Question:
Why do people think Madison and Addison are boy names just because they end in "son?"?
anonymous
12 years ago
No one says AlliSON is a boy name, and it ends in "son" too. And why is "son" such a big deal? What about SaMANtha and AMANda? They have "man" in them, I think that's worse than son. And feMALE says male in it. And Madison does mean Son of Maude. Ok, maybe on a girl the meaning doesn't match the name, but it doesn't on boys either, unless their mom or dad is named Maude! The meanings don't really mattet anyways. And the common nickname for Madison is Maddie and for Addison it's Addy. Would Maddie or Addy work on a boy? Not at all. Some people say if you name your daughter Madison or Addison she'll act like a boy and/or be a stripper. What? A name doesn't dictate their personality. A Madison could be super girly and let's say a Penelope is a total tomboy. Naming your daughter Madison/Addison doesn't mean they'll be a tomboy from the moment they're born, because of a name.
Eleven answers:
?
12 years ago
1. Allison IS a boy name. It's just been used for girls for so long (roughly a century or two), and has completely fallen out of popularity with boys so now most people assume that it's feminine and nothing but, especially with its resemblance to the name Alison, which is entirely unrelated and is an ancient variant of Alice.



2. Why does "-son" matter? Oh, I don't know. Maybe because it brings to mind an actual SON, as the suffix was originally intended to do. Just as "-dóttir" was originally intended to bring to mind a DAUGHTER. And you would never give your son a name that ended in "-dóttir" would you? No! So why ask such a stupid question? Also, Samantha, Amanda and Female are entirely irrelevant to your argument so I'm not even going to bother addressing that.



3. Meanings DO matter because they are part of a name's history and etymology. Madison means "Son of Matthew" or "Son of Maude", and Addison means "Son of Adam", because they were originally passed down to the sons of Maude, Matthew and Adam. Nowadays, meanings can be debatable (no one wants to pass up their favourite boy name just because daddy's name isn't in the meaning), but the clear GENDER that the meaning presents cannot be tampered with or argued against. After all, you'd never name a son something that meant, "Fair Maiden", and you'd never name a daughter something that meant "Father of a Multitude" so, again, why are you presenting such stupid points?!



4. Nicknames are irrelevant! For example, Mason is one of the more popular boy names currently, and NO ONE has said that Mason isn't OK for a boy because the only nicknames are "May" and "Sunny", which are clearly more girl-oriented. Also, I know plenty of boys who are named Isaac and willingly choose to go by "Izzy!" So the whole, "Maddie and Addy don't work for boys" argument is completely BS, especially since there are plenty of people in the world who would think that they DO work. Not to mention, "Charlie" is a common nickname for Charlotte and, since it's a boy name, it doesn't work for a girl. So, by your twisted "logic", Charlotte should not be OK for girls and should be handed over to the boys, yes?



5. The person makes the name, not the other way around. That aside, I've never seen Madison or Addison be criticised on this site for making girls more butch, or what have you. What I HAVE seen is people like you writing comments such as; "NO! You can't name a boy Madison/Addison - too girly! Do you want him to be a pansy?!" and "Sure, Madison and Addison are fine for a boy, assuming you want him to grow up gay." Again, I've never seen Madison and Addison for girls be convicted of making girls manly, but it's common to see Madison and Addison for boys be accused of "making boys gay, girly, weak and gender confused."



Case in point - your ENTIRE argument has been overturned one point at a time and is now moot.



...



So now, all that's left is for you to:



1. Give me (or Ninja Robot) BA for answering your concerns in factual and meticulous detail.

2. Give BA over to a brown-noser who has written not half as much as I have (with none of the facts or reasoning added), but who has told you exactly what you wanted to hear.

3. Delete this question out of shame and embarrassment, change your username and pretend that this never happened.

4. Leave this question to Voting because you don't care for the above three.



The ball is in your court.
♥ Ninja Robot ♥
12 years ago
It's not about the letters that are in the name. It's about what those letters signify. Names that end in -son do so because they literally mean 'son of [name]'. Samantha and Amanda do not mean 'man', just like Virginia does not mean 'virgin' and Bridget does not mean 'bridge'. Such a comparison is, in all honesty, quite immature. When people say that "Madison and Addison are boy names", they are simply stating a fact - Madison and Addison were originally purely masculine names. Of course, where I live, Madison is purely feminine, and Addison doesn't exactly have a gender, being as rare as it is, but other people do live in places where those names are still used on boys. And to assume that names progress everywhere else in the world the same way they progress for you is really quite egotistical.
anonymous
12 years ago
Alison does not mean "son of Al", but rather it's a Medieval English diminutive of Alice. It's a classic name for women.



It's not about the letters spelling "son" or "man" in a name. That's irrelevant. It's about the history and etymology. Madison and Addison are really surnames, but would make more sense used on boys.



It's not about the child growing up to be girly or a tomboy. It's about tacky baby name trends.



I can't hate on Madison too much because that's what my cousin named her daughter.
?
9 years ago
Some suggestions that would fit the standards provided... - Maddox - Atticus - Grayson - Maxwell / Maxim - Auden - Blake / Blaine / Blaise - Mason - Archer - Bailey - Mackenzie - Jackson / Jack - Avery - Drake - Paxton - Asher / Ashton / Ashby - Hadley - Jasper - Dashiell - Axel - Basil - Fallon - Maverick - Dawson - Evan - Austin - Wyatt - Graham - Jason - Landon - Sawyer - Rowan - Harper - Dylan - Fletcher [ No A but has a similarish short A sound] - Easton - Harvey - Jameson [ If they don't mind it with their first son's middle ]
Josephine
12 years ago
Because they are. :P Technically Madison and Addison are not female names, hence the 'son' on the end. Alison being a rare exception. I personally dislike both and would say Madison and Addison are trendy, boring and unfeminine.
blank
12 years ago
Actually there was a debate on here about a year ago saying that Alison was male because son at the end.I personally do not like it on a girl myself or a boy.It is the feminine on a boy.But to masculine on a girl because of the son part.
?
12 years ago
Allison is a boys name, if you'd care to look.



Names are totally different to words.



The rest is your opinion and not based on anything.
`*•.(`*•.♥ Taylor ♥.•*´).•*`
12 years ago
Its because in the old days instead of naming a boy 'Junior' or 'the second' the would just add 'son' to dads name.

Jack would have a boy named Jackson and so on



<3 Taylor
anonymous
12 years ago
Who thinks Madison is a strict boy name...?

I mean, I'm sure there are boys with this name, but last time I checked it was primarily used as a girl name.



Addison just sounds very masculine.

And I don't see how Addy would be so strange on a boy.



But wat yes saying a child's name will decide their personality is idiotic. Just what.
Snid
12 years ago
In some countries those ARE boy's names. I wouldn't get so upset over it.
K
12 years ago
you're...... completely overthinking this


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