an unusual trend or a natural phenomenon?

In the 21st century, society is becoming less and less constrained by various kinds of restrictions and prejudices and is taking a vector towards tolerance, tolerance and new equality in which the line between gender roles becomes more and more fragile and transparent.

Therefore, it is not surprising that today in the United States and Western Europe, so-called agender names have gained particular popularity. We are studying this phenomenon together with the editors of Colady.

What are agender names?

Agenda or gender-neutral names are names that are not tied to a specific gender and gender, that is, those names that both a boy and a girl can safely wear. Today their list is quite impressive: more than 120 different names.

Particularly popular among them are names such as Angel, August, Blake, Charlie, Eden, Elliot, Finley, Phoenix, Hayden, Jordan, Carter, Taylor, Parker, Peyton, Riley, Sawyer.

Read also: The parents of these stars decided to abandon platitudes and gave the most eccentric names to their children.

In many modern countries, especially in the United States, the popularity of gender-neutral names is growing from year to year. So, in 2018, the Fox News newspaper published an article about new trends among children’s names, where it was reported that parents of the younger generation are increasingly giving their children age-related names, including very unusual ones, for example, associated with the names of settlements, movie characters or times of the year. And 2020 became the year of unisex names altogether.

It is curious that agender names did not appear today and exist not only in Western culture – you can recall many popular gender-neutral names that are also used in the Russian-speaking community: Valentin / a, Alexander / a, Evgeny / I.

What is the reason for this?

There are several reasons for the growing popularity of gender-neutral names. The main one, of course, is the general trend in agenderness and erasing the boundaries between floors… This trend manifests itself in all areas: from everyday life to fashion. Things and phenomena that were relatively recently considered an exclusively feminine or masculine privilege are now available to both sexes.

For example, in Western countries, men can safely take maternity leave and take care of raising children and everyday life, while women can build a career and sometimes earn even more than a spouse.

The same applies to clothing: in many countries, the fair sex has abandoned heels, and men are not afraid to use various cosmetics.

Another reason – the ability to freely speak about one’s orientation and not be ashamed of unconventional views… Realizing that in adulthood, the child himself will determine his gender role and orientation, some parents prefer not to hang labels.

Also, freedom of thought and the relaxedness of young generations play a significant role here, which, when choosing a name for a child, are guided not so much by the gender of their child as by the originality of the name itself. For this reason, more and more children are given extraordinary names without reference to gender.

Stars set trends

The stars were the first to pick up the new trend and began to give their children non-standard or agender names. Among them Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcherwho named their daughter Wyet, Gigi Hadid and Zane Malit – their daughter’s name is Hai, Kristen Bell – she named her daughter Lincoln, Keira Knightley and her daughter Eddie, Charlize Theron and August.

Representatives of the family have become real record holders for unusual names. Kardashian-jenner: The children of the reality TV stars are North, Chicago, Saint, Psalm, Rain and Stormy.

Good or bad?

Now it is impossible to unequivocally answer how good or bad this phenomenon is. Many foreign psychologists and sociologists are inclined to believe that agender names will help children realize themselves and fully manifest their true potential, since a person from childhood will be deprived of various shackles and prejudices.

Subsequently, in adulthood, a gender-neutral name can also do a good job by avoiding any kind of labels.

How do you feel about the new trend to use gender neutral names for children?