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[Opinions] Joel, Kiko, Miko (girls)
3 names that have been in my mind for girls. Joel was my fave name for a girl freshman year of HS and I'm currently revisiting it. Kiko and Miko are new thought - both pronounced "[k/m]-EE-koh"_______________________________________
“All generalizations are false, including this one.”my names list:
http://www.behindthename.com/pnl/111261**currently my keyboard.... sucks. So please forgive my likely spelling errors**
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I dislike Joel on a girl. (Although I do like the Jo sound....Joanna, Joelle, Josephine with nickname Jo)Kiko sounds like the name of a pet - a parrot specifically!Miko is interesting. I don't love it, but I could get used to it.
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Joel is cute on a boy, but not on a girl. Joella or Joelle is much better.
Kiko and Miko sound Japanese to me, but they are a bit too sweet. I used to have a key-ring plush animal called Kiko (because it sounds like key).
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I'd prefer Joelle for a girl. I don't like Kiko and Miko.
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Wasn't Miko one of Barbie's friends? I think it was, I might be wrong. I like Joelle for a girl cause Joel is all boy to me! Kiko is cute but I like Keiko better.
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Joel is a boys' name, to me there's no changing that fact. Joelle or Jolene or Joellen for a girl. I like Joel okay for a boy, but Joe seems friendlier.Kiko sounds like a goofy nickname for like Katherine, maybe. Self-chosen. Or it reminds me of Keiko the whale.I had a Barbie doll called Miko. She was Polynesian, I guess, had gorgeous black hair down to her knees, which got tangled and matted in no time flat and couldn't be brushed out without the risk of pulling her head off. So I gave her a haircut, which turned out to be pretty good, and only needed my aunt to do a little bit of trimming.
So I guess I associate Miko with the doll and can't really see it on a real person.
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Kiko and Miko sound like exotic pets that will probably turn vicious when adult. Chimpanzees or crocodiles or something.Joel is all male to me. Why not use Joelle, since it exists? Or if you enjoy the sound of Jo, then Joanna, Josephine etc?
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I really like short, one-syllable names for girls (Eve, Gwen, Rose, Gem, Jane, Vaughn, etc) so Joelle, while I do like it doesn't apeal to me in the same way and I've never like those other Jo names
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I like Joel, for a boy. Its weird that someone even consider it for a girl. Seriously. Go with Joelle or something instead.I don't like Kiko and Miko. They sound very immature and nicknamey, but I can see Miko growing on me.
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I mean I know "boys names on girls" are generally frowned upon here and didn't expect anyone to realy like Joel on a girl but I don't get why it's so WEIRD. I mean people name their daughters Ryan, and Devon, and Rowan and on and on so I don't see why Joel is so different. I don't think it's particarly overly masculine sounding
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I've not made any studies on the subject but it does seem that *most* boy names stolen for girls contain softer sounds and components that are already familiar in girl names. Elliott is an example of this. As much as I see Elliott as completely masculine and hate to see it used on girls, logically, it does contain the "ellie" sound, and an ending similar to the "ette" component commonly used in girl names.I'm one who does not enjoy boy names on girls at all but, regarding the specific examples you list here, Devon does work on a girl for me. This is influenced by the softer sounds the name contains and by the fact that I strongly associate it with a beautiful place and thus with feminine pronouns since, by tradition (for English-speakers, anyway), cities/countries/vessels, etc. are referred to as "she"/"her".Ryan and Rowan are completely masculine for me but, logically, I can understand how some people might perceive them as having feminine qualities because they contain softer sounds and similarities to already familiar girl names, such as Diane and Rowena.For me, Joel cannot really be placed in the same "logical" category. Aside from the potential nickname "Jo", there's nothing here that feels recognizable as similar to already familiar girl names. Sound and feel-wise, for me, Joel is overtly more masculine than either Ryan or Rowan, so it makes sense to me that people would perceive it as a stranger choice for a girl.
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But "Jo" is a recognizable sound on a girl, and it's really the ONLY sound. As for the less prominent "uhl" ending there's Cheryl, Carole, Myrtle... But then, every name when broken down probably contains both "masculine" and "feminine" parts. I just don't think Joel screams "MAN!" In the same way that something like Butch, or Arnold, or even Carson or Logan (which I've both seen used on girls before) do. Ryan is to Diane as Joel is to NoelleObviously names conjure different images and impressions for everyone. I'm just having a hard time seeing Joel-on-a-girl as that largely different than Ryan-on-a-girl; other than that Ryan-on-a-girl is heard of.I'm not really that caught up in it. Was just perplexed I suppose
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You make a good point about the ending sound of Cheryl and Myrtle, etc. I wasn't hearing the ending of Joel as being recognizably similar to any feminine names, but it is.Regarding your Ryan to Diane, Joel to Noelle analogy, despite the stress falling differently, the sound components of Ryan, for me, are far closer to that of Diane than is the sound of Joel to Noelle, the latter being very soft and feminine. I realize YMMV.I get what you're saying about the only difference, for you, being that Joel isn't heard of in use for girls but, for me, for whatever reason, Joel still feels more overtly masculine and, while it doesn't scream it quite as loudly as Butch, for me, it's every bit as masculine as Arnold.
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I don't like Joel on a girl. To be fair, I don't like Ryan, Devon, or Rowan on girls either. :) So nope, Joel is no different.
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I like Joel, however, only for a boy.
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