaps save the woman from a lot of unnecessary sexist hassles.
If you are in a straight relationship, marrying someone of the same name would be very interesting! Drew marrying Drew.

Cons

If Julie has been selected on merit to be part of a talk or a support group that is strictly a ladies corner, and it so turns out that Julie is a 56 year old guy who no one knows and why he’s there. Hence, creating unnecessary confusion.
If your child, specifically a toddler, has a unisex name, every time the occasion arrives and you have to introduce your child, you would also have to mention their gender too.
It perhaps could be embarrassing if your name is being called out at the hospital, the airport or a conference. Regardless of how strong a women you may be, being publically addressed as ‘Mr’ can for sure leave you embarrassingly uncomfortable.
A child may often find it mischievously funny when two other kids of different genders have the same name. Perhaps those children mocked the guy having a similar name to the girls mate in the class. It could be a girlie name like Rosemond of a boy child who recently shifted from Germany maybe. The embarrassment that the child had to associate with at that tender age might continue during the latter stages of life as well.

Regardless of the name you choose for your baby, what you need to remember is that the most important thing is to raise an empowered confident child who no matter what the world sees as is able to see themselves for who they truly are.