Gender confusion in the 50s??
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Gender confusion in the 50s??
| Thu, 05-19-2005 - 9:55pm |
I was looking through past year's lists on the Social Security site trying to get some ideas for a boys name that is kind of old fashioned, but not newly trendy. I typed in 1955 randomly and was reading through the top 1000 list for boys. Some of there names were there:
Aubrey
Kimberly
Shannon
Lindsey
Shelby
Stacy
Connie
Leigh
Linda
Deborah/Debra
Patricia
Ashley
Barbara
Lacy
Lauren
I realize that many of these were at the time traditional male names (Shannon, Stacy) but some of the others really threw me for a loop! Are there really that many male 50 yr old Lindas and Barbaras out there?

I had also noticed that.
We bought our truck from an older
Interesting!!
Aubrey--Never met a boy Aubrey
Kimberly--Kim, but never Kimberly
Shannon--yes, common
Lindsey--never heard
Shelby--only ones I know are boys in their teens
Stacy--yes, common
Connie--actually worked with a 40-50 year old man named Connie, but his name was Conrad NN Connie.
Leigh--Never seen a man with this spelling.
Linda--R U KIDDING!?
Deborah/Debra--SAME HERE.... man named Debroah?? LOL
Patricia-- Pat but not Patricia
Ashley--Ashley must have been todays Ashton.
Barbara--Nope
Lacy--Nope
Lauren--Yes, know a Loren pronouced Lauren. Actually know several of them.
no, I think it was a mistake. I remember reading a "disclaimer" on the website about some mistakes and it had to do with names being on the wrong list
I was born in 55 - I have never ever come across a guy named Kimberly, Linda, Barbara, Patricia, Debra/Deborah, or Lacy
the Kim, by itself, was used occasionally for boys back in that era. Our current mailman's name is Kim and I graduated with a boy named Kim. Neither of their names are Kimberly
as for Aubrey, Shannon, Lindsey, Connie, Ashley, and Lauren, those all have been known to be male names or unisex names, although most have been known as exclusively girl. Connie, more often, was a nickname for Conrad. Ashley dropped out of the male mix quite a while ago, so did Lauren. I know one adult male in my age range of each of those and one boy my daughter's age (23) whose middle name is Ashley and he refuses to tell people his middle name.
I wouldn't recommend a single name you have on that list for a boy now.
the name that was most known as "unisex" back then was Terry. girls sometimes, but not always, spelled it Terri.
that name, for both, has dropped off the charts. but it was the most common unisex name then.
Aubrey - a male jeweler in town had this name.
Kimberly - haven't heard of anyone
Shannon - have known several male Shannons - one in his 20's.
Lindsey - Lindsey Nelson was a famous sports commentator
Shelby - I know a 70 year-old Shelby and his grandson is named after him
Stacy - Stacy Keach - actor
Connie - don't know any Connie's
Leigh - can't recall any men named Leigh
Linda - or Linda
Deborah/Debra - or Deborah
Patricia - or Patricia
Ashley - I know one male Ashley who's in his 30's or 40's. Of course, there's always, Ashley Wilkes from "Gone with the Wind" - maybe that carried over
Barbara - don't know Barbaras, but knew of a few Beverly's
Lacy - our building manager is named Lacy
Lauren - don't know of any Laurens.
Aubrey - Don't know any male Aubreys
Kimberly - or Kimberlys
Shannon - I know a couple but come from a town with a lot of Irish Americans
Lindsey - Knew an older gentleman with this
Shelby - Don't know any personally but know this has been used on males in the past
Stacy - Stacy Keach - actor
Connie - friend's FIL is Connie, short for Cornelius (he was a junior, her dh is the third and goes by Neal)
Leigh - have a friend named Lee
Linda - No male Lindas but knew a Lyn (short for Lyndon)
Deborah/Debra - No Deborahs
Patricia - Knew a Patricio
Ashley - Ashley Wilkes and Ashely Angel (O Town)
Barbara - No male Barbaras
Lacy -or Lacys
Lauren- know a Loren
I went to high school with a football player/wrestler whose name was Kelley and his dad's name was Carroll. No one ever teased him about his name!!!
Aubrey---Lets see, I know of several men named Aubrey (Always here about that since my name is Aubrey, It was a song in the 70's that made it more common for girls.)
Kimberly --- Kim yes, Kimberly no
Shannon --yep, I know a 30 yr old Shannon that is a man
Lindsey -- This is DH's Great Grandpa's name
Shelby --yep
Stacy -- yep
Connie-- known one or two
Leigh -- worked with a guy named Leigh, would be about 21yrs old now
Linda--humm. really?
Deborah/Debra --same as above
Patricia --again, same
Ashley -- this one used to be a common mans name also a male character in "Gone with the Wind"
Barbara--really?
Lacy--never heard of a man with that name.
Lauren-- known a few Loren's who were guys, one would be 27 now and another would be about 20.
Aubrey
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I actually know two younger males named Ashley and Shannon. Ashley is my DH's cousin, he is in his early- to mid-20s, and Shannon is my boss's SIL, probably in his 30s.
I have always loved Ashley and Kelley for boys.
~ Liz ~