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ArchivesRe: People were actually naming their boys Ines?!
in reply to a message by MasterCiaraXo
Look up any popular name from the early through through mid-20th century and you will find an apparent low level of usage for the opposite sex, due to coding errors when entering the data. Of course, it's impossible to "prove" that any name was never used for the opposite sex, but looking at the big picture it's clear that there was a certain small percentage of mistakes across the board.
But if you compare the chart of names like Florence or Robert with names that were genuinely unisex (e.g. Terry) it's obvious from the graph that the name was used for both boys and girls, because the "error" line is not flat. The graph for Inez has the expected flat line for boys. Ines is a little different. As you said, it was less common overall, but I think it's suspicious that the SSA records as many boys as it does. 21 girls and 13 boys named Ines in 1942--that looks like more than just a mistake. Without having any more specific information about it, it does appear to me that Ines has had a small amount of use as a boy's name.
But if you compare the chart of names like Florence or Robert with names that were genuinely unisex (e.g. Terry) it's obvious from the graph that the name was used for both boys and girls, because the "error" line is not flat. The graph for Inez has the expected flat line for boys. Ines is a little different. As you said, it was less common overall, but I think it's suspicious that the SSA records as many boys as it does. 21 girls and 13 boys named Ines in 1942--that looks like more than just a mistake. Without having any more specific information about it, it does appear to me that Ines has had a small amount of use as a boy's name.
This message was edited 10/17/2021, 7:05 AM
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