‘George Eliot’ joins 24 female authors making debuts under their real names

Re:‘George Eliot’ joins 24 female authors making debuts unde... by el_oni on Friday August 14, 2020 @06:54AM (#24156320)

I think usuage varies with english speaking country too. Ashley is somewhat unisex in the US but I've rarely heard it for a woman in the UK. I have known a female George though.

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Re:‘George Eliot’ joins 24 female authors making debuts unde... by DanBC on Friday August 14, 2020 @08:11AM (#24156828)

The UK Office for National Statistics has some data about names. The baby name explorer is mildly frustrating because they let you look for either boys names or girls names but not both at the same time. And for boys the only spelling is Ashley but for girls the only spelling is Ashleigh. For girls you're not allowed to enter George, only Georgia or Georgina.

Baby name explorer: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsde...

Baby names for girls: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsde...

Baby names for boys: https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/birthsde...

I get the impression that George as a male name took off because of one of the royal babies.

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Re:‘George Eliot’ joins 24 female authors making debuts unde... by dgellow on Friday August 14, 2020 @07:11AM (#24156418)

That’s funny, Ashley in French is clearly female :)

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Re:‘George Eliot’ joins 24 female authors making debuts unde... by VBprogrammer on Friday August 14, 2020 @07:27AM (#24156530)

Even weirder is that, also in the UK, I'd consider it mostly feminine having only encountered a few tortured souls who had it as a male name.

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