US boy names that became girl names and vice versa

Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by somenameforme on Monday November 02, 2026 @08:29PM (#50346816)

I think that's an example of what he's talking about. Jean-Luc is pronounced "John Luke" whereas the feminine form is Gene. And similarly the male Jan is pronounced Yan.

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Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by y1n0 on Monday November 02, 2026 @09:07PM (#50347093)

[delayed]

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Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by justauserid on Monday November 02, 2026 @10:51PM (#50347838)

I am not a native English or French speaker but the way I've heard Luke being said in UK/US English and the way I have heard the filmmaker's name pronounced that Luc doesn't really sound like Luke. I feel the u and c are shorter and subdued.

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Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by somenameforme on Tuesday November 03, 2026 @12:00AM (#50348276)

Yeah Jean is pronounced more like 'Jawn' but I just mean it's a clearly male name in either case, as opposed to Jean pronounced 'Gene' which is generally a female name, though oddly 'Gene' also pronounced the same is generally a male name.

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Re:US boy names that became girl names and vice versa by ChrisRR on Tuesday November 03, 2026 @06:53AM (#50350855)

Probably more in the US. In the UK John and Jean (with a french pronunciation) sound completely different. John has a hard O sound, and Jean has a soft J and an elongated aw sound

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