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Rowan I see as more of a femenine name, a dark haired beauty perhaps, a sweet child and a kind adult. River I see as a spritely child and a strong man.

Rowan is a man (strongly prefer it for males) or a very mannish woman, likely to be white; I picture someone plain, and smart. River's either sex, but I prefer it as a male name. It seems a little celeb-styled to me, especially on females. White; young, maybe a little eccentric or airheaded. Not that I really have that expectation of real people with the name, just that various associations make me picture a River as sort of superficial and dreamy.

I love both names. They're on my 'would use' list for girls (Rowan is currently my nonexistent first daughter's name) but I like them on boys well enough. I've liked Rowan for a girl for a long time- when I started liking it all I knew was that it was a tree, and I didn't know it was more common for boys. I've used River on a few female characters, and then there's River Tam... :P
A boy Rowan would be shy as a kid and then more boisterous as he grew up, and he's have brown slightly curly hair and tan skin. A boy River would have straight brown hair, be skinny but not awkwardly, and have a good sense of humor but be sort of quiet. A girl Rowan would have long brown hair, be tall, nice, and scholarly; when she grew up she'd be slightly aloof but not in a bad way. A girl River would have brown hair, be short/medium height, friendly, and more athletic; she'd become slightly less athletic and more professional as an adult but still be friendly.

This message was edited 11/29/2010, 8:27 PM

I see both as masculine. Rowan to me is very suave and classy, and River is more bohemian and artsy, but I like both of them a lot. They are both high on my male names list.
I'm not really sure about them for girls, because I've never seen them that way.

1. Rowan
A. male
1. boy: to be honest, a really annoying kid comes to mind. :p
2. man: maybe a businessman or something. but i'm actually not getting too great an impression of this name. this is a really good formula for checking names! because i looked at Rowan originally and thought it was a pretty decent name. haha!
B. female
1. girl: a very sweet, sincere little girl.
2. woman: someone who can hold her own, a hard worker and very self-confident

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2. River
A. male
1. boy: a very adventurous, hyper, fun and cute little boy.
2. man: haha, go figure i'm imagining a very outdoorsy guy. maybe a hunter or rough and tumble kind of guy. a family man.
B. female
-just generally not liking this name on a girl

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Extra note: My cousin is expecting twins and her ideas are:
boys:
1. River
2. Forest
girls:
1. Brooke
2. Ocean

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Thought you would maybe like those :)

This message was edited 11/29/2010, 9:21 PM

I can't picture a girl with either name.

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I would picture a male Rowan of any age as perfectly ordinary. I would picture a male River as slightly nervous and downtrodden.

I would never burden a child, boy or girl, with either name