I used to hate my name (Ashley). As a kid, in school, kids made fun of it, calling me "unisex" (my defence when they called it a girl's name. Kids will be kids, but it's kind of ironic now, because now I love how ambiguous it is. As trans*/genderqueer, it's perfect, and I'll be able to keep it if/when I decide to transition. As for assuming gender through writing, it's at the point now where most people are neutral in my head, and this is almost definitely due to my own gender identity. Occasionally I'll find myself surprised when certain writers turn out to be a certain gender, but that's happening less often. Most of the time it's along the same lines as thenewgreen's example, and it's a pleasant surprise.
Ashley is one of those names that I've always liked. I have a cousin with the name, but she spells it Ashleigh. Has anyone ever suggested to you that your name could have influenced your sexuality? I realize that sexuality doesn't work like that, but many people don't. What is your take on the power of a name? I mean, what's in a name? No really... What's in a name?
No one's ever suggested it, but I've thought it myself. Never with a whole lot of thought, always just passing, like: how strangely appropriate. Huh. I don't know if it actually had any effect. If it did, it probably wasn't very major.
It really is rather convenient though. I'd say that is some luck there!
Well, but consider how many male names become female names. For example, Carol, Kyle, Leslie, Ryan, Lauren, Madison, Morgan, Meredith, Courtney, Ariel, etc. I read an article about how this happens, but I can't find it anymore. I don't think that this is unique to English, but now I'm interested to find out if it happens in other languages as well.
Yes, but the thing is, unpopular names generally fall out of use. They either come back much later or disappear. So it stands to reason that a popular name would stand a higher chance. On thinking a bit about the last part, many languages feature male/female forms of names that sound exactly the same or very similar and are differentiated by either a sexed vowel or sex is implicit in the spelling. English operates under different features (broadly speaking) and may contribute to the whole male name to female name migration.
The interchangeable name likely exists due to narcissism. A father wanting his name to carry on will name his daughter Lauren blah-blah II.