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What do you think these names
have in common? Royal.
Charlie.
Salem.
Skyler.
Justice.
Oakley. Well, in the United States,
all of these names are considered fitting for girls and boys. They are
considered gender-neutral. And modern American parents
appear more willing than ever to consider the possibility of gender fluidity in
their children.
in common: en común;
fitting for: apropiados para; gender-neutral: aptos para ambos sexos;
appear more willing than ever: más gustosos que nunca; to consider:
de tener en cuenta; gender fluidity: cambio de orientación sexual;
Linda Murray is the head of
BabyCenter.com. She told the AP [Associated Press], “This generation is truly
interested in gender-neutral names”.
head: jefa,
principal; truly: genuinamente, en verdad;
The Social Security
Administration puts out a list of most popular baby names every year based on
its registrations. Observers say the gender-neutral names have not made it into
the top 10. However, they say such names are heavily represented in the longer
list. Younger parents seem
especially likely to choose gender-neutral names for their babies. Pop culture and honoring
family or religious history are important to baby naming. But more and more
parents are choosing names that can be used for either sex.
puts out: publica;
based on: basada en; observers: los analistas; have not made it
into: no han alcanzadox; the top 10: los 10 más populares; however:
sin embargo; heavily: masivamente; seem: parecen; likely to
choose: los que eligen con mayor probabilidad; pop culture: la
cultura popular; for either sex: para ambos sexos;
SOME
NAMES JUST SOUND COOL
just sound
cool: simplemente suenan a la moda;
Lori Kinkler, a psychologist
in San Antonio, Texas, said she chose the gender-neutral name
Riley for her
daughter. She said if the 3-year-old does not identify as female later in life,
she will not have to change her name. In Kinkler’s words, “I like that she feels
she has options and knows she’ll be accepted by us no matter
what.”
chose:
eligió (choose/chose/chosen/chosing); does not
identify as female: no se identifica con el sexo femenino; later in life:
más adelante (en su vida); that she feels ... and knows: que ella sienta
... y sepa (subjuntivo presente); by us: por nosotros; no matter what:
sea lo que sea, pase lo que pase;
Pamela Redmond Satran
is a writer of The Baby Name Bible and Cool Names for Babies.
She also writes about the subject online and is a founder of baby name site
Nameberry.com.
Satran says possible gender
fluidity is not the only reason parents choose unisex names.
She says, “A lot of people choose unisex names because they think they’re
cool or they’re meaningful to themselves but they raise their
kids in a very gender-specific way”.
founder:
fundadora; the only reason: la única razón, el único motivo;
meaningful to themselves: significativos, importantes para ellos mismos;
they raise their kids: ellos crían a sus hijos;
Kirsten Hammann, 45, lives in
the San Francisco Bay area. She and her husband named their daughters
Teagan and
Sigrid. She considers both names gender neutral. She said, “Sigrid is
technically a girl’s name but because it’s so uncommon in the U.S. it reads as
gender neutral to most people". She said she and her husband
did not directly discuss gender neutrality. But she said she did think about the
difficulties women face in the world. In her words, “Whether we
like it or not, names that skew a little masculine,
or less feminine, are perceived as stronger,
and I wanted that for my girls”.
named: le
pusieron de nombre a; it reads as: se le como; to most people:
para la mayoría de las personas; face in the world: enfrentan
mundialmente; whether we like it or not: nos guste o no; that skew a
little: que sugieren algo; are perceived: se perciben como;
stronger: más decididos, más enérgicos;
RIVER,
LAKE, DAKOTA AND BLUE
Pamela Satran said some
gender-neutral names are part of other trends, such as choosing
traditionally last names as first names, like
Madison. She also noted gender-neutral
names linked to geography and nature are another trend.
Examples include River,
Lake,
Dakota and
Blue. Some countries bar unisex
names by law, including Portugal,
Denmark and
Iceland. In Germany, local
registrars decide if an unusual name would harm a child.
trends:
tendencias; such as: tales como; noted: observó; linked to:
relacionados con, vinculados a; bar: prohíben; registrars:
registros civiles; would harm a child: podría perjudicar a un niño;
It is hard to say how such
laws might affect Harper. It was the 10th most popular name for baby girls in
the Social Security Administration’s 2016 list. For boys, it was number 793. The top female name was Emma,
followed by Olivia, Ava, Sophia, Isabella, Mia, Charlotte, Abigail and Emily.
For boys, Noah was the top name, with Liam, William, Mason, James, Benjamin,
Jacob, Michael, Elijah and Ethan rounding out the top 10.
it is hard to
say: es difícil decir; how such laws: de qué manera esas leyes;
might affect Harper: podrían afectar al nombre Harper;
TOP 10 GENDER
NEUTRAL NAMES
Nameberry.com examined the
2016 Social Security Administration data and created a top 50 gender-neutral
name list. The most popular are Charlie,
Finley,
Skyler,
Justice and
Royal. Rounding out the top 10 were
Lennon,
Oakley,
Armani,
Azariah and
Landry.
data: datos;
created: creó, generó;
Rebecca Connolly is a 29-year-old
mother in the western New York town of Castile. She said she and her guitar-playing
husband chose Lennon
Wallace for their son, now 2 years old. Both she and her
husband are fans of The Beatles’ John Lennon, for his music and his activism.
guitar-playing husband:
esposo guitarrista; chose: eligieron; activism: activismo;
Connolly said, “As a child
I felt bad for all the Taylor,
Jordan and
Jamies I knew, whose names didn’'t
identify their sex. By the time I was having kids, 50 percent of the little
girls I met were named Riley,
Avery,
Logan, etc. And I realized all soft-sounding
boy names are now considered unisex”.
as a child: cuando
era niña; I felt bad for: me sentía mal por; whose names: cuyos
nombres; by the time when: para la época en que; I realized: me di
cuenta que; all soft-sounding boy names: nombres propios suaves para
varones; are now considered unisex: ahora se consideran unisexo;
Connolly also has a daughter,
Lucille Beatrice, and is pregnant with a second son. She said their current
leading choice for the baby's name is considered masculine. She would not tell
what it is. But she said with the rising popularity of boy names for girls, it
might be considered unisex by the time he goes to school.
pregnant: embarazada;
leading choice: elección principal; rising popularity: popularidad en
aumento; it might be considered: podría considerarse;
That is fine with her. “I plan to teach them
there is nothing inferior about women, so sharing a name with
them is not a big deal”, Connolly said. “Being called a girl is not an
insult”. I’m Caty Weaver. And I'm
Ashley Thompson.
inferior:
desaventajado; sharing a name: compartir un nombre; a big deal:
gran cosa; being called a girl: que te llamen nena; an insulto: un
insulto. |
