I don't mind using family/friend names i just wouldn't use a name of someone I see all the time it wouldn't feel right to me.I never knew Jean was a unisex name. I like Jean though as it's a family name.
It's pronounced differently for males. More like Zhawn? (It's French.) But it's spelled exactly the same. And there's a masculine name pronounced the same as Jean for a girl: Gene. Like GeneKelly. Usually sort for Eugene, I think.
I'v heard of Eugene/Gene as really far back in my boyfriends family tree they came from France so I seen quite a few of them. That being said I never knew it was similar to Jean.
Gene and Jean are unrelated as far as I know; it's just that they are pronounced exactly the same.It's Jean, the French form of John, that's spelled the same (and also related).