View Message

Jessamy for a boy?
So, I'm really digging Jessamy as a masculine middle name. I guess the similar pronunciation to Jeremy is what makes it sound masculine to me. I can't picture it on a girl. Wdyt?
Wdyto Gilead Jessamy?
Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

I like it. Perhaps it's because of my love of Jesse. It sort of reminds me of how I pronounced Gethsemane when I was little. I definitely think the kid would be picked on if it was a first name, but behind Gilead, it's not bad.
vote up1
I know a girl named Jessamy, so it's very tied up with female-ness to me. I think it sounds more like Jessamine than Jeremy too, which adds to its femininity for me.
vote up1
It's an archaic English word for jasmine. Looks like Bosnia & Herzegovina is the only place where a form of Jasmine is still common on boys:
http://www.behindthename.com/top/name/jasmin/bh?viewing=graph
- oddly I can imagine Jasmin(e) on a boy much more easily than Jessamy, it's so very girly. And Gilead is (to me anyway) such an unfamiliar name that seeing the combo, I'd assume its owner was a girl.

This message was edited 6/26/2013, 10:31 AM

vote up1
I associate Jessamy strongly with the old novel of the same name by Barbara Sleigh. It's out of print and hard to find, but it still manages to have something of a cult following, in part because the character of Jessamy is a strong, likable girl. To me, it's a very feminine name...sort of a dainty, girlish name at that. I love Jeremy, but Jessamy doesn't remind me of Jeremy at all. Jessamine, Jasmine, and Amy, yes, but not Jeremy. In my eyes, Jessamy is as well-suited for a boy as Jessica. TBH, I would assume Gilead Jessamy was a girl, especially compared to David Royce Huckleberry. While I absolutely don't think sib names need to match like cute little sweater sets, I also don't like it when sib names feel unequal, unharmonious, or completely mismatched. Caemlyn Sparrow Gail and Gilead Jessamy Something would be far less jarring as a pair of sisters.
vote up1
I wouldn't do it... not to a real boy in real life anyway.
vote up1
Tbh, I like it neither for a boy or a girl. Anyway, since it's close to Jessamine it feels feminine to me.
vote up1
I can only picture it on a girl! It's a perfectly respectable version of Jessamine. Especially in the mn position, I'd go for Jeremy. Gilead Jeremy is fine. Gilead Jessamy looks as if it's part of the male-names-on-females fashion and I'd expect Gilead to shorten to Jill!
vote up1
Hmmm... Gilead nn Jill... never would have thought of that since Gilead has a hard g sound.
vote up1
I really prefer Jessamy on a girl, but I don't think it's terrible for a boy. Reminds me of JEsse, and perhaps Jeremy. And as a middle name, who cares? Go ahead and use it if that's what you like.
vote up1
No all girl to me
vote up1
Very feminine to me- when I see it written, I see 'Jess' and 'Amy' which seems girly to me.
vote up1
It sounds made-up to me. I prefer Bellamy.
Gilead doesn't appeal to me, either. But if you want to use Jessamy just as a mn, go for it.
vote up1
Ditto all of this.
vote up1
Not similar enough to Jeremy IMO. I have a very feminine impression of the name Jessamy, and imagining it as a guy name makes me wince as much as imagining Emily as a guy name ... and wince less than I do when imagining Jeremy as a girl name. It doesn't make any sense, but that's my honest impression.
vote up1
I think part of it may be its closeness to Jessamine.
vote up1
It definitely sounds like a girls name to me. I think its the Jess part like Jessica and Jessamine.
vote up1
I don't see why it couldn't be used for a boy. Jessamy's never stuck me as particularly feminine and I'm adoring Jesse at the moment. I could definitely see it working. And honestly, I might steal the idea for a bit of fun. Abel Jessamy was my first combo to mind.I don't really like the combo Gilead Jessamy though. Not that I don't like Gilead, I'm just not feeling the flow.
vote up1
It sounds too made up for both genders
vote up1
It sounds too cutesy for a boy. I think it's cutesy sounding for a girl even.
vote up1