In case you weren’t aware, Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively are having a second child together. They already have one daughter, called James. Yes, you read that right. Ryan called his daughter James, a traditionally boy’s name, in honour of his late father.
According to an interview he did with Good Morning Britain’s Ben Shephard and Kate Garraway, Ryan said that his name choice for his daughter isn’t that bad, and with his typical humour added: “I didn’t call her Summersquash Meadowlark.”
It should be noted that his wife, Blake, also has a traditionally boy’s name. Perhaps it is now a naming tradition in the Reynolds-Lively family to flip things around. Maybe if they have a little boy, they will be calling him Sarah or Charlotte?
This gender defying baby name trend is nothing new, and Ryan and Blake are only one of a long list of celebrities to give their daughters a boy’s name. Singer Michelle Branch named her daughter Owen, Mariah Carey went with Monroe and Kristen Bell chose Lincoln.
The point is, does it really matter anymore? Yes, most names are gendered and if you call your daughter James, people might stop and look at you curiously. But the beauty of it all is that we live in such progressive times that we can easily defy gender norms as it is becoming increasingly normal.
So, when you are on your own baby naming journey, don’t limit yourself to names that are just traditionally for girls or for boys. Branch out and explore all the options and don’t forget to use our fantastic name generator when you are brainstorming your baby names!
