On a girl: I get why people like the sound, and I'd probably like it if I'd never heard of it before, but as it is it's terribly overused, it's just a generic American white girl name. It does sound friendlier than some other names in that category though.
On a boy: I also see the appeal, it seems old-fashioned and soft. But I'd prefer just
Ash. Or maybe something like
Ashwin.
I'd prefer
Aisling but I'm American and I probably say it wrong :P And I prefer
Asha to both of them.
If it was never popular I'd like
Ashley, I'd think it was soft and whimsical.
ETA: Apparently
Ashwin is a real Indian name. I was just thinking
Ash (the tree) + win (Germanic element meaning 'friend').
ETA again: Ashby is another option for a boy that feels more masculine than
Ashley (a boy would have to be rather 'girly' or at least soft and graceful to pull off the name
Ashley, but Ashby is more versatile. Depends on how you feel about random surnames as first names.)
And I've never really liked
Asher. It seems like I should like it but I don't like the "er" ending in that name.
This message was edited 6/13/2020, 8:41 PM