Would a boy named "Valery" in the US have hard time?
Replies
Probably, given that in English Valerie doesn't have a male counterpart like it does in most languages.
If I saw the name without the boy - I would assume female, sorry.
However, I love Val as a nn for boys and I do like Valery. I think it is workable, as long as the child is aware that people might mistake the name as feminine sometimes.
I have met many a person with a cross-gendered name that made it just fine.
I know Stacey and Kim and Meredith and Karol that are guys and it's not a problem (those are all unisex or male btw).
I know Brett, Kyle, James and Gianni "jonny" that are girls... with no problems.
It will highly depend on the child to pull it off and whether they are sensitive to name issues. But, with all the names today - I doubt kids will know that Valerie is just for girls until they are old enough to know not to tease.
However, I love Val as a nn for boys and I do like Valery. I think it is workable, as long as the child is aware that people might mistake the name as feminine sometimes.
I have met many a person with a cross-gendered name that made it just fine.
I know Stacey and Kim and Meredith and Karol that are guys and it's not a problem (those are all unisex or male btw).
I know Brett, Kyle, James and Gianni "jonny" that are girls... with no problems.
It will highly depend on the child to pull it off and whether they are sensitive to name issues. But, with all the names today - I doubt kids will know that Valerie is just for girls until they are old enough to know not to tease.
This message was edited 11/11/2014, 12:56 PM
LOL, YES, definitely.
It would depend on where he lived, how American he / his family were, whether he tolerated mispronunciation of the name, and whether he went by a nickname. (The less Russian he seems, the fewer immigrants live in his area, the more he tolerated being called "Valerie," and going by Valery instead of Val or another nickname, the harder time he would have)
At my kids' school a boy named Valery would not have a hard time at all - there are lots of different immigrants here - assuming he was bilingual, and could and did speak his own name with a real Russian accent. But even if he were obviously not an immigrant and only approximated the Russian prn, it would go unremarked by his peers at least until high school, and probably through it. People would only tease someone for the name, if they were going to tease him for whatever name he had.
At my kids' school a boy named Valery would not have a hard time at all - there are lots of different immigrants here - assuming he was bilingual, and could and did speak his own name with a real Russian accent. But even if he were obviously not an immigrant and only approximated the Russian prn, it would go unremarked by his peers at least until high school, and probably through it. People would only tease someone for the name, if they were going to tease him for whatever name he had.
Yes. The female name Valerie is very well known here.
Only in that people would regularly mispronounce his name. But I don't think he would get razzed about it sounding feminine.
I have met a male Ashley, and he looked embarrassed when called by his full name. His reaction suggested that years of teasing had taken a toll. When he used his library card, he was told that he couldn't checkout books using someone else's card. A male Valery might endure similar issues unless he was obviously Russian complete with accent.