[Opinions] Non-Binary Friend Name Change
Hey guys. Yesterday my friend came out and told me they changed their name and pronouns.
She was formally Maddie “Mad” and they are now Erin.
According to her she found it on a site for gender neutral names and she really liked Erin so she chose that.
I was quite surprised by her choice because I didn’t really consider Erin unisex. Maybe Aren or something.
As usual, thoughts?
"People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing all day."
Rate my personal name list please :) https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/217493
She was formally Maddie “Mad” and they are now Erin.
According to her she found it on a site for gender neutral names and she really liked Erin so she chose that.
I was quite surprised by her choice because I didn’t really consider Erin unisex. Maybe Aren or something.
As usual, thoughts?
"People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing all day."
Rate my personal name list please :) https://www.behindthename.com/pnl/217493
Replies
I do agree with others that I'd read a different spelling of "Erin" as more unisex, but ultimately anyone of any gender can have a name and a nonbinary person can have any sort of name (like my name, Cecil, is historically masculine). Good for your friend :) It's always nice to find a name that fits, even if Erin tries out a few of them later on (I tried on a handful before going by Cecil)
It doesn’t sound very unisex to me, except for the pronunciation being so similar to Aaron.
There is a prominent masculine politician in my area named Erin, so while the spelling may seem more feminine to some, it’s definitely a unisex name… not that having a perfectly unisex name is important.
Interesting, never heard of that!
Annoyingly, I cannot comment on whether or not I've legitimately heard this name be used on anybody other than females. I say this because I've heard it be used (I think) several times on youtube, BUT because I am British, Aaron is pronounced entirely differently and /does not/ sound at all like Erin - but it absolutely does in the American accent.
I have no idea if what I was hearing was Erin or American Aaron
Erin is feminine to me because in Irish mythology, it was a woman who gave her name to Ireland - and Erin basically means "Ireland". However, the Welsh name Aeron is very much unisex - and has a natural meaning "berry".
I have no idea if what I was hearing was Erin or American Aaron
Erin is feminine to me because in Irish mythology, it was a woman who gave her name to Ireland - and Erin basically means "Ireland". However, the Welsh name Aeron is very much unisex - and has a natural meaning "berry".
Agree with all of this!
What about a name It?
Yeah, Erin is all girl to me. I think I would have done something like Aren or Eron, or some sort of variant.
I don't see Erin as unisex, totally feminine
I knew a male Eryn, so it's neutral to me.
It's a good choice. I like it.
It's a good choice. I like it.
Yeah that is... not very unisex. I would do something like Arin or Aryn that isn't as traditionally feminine. Arynn is maybe the most appealing spelling. Also, Mad is already kind of unisex, because of Maddox. I might pick Max if I were them. I would say Erin is actually more feminine than Mad...
I like to imagine NB names for myself. I kind of favor Rio today. Or maybe Avi. Avi is so nice.
I like to imagine NB names for myself. I kind of favor Rio today. Or maybe Avi. Avi is so nice.
I think your friend has been misinformed. Erin is not a unisex name. Not to say nobody in hisstory ever named a boy Erin, because just about everything has been done at least once. But it is not a unisex name any more than Aaron is even if they do sond identical.
It's kind of silly that someone would actively seek to shed all indications of gender and then choose a name that's so emphatically female.
It's kind of silly that someone would actively seek to shed all indications of gender and then choose a name that's so emphatically female.
Considering these days names like Beau, Dylan, Niall, Ryan, Michael, Oliver, Benjamin, and Jasper are considered unisex, this didn’t really surprise me that much for some reason. (Even then at this point they can be since some are fairly long established for girls) A person named Erin who’s gender neutral is hardly that interesting and is at least gender-neutral sounding. At least it’s a somewhat unisex radical choice.
It does have a very unisex sound to me. Eren would have been a better choice imo but it's alright.