[Opinions] Re: Theodore vs Theodora
in reply to a message by Bex
You're right, it is just like Alex and Charlie...which are firmly unisex names here now b/c of that ;) I would never assume an Alex is a boy, in my DD's school there is pretty even mix of genders with the Alex's... little safer to bet that Charlie is a boy if they are over 5, but under 5 it's anyone's guess with Charlotte as popular as it has become.
And I can't disagree on the cute factor of a feminised name with a boyish nickname...I've always thought that was adorable, ever since a show I watched called Sisters years back, there were four sisters Alexandra, Theodora, Georgiana and Francesca...who were called Alex, Teddy, Georgie and Frankie (their father wanted boys, so the story goes). Anyway, I always loved the names. My daughter's name actually is a feminised version of the name shared by my two great grandfathers, Cecil. They were both usually called "Cec" or "Ceci" which we call her often (I'll admit we call her Cecil around the house, but she frowns upon it in "public"...she's seven now and has her own opinions ;) So it's not really analogous unless you only plan to use the nicknames occasionally within the family... I even will admit that when I was pregnant with my son, we toyed with using Theo either way, Theodore for a boy, Theodora for a girl. But now, having faced the reality of naming a son, it's sorta tough when so many names have been "stolen" or made to seem unisex... It's a phenomenon that really only works one way, I suppose, unfortunate, really. But true nonetheless. So I generally don't endorse it, even thought I used to like it too. I'm not really a hypocrite, just, having a son really changed my perspective on this.
Not meaning to hijack your thread with my two cents, apologies.
They are very nice names, and to add, so are Casper, Wilfred and Daphne (I want to like Hilda, as it's a family name... but the closest I can get to liking it is Hilde).
_______________________________________________________________
Listen to Mustn'ts, child, listen to the Don'ts.
Listen to the Shouldn'ts, the Impossibles, the Won'ts.
Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me.
Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.
-Shel Silverstein
And I can't disagree on the cute factor of a feminised name with a boyish nickname...I've always thought that was adorable, ever since a show I watched called Sisters years back, there were four sisters Alexandra, Theodora, Georgiana and Francesca...who were called Alex, Teddy, Georgie and Frankie (their father wanted boys, so the story goes). Anyway, I always loved the names. My daughter's name actually is a feminised version of the name shared by my two great grandfathers, Cecil. They were both usually called "Cec" or "Ceci" which we call her often (I'll admit we call her Cecil around the house, but she frowns upon it in "public"...she's seven now and has her own opinions ;) So it's not really analogous unless you only plan to use the nicknames occasionally within the family... I even will admit that when I was pregnant with my son, we toyed with using Theo either way, Theodore for a boy, Theodora for a girl. But now, having faced the reality of naming a son, it's sorta tough when so many names have been "stolen" or made to seem unisex... It's a phenomenon that really only works one way, I suppose, unfortunate, really. But true nonetheless. So I generally don't endorse it, even thought I used to like it too. I'm not really a hypocrite, just, having a son really changed my perspective on this.
Not meaning to hijack your thread with my two cents, apologies.
They are very nice names, and to add, so are Casper, Wilfred and Daphne (I want to like Hilda, as it's a family name... but the closest I can get to liking it is Hilde).
_______________________________________________________________
Listen to Mustn'ts, child, listen to the Don'ts.
Listen to the Shouldn'ts, the Impossibles, the Won'ts.
Listen to the Never Haves, then listen close to me.
Anything can happen, child, Anything can be.
-Shel Silverstein
This message was edited 4/30/2014, 7:25 PM