What's in a name?

Today's issue of The New York Times Magazine contained an article about gender neutral names and there specific connotations. The increasing popularity of these names, the article suggests, is that “it’s not a disgrace to be a girl anymore.”

Being a girl is a disgrace if children are being teased for having typically feminine names. As the text points out, it's usually the boys with gender-neutral names who get teased, not the girls. In other words, it's OK for "girls to be boys" (as long as their masculinity is canceled out by stereotypically female behavior), but not "boys to be girls,” because there’s something inherently wrong with femaleness or femininity.

What does this article say about gender roles? A name only has the connotation we give it. When a baby boy is born, he doesn’t think, “Ooh, my name’s Kelly, better start buying my tap shoes early!” Children are taught how to behave because of gender-based toys and clothing and adult role models, not a certain combo of letters that only means what we as society says it does.

If the name really does make the child, be sure to keep little Fidel away from the tinker toys.