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[Opinions] Adrian
I met a woman named Adrian recently, and I thought her name was interesting! Adrian is usually a male name, but it really seemed to work for her. WDYT of it as a girls’ name?*previously posted as summitseeker*
--hike more / worry less--
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I love Adrian for a boy, hate it for a girl.
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Take a look at the popularity chartsAdrian was used as a female name for a period of time before switching over to being mostly male. I don't like it for either gender.
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Mostly as a misspelling or alternate spelling of Adrienne.
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Shawn & AdrianBoth of these names were used for girls, both around the same period of time. Both of the names swung back to mostly Masculine.
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Neither of these were ever "more feminine" though. Even at their peaks they leaned more male. Most people wouldn't call Erin masculine, but Erin (m) and Adrian (f) have pretty similar charts.I don't agree with Lia that people were "misspelling" Adrian though. I'm sure it feels good to assume everyone's stupid and can't spell but it's probably just that people preferred that spelling. Adrienne was also on the chart at that time.
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Yes, more masculine...but I still remember people being unsure if Shawn was male or female. And I also remember a few female Adrians.Interesting about Erin.
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I don’t have a huge aversion to people using typically masculine names for girls but I can’t get on board with this. Adrian is one of my favourite names for a boy and I would use it in a heartbeat but it does not sound nice on a girl, especially when there is a feminine version.
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I prefer Adrienne. It's basically the same name, but I like the French feminization of it.
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Wow, Adrian's actually very popular in the US for boys! That's news to me because I've never met any, unless I count one of my cousins who has it as a MN because he was named after a great-great uncle or something and used to complain that it was too feminine. I went to school with at least two girls named Adrian or Adrienne. I wonder if it's starting to sound dated for girls, though?I don't think Adrian vs Adrienne for a girl is a big deal; it seems like Vivian vs Vivienne to me. It's one of those names that I like the sound of well enough but that means "from (somewhere random in Eurasia)", so I doubt I'll ever love it.

This message was edited 5/23/2018, 4:01 AM

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It seems like an unnecessary complication. She gets a lifetime of explaining sex, gender and spelling in return for what exactly? And, certainly where I live, Adrienne sounds exactly like Adrian, so there's no issue there. You can't say you like the sound of Adrian better than the sound of Adrienne, unless Adrienne sounds very different elsewhere.I love Adrian and would use it for a son without hesitation. Adrienne isn't one of my favourite fem forms.
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Maybe it’s because there are a lot of Francophones where I live, but here it could be pronounced AY-dree-en, a-dhree-EN, or anywhere in between. It’s one of those names where I’d ask if I saw it written down, like Genevieve.
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It was a fairly big fad due to Rocky. Now I think it seems mannish. Especially since Adriana exists, and Adrienne exists and is pronounced the same or nearly so. I don't mind it on adult women but I'm not thrilled by Adrian as a name for a girl baby.It's kind of like Dale on a woman, which is one I actually like. I think Adrian is more mannish though. Dale is more naturally a gender neutral shape for a name to have, since it's a word as well as a surname. But Adrian is Latin and Latin has gender, so Adrian will always be a man name to me (same with Vivian, but I find it less ugly on women because I'm more used to it).I've met little girls named Adria, and liked that.

This message was edited 5/23/2018, 12:35 AM

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I love Adrian for a boy, but I much prefer Adrienne for a girl.
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Are you sure of the spelling. Adrienne is often pronounced like Adrian.
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Yo! Adrian!It wasn't even the actual name of the character in Rocky; if I recall her name was Adrienne or Adriana and Rocky mispronounced it.
No, it's not a good name for a girl. (I happen to think it's not a good name for a boy either but that's neither here or there.) Adrienne and Adriana are perfectly good feminine versions of Adrian and there's no need to use Adrian.
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Completely forgot about the Rocky connection! Lol.Btw I’ve always thought Adrian and Adrienne were pronounced the same. I’m not sure how you would say them differently.
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You pronounce Adrian bluntly, like Adrian Brody, and Adrienne sounds French (because it is). So, its Ay-dree-in and Ay-dree-enn.
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I do know two women named Adrienne who pronounce it the same as Adrian.
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I'm willing to bet the Adrian you met has had Yo! Adrian! used on her many, many times.Adrienne is pronounced (in the US, anyway, the two I've known) Ay-dree-ENN.
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The two Adriennes I've known, also US are Adrian pen. I far prefer ay-dree-ENN.
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Yes, the 2-3 I've met pronounced it like Adrian as well.
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Same here. I've never known an Adrienne who pronounced it with the accent on the last syllable. I honestly can't see too many Americans making the effort to do that.

This message was edited 5/24/2018, 1:36 PM

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Makes sense, although the last-syllable emphasis prn. sounds very similar (almost exactly the same to me). I kind of prefer it pronounced like Adrian.
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Yeah, I knew an Adrienne who pronounced it like Adrian.
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So did I, in high school. Outside of Francophone places, I think most people would pronounce Adrian and Adrienne the same way. Whenever a customer at work tells me she's Adrian/Adrienne (happened a few times), I always have to verify spelling. I've even seen Adrianne now and then, but I'm not a fan of that spelling because it makes me think the name is ay-dree-AN.
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Oh! And...There was a song by a band called The Calling entitled Adrienne, and they, too, pronounced it like Adrian. lol it was one of my favorite songs as a teen.
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I loved that song too!
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AY drian
addri ENN
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yupI'd pronounce it ad ree EN too.
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