A community for those interested in names. Your posts are welcome so long as they stay on the topic of names and remain civil
Hi! I'm currently in search of gender-neutral names that were common in the (late) 1700s. Google is not my friend today 😂 I'm writing a short story about a woman during the American Revolution who is disguised as a man in order to fight in the war, and I want to have a 'natural' name that won't raise any eyebrows about authenticity. Of course, I could use a male name and just have her pretend like it's her name. But I want there to be little hints about it leading up to the reveal, and I think her name would be one of the coolest things to play around with.
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Make her parents Puritans a give her a name like 'Praise God lest ye be damned'
All of these ranked in the top 200 in the late 1700s. Some had the equivalent rank for the opposite gender (Willie for girls and Willard/Wilbur/William for boys) but you would have seen boys called Willie for short and Willie still ranked on its own for them, just slightly lower.
Lee
Marion (a true gender neutral at #74 Girls, #112 Boys in 1890)
Willie
Jess
Ollie
Willie could be short for Wilhelmina in feminine or Wilhelm or William in masculine. I think it'd be time period right?
I love Marion!
You could also do Bertie (Bertram, Albert, Alberta, etc).
Marion was my grandmother's name, and is my little brother's middle name. I've always loved the sound of it and how versatile it is
I don't think you'd have men named Marion until after the Revoltionary war? And I thought Oliver was pretty rare but perhaps Ollie was short for something else?
You might do best with a nickname that could be applied to names on both sides of the aisle like Billie/Billy, Olly, Theo, Jo/Joe, Kit.
Jesse/Jessie could work too.
Or Eli. Could be short for Elijah or Elizabeth
Nat for Nathaniel or Natalie (but not sure if Natalie would have been a name used by colonists of that era)
I like Billie for Sybilla (taken from an Englishwoman in a book set during the Revolution)
A surname name.
Christian
Julian
I would go with naming her Sam after Deborah Samson (Sampson), the famous Revolutionary War hero. I was obsessed with her growing up. Her story is fascinating. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deborah_Sampson
I read a novel based on her life recently and the character went by Rob as a nickname for Deborah in her youth, which also inspired her to choose Robert as her name while she was living as a man. Not sure that there is any truth in that historically or if it was an invention of the author but it’s another option!
Not sure about the nn in her youth, but the wiki article did mention that she went by Robert in the military.
this is the one! what a cool connection!
Alex? Could be short for either Alexander or Alexandria
Maybe August. Usually would be used as a boy's name back then but you could say she was named for the month
Micaiah, a biblical name that is used for both men and women in the Bible. I don't have any evidence of it being used in the 18th century, but people did often use rare biblical names. On a similar note, Shiloh - a biblical place name
Evelyn?
Frances/Francis
You may have to check to ensure these are proper 1700s names, but a few ideas:
Georgina -- George
Patsy -- Pat / Patrick
Charlotte -- Charlie / Charles
Samantha -- Sam / Samuel
Theodosia -- Theo / Theodore
Matilda -- Mat / Matthew
Henrietta (normally Hettie/Ettie) -- Henry
Edwina / Edna -- Edwin
Rebecca (Becky) -- Beck / Beckett
Louisa -- Louis
Juliet - Jules / Julius
Josephine - Jo / Joey / Joseph
Rhoda -- Rhodes / Rhody
Rufina -- Rufus
Alexandra -- Alex / Alexander
Christina -- Chris / Christopher
I believe Francis / Frances is also gender neutral. A couple others are Addison, Quinn, and Robin. You could also try names like Freedom, Valor, Honor, etc.
Any surname especially if it's Scottish. Bruce was being given to as many girls as boys in the early 1800s trending from the mid 1700s. I posted about a family of women named Bruce, they also had a female relative Cleland. There were women and men both named Sidney, and earlier women named Sidonie. Comfort is a well known puritan name, it was unisex but became more popular for men. Comfort Tiffany (of Tiffany and co) is a famous example. Christian as mentioned would also work, would have been German men named Christian and Scottish women named Christian in the US.
Louis Comfort Tiffany.
Sorry you are right, Comfort Tiffany was his grandfather, and his father Charles Lewis Tiffany started the business, but the most famous one is Louis Comfort Tiffany.
I’m not sure that most of the comments will give you an especially accurate picture of 18th-century names, so take with a grain of salt. Puritan names (I.e. Solace) may be a good bet if your character is from New England, also Mourning, Francis/Frances…maybe Drury or Wilmot (though Wilmot is likely more 1500s…Pre-Reformation saintly women’s name, IIRC). You might want to look at historical records from the region your character comes from because naming practices varied wildly across the 13 Colonies at that time.
This one, I would also look into how military guys referred to eachother at the time. These days it's typical to go by last name, and I suspect that is accurate through a good bit of history. It's likely the character may not use their first name basically at all anyway.
Mattie! short for matthew or matilda, or a standalone for either gender
Jordan: Originally a surname, Jordan was used for both boys and girls. It has biblical origins and is timeless.
Sidney/Sydney: This name was used for both genders, more as a surname but also as a first name.
Francis/Frances: While Francis is traditionally male and Frances female, in the 18th century, spelling variations were less rigid, making this name a potential choice.
Morgan: Although more commonly a male name in that era, it was not unheard of for females.
Marion: This name was used for both males and females, although the spelling might vary slightly.
Leslie: A name of Scottish origin, used for both genders.
Taylor: Initially a surname, it was used as a given name for both boys and girls.
Avery: A name with Old English origins, used for both genders, although more commonly male.
Dallas