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bad idea

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Ezra is not a unisex name.
I think it's ugly on a boy, and that just doubles and triples into infinity if somebody thinks it would be a good name for a girl.

When I named my son Ezra back in 2005, no one I knew or met had ever heard it (outside the Bible/history, and even that was rare), and I often got, "Oh! So it's a girl!" comments - apparently the name sounds super-feminine to a lot of people for whatever reason. It has always felt totally masculine to me, so Ezra for a girl had never crossed my mind, and it honestly got to the point where it was super annoying that people would immediately assume he was a girl as soon as they heard his name. I suppose any name can be unisex if you really want, but I think Esra would be much nicer for a girl - to me it sounds (or at least looks like it would sound) a bit like Esther, which makes it feel more feminine. It could even be used as a diminutive of Esther or a combination of Esther and Ezra.

This message was edited 7/12/2015, 4:02 PM

No, no, no! I am really against this trend of seeing all names as gender neutral and swapping names to either side. Ezra is a masculine name, it has always been a masculine name and it should stay a masculine name. There are plenty of girl names out there to choose from, plenty!

I knew this day would come :/

The first time I heard the name Ezra, I thought it was a girls name. It's that 'a' on the end. It makes it seem feminine in a society where Joseph is a boy's name and Josepha is girl's name. That is not true of every society though. The name as grown on me and I like Ezra for a boy... So much so that I struggled with a character from "Fairy Tail" being named Erza (just a mere switch of letters). I preferred her title of Titania because Erza made me think Ezra which is permanently registered as a boy's name to me.

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The fact of the matter is that people have borrowed from male names to have girl names for years and years. It seems like we're running out of use-able masculine names because everyone keeps converting girl names. The gender swapping annoys me, a lot, but you're the one naming your child. If it's a girl, Ezra could certainly work. You two just have to go with what feels right.

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Personally, I think your suggestion of Esra as a variation is really cool. It sounds like a nice compromise, especially if you're willing to give up Ezra as a son's name.

If each of you think this is the best choice - why not?

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If each of you think this is the best choice - why not? NT

If you'll look at that link for the name Esra, it is already a name for a girl. Maybe not related to Ezra, but still pretty cool. :)

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Personally, I'm into the gender neutral names and such. I've got a coworker named Elijah, and it really suits her, though she's not in the least bit boyish or masculine!

I like Ezra as a guy name. As a name for a woman it seems acceptable, but to me undesirable. I don't think it's that bad to use it for girls, but I wouldn't want to be a female Ezra at all. Because it's a classic masculine name and I feel sure it'll remain so, and any girls named Ezra during the height of its popularity where it "crosses over" genders, will seem to have mannish names when they get older. Like the female Dales born in the 1950s, female Adrians of the 70s, female Kyles of the 80s, somewhat the female Jordans of the 90s, female Ryans, and possibly female Rowans someday. I'd be very surprised if it became so much more common on girls that it "switched genders" or even began to be perceived as unisex - I guess it could happen but it's hard for me to imagine. I would not mind having a name perceived as unisex, but I wouldn't want to be a woman with a name perceived as a man-name.

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Also, Ezra on a girl seems sort of artificial - like a respelling of Esra meant to deliberately obscure the sex of the bearer, hedging bets because the feminine name Esra exists.

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I like Esra, by the way, and Isra.

This message was edited 7/12/2015, 7:37 PM

No, try Esra or Isra for a girl. I personally find masculine names on girls to be absolutely, cruel, ignorant and pathetic. Masculine names on girls is completely fine but feminine or "feminine" names on boys is WW3. Many names in my book are "black & white" as the way I'd phrase it; a name is either a boys name or a girls name, with a small percentage being for both. Ezra is simply a boys name

It works, but I think it's ugly for either sex.

I think it works. I love Ezra a lot, on a boy, but I wouldn't cringe if I met a girl Ezra. I might even warm up to it more, now that I've thought about it.

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I don't see the big fuss about "stealing" boys names and using them for girls though. So people might see her name written down and assume she's a boy. So what!

Ezra is my nephew's name so I find it to be very masculine. He's called Ez a lot and I can't honestly imagine that on a female. The nn comes about very organically so the likelihood of it happening to anyone with the name is fairly high, imo. Ez comes across even more masculine sounding than the full name.

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BTW, my dd has a good friend named Elisha who is a male and his name seems more feminine to me than Ezra. In fact, it took me a good while to be able to appreciate his name. Having said this, I can picture Elisha for a female much, much easier than Ezra which seems so strong, powerful and masculine to me.

I'd say no. You wouldn't name a girl Joshua, would you?

This message was edited 7/13/2015, 1:08 AM

I know a girl called Esra. She's from Turkey, where it apparently is a unisex name. She's very nice, but I still don't like the name. Especially not for a girl.

I would go with Esra so there is less confusion.

No, I do not think it is appropriate for a girl or feminine. The -a ending doesn't make everything feminine (e.g. Joshua), and the thinking that it does deems the parents seemingly uneducated, especially in the case of Ezra.

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Esmée, a similar sound, is quite a nice alternative.

No way.

I think Ezra on a girl is pretty rad, honestly. Way radder than a boy Ezra.