Should you save the name for a son?
It comes up from time to time in #namehelp posts, and in all sorts of baby naming forums, too:
We love the name Raymond, after my dad, but we’re having a girl.
I’d like to use my mother’s maiden name for my first child, but does Macallister work for a daughter?
Often well meaning comments suggest that the family save the name for a son, and choose a different name for their daughter. When I first started out, I think it’s possible that I said that sometimes, too. (And I’m sure I thought it more than once.)
It can seem like a logical suggestion, and I believe the comments are well-meaning. But the longer I write about names, the more those comments make me feel uneasy.
So I thought I’d share why I no longer suggest parents the save name for a son.
