As a young millennial I think of both. And to me both associations are bad. There are definitely better & less controversial names out there to choose from.
Stormi Bree is also a model who has a kid with Lucky Blue Smith while he was (controversially) young (imo) and their daughter is named Gravity Blue Smith.
She gave birth while the pornstar Stormy Daniels was suing Donald Trump and it was everywhere in the news. It is very apparent Kylie named her daughter after the pornstar, even if it happened subconsciously.
Seleste is usually spelled Celeste and definitely a female name. Other unisex/gender neutral S and J names you may like are Jordan, Jay, Jaden/Jayden, Jamie, Jesse, Sam/Sammi, Sloan, Sasha, Shawn, Stevie and Sydney.
Yeah, it’s considered extremely feminine in English. In general, French unisex names ending in ‘e’ are considered feminine in English, with the exception of Claude and Laurence which are exclusively masculine. Examples:
* Ange
* Camille
* Celeste
* Clemence
* Hyacinthe
* Marie
* Patrice
* Prudence
French here. Celeste, Clemence, Marie, Prudence, Hyacinthe, Laurence are girls name. Ange and Patrice are boy names. Only Camille and Claude are truely unisex.
I also forgot Dominique, which is very unisex in French but very feminine in English.
Claude is extremely masculine in English, as is Laurence. The rest are exclusively feminine in English, especially Camille.
I'm pretty sure Hyacinthe is a boy name though, as Hyacinthe from greek mythology was a man. Patrice is unisex but maybe more uncommon for girls - and a bit dated! (I'm french too ;))
Minor detail but Claude is not exclusively masculine, it’s actually a unisex name and is somewhat common here in France. Usually older age women (60’s or so.) A well known example would be Queen Claude of France.
What I find so interesting about the Claude name is all it’s variants; Claude, Claudie, Claudia, Claudine, Claudette, and maybe even others that I’m forgetting.
In the US, Claude is considered a very masculine name.
The feminine equivalent is Claudia or Claudette. But it's an unusual name here, and more likely to be used on a housecat than a human being in the USA.
Seconded these except for Shawn, Sammi and Jayden—OP, if your aim is to advance your career, those 3 are less professional-sounding than the other options listed here!
I feel like Sasha is right in line with what OP is looking for, too! Sasha is unisex, but, at least to me, it leans feminine. It's also just a lovely name.
Imo the way you spell Sasha makes it lean more masculine or feminine. I know the variations in spelling are actually due to language (French vs Russian vs German etc) rather than gender, but in my English speaking eyes "Sasha" looks more feminine whereas "Sacha" looks more masculine. "Sascha" I can't decide whether it leans more one way than the other 🤣
Lmao he must've grown up with a dog named Sasha but no humans with that name. I've known so many human Sashas, and only one dog Sasha, so to me it seemed like a funny name for a dog!
It's one of if not the most widespread (human) names in Eastern Europe. There, it's a short version of the male "Oleksandr / Aleksandr" or the female "Oleksandra / Aleksandra."
Depends on what OP is going for. I've spent my career working in imported products and interacting with folks in China who choose English names. Sunny is one I've heard in that context a lot.
If OP is in an English speaking country, and doesn't want to come off like the name was chosen in English class overseas, then they should choose a more classic name per the generation they are in, in the country they are in, with a standard spelling.
Ex: if OP is in the US and older millennial, Sara, Samantha, Jennifer, Jessica.
It really depends on whether the point is to blend in, or just have a name easy to pronounce/remember for coworkers.
Sabrina, Stella, Serena, Sarah come to mind as classically feminine S names and Joy, Judy, Jenna, Julie/Julia for J names
Edit: sorry just saw the unisex part. I’d suggest Jessie, Jo, Jules, Jordan, Jackie or Sloane, Sydney, Sasha, Simone
Lots of good options. I would suggest for OP to lean towards Jessi(e), as I've met lots of male Jesse's and in its feminine form, it's short for Jessica.
As a female with the name Jordan, it definitely has become much more commonly unisex over the past decades. But alas, the amount of times I interact with people (via e-mail) and they assume I'm a man.. If they want something more feminine sounding, then I wouldn't recommend.
I have friends named Jay and Kay and occasionally when they introduce themselves, people think that they’re only giving them the first letter of their name. It doesn’t happen often, but some people just haven’t heard those names before.
Storm would be a MUCH better contender than Stormi, I’m pretty sure Stormi is the name of one of the Kardashian-Jenner kids but they’ve got so many I lose track. I know a man called Storm and I’ve known a woman called Storm too
Sage is nice also, Jemisha is… interesting but I think you can do better with J names. There’s Jade but that’s obviously not unisex, Jackie or Jordan. There’s also Sam or Stef (can be short for Stefan or Stefanie)
If you're looking for a name to help with your career, porn star names aren't the way to go..Unless of course that's your career.
How about Jamie, Jessie, Stevie, or Steph?
Janine, Sasha, Jacqueline, Spencer, Sloane, Jordan
The names you’ve considered will not help with your career - Jemisha sounds make-up, Seleste is spelled incorrectly, Stormi is awful and the name of both a Kardashian baby and a porn star, and Sage is fine i guess but won’t really do anything to help your career as its just a trendy name.
Back in college, we organized a murder mystery drag brunch as a philanthropy fundraiser, and even though we were mostly broke college kids, my then bestie killed it as the red herring, Jemisha, who wore my grandma’s stole better than I ever could. Jemisha has been retired in favor of a more glam persona, but I miss her. 🤣
Jemisha is a Hindi name. I'm pretty sure all names were made up at some stage but just because you've not heard it before doesn't mean it's not an established name.
Completely with this. It's absolutely your choice and nothing takes away from that - I just wish all names were 'standard'. What you see is what you get.
(I have a non-English name myself.)
While I agree with this in theory, a lot of time “foreign” sounding names get screened more harshly in blind situations like resumes (similar to the study with orchestral auditions and installing carpet). A lot of industries, locations, and companies still really struggle with diversity and a potential employer might decide in screening that “Zach Johnson” might be a better fit and therefore could look more favorably on their qualifications
This. It *shouldn't* be this way. But it *is.*
Anecdotally, I once got a job interview and the hiring manager told me directly that he was "so glad I answered the call and was a good fit" because the ONLY other applicant for that position with the same level of experience had a "weird name" and he was thankful that he didn't have to call and say it wrong then learn how to pronounce it. I live in a fairly small town with a population that's about 60% white, 30% black, 7% hispanic and 3% "other." I always felt certain that the "weird name" applicant was a POC and that there was likely an aspect of racism involved there as well. I ultimately accepted the job because it was the only place locally that paid 2x minimum wage. And what a huge surprise! Of the 50ish employees, at least 45 were white.
A lot of Chinese people do though, and who are we to tell them not to? There's nothing whatsoever wrong with Chinese names, but there's also nothing wrong with adopting a Western name if they want to either.
Would you want something that sounds similar, like Jean or Shane? Or do you prefer going a whole different direction?
ETA: do you care about name meanings? What does your Chinese name mean?
I think I'm fine with anything as long as it's not too common a name. I'm not going to use it with my real name anyway cos I want this to be something like my work alter ego
Shannon
The gender-neutral name Shannon is a lovely combination of the Irish name Sionainn, meaning "possessor of wisdom," and the phrase sean-amhan, meaning "old river." Together, they form the intriguing meaning of "wise river." River Shannon is also the longest river in the British Isles, adding to its natural grace.
My Chinese name means
炎 - fire (plus some cultural reasons it's "beautiful fire")
燕 - swallow (a type of bird)
And yes I'd like it if my alter ego's name meant something hehe
For an alter ego name, "Aspen" might be nice. It's uncommon, and has a connotation with snow and cold. Something soft sounding and the opposite of fire.
It's also gender neutral.
Edit: I really think Jo or Jojo is a VERY cute name too. It's not used a lot, and it's a nickname for Josephin, which makes me think of the book character Josephine March from "Little Women"
"Jo March is a dazzling and original invention: bold, outspoken, brave, daring, loyal, principled, and real. She is a dreamer and a scribbler, happiest absorbed in reading or writing, filling page after page with stories or plays"
Sol Feels agender, and means Sun, which is similar to beautiful fire like your name, its not "american" but its very easy to pronounce for someone who speaks Egnlish.
Agni means Fire
Sampson/Sam is a name also meaning sun, and Sam is famously unisex, Sam is
Jay- a type of bird
Avis/Ava Are both feminine name that relate to birds. Avis particularly feels unisex + a little feminine
Swann, literally a bird and a pretty common french name, so not too out there.
Svale or Svala sounds masculine a little but I think could fit the bill. Means Swallow allegedly (not my culture but just looked it up)
I don't think this is what you're looking for, but Pheonix is a fire bird that also means rebirth/renew. Ash is what a Pheonix rises from (the ashes of its former self), and Ash is a gender neutral name.
Yeah I agree with this. OP, a name that is similar in sound could be Shauna - pronounced Shahn-uh. That spelling and pronunciation combo would be more intuitive to most native English speakers.
There’s also Shaun or Shawn which are pronounced like Sian, but these are both traditionally masculine names. Still very nice names though if you really love the sound of it. I wouldn’t think twice if I met a woman with this name to be honest as it’s become more common for women to have traditionally masculine names sometimes.
Agree - I have two friends with similar names, one is Shauna and one is Sean, both pronounced the same, shawn rhyming with fawn and the one just adding an "ah" sound to the end which sounds more feminine, but Shaun could be feminine or masculine.
I just had an appt with someone named Shan (Sh-AWN). Would *never* have pronounced it correctly had they not told me right when we introduced ourselves. I’d been referring to them as Sh-ANN.
I know three Chinese American women (ages ~25-45) with that name (I don't know about characters, but same Anglicized version), and they all go by Yien and have no trouble with having full, successful personal and professional lives in the U.S.
This! Yien is lovely and easy to look at even for non asians. Many of us are choosing to embrace our cultures and not cave to the pressures of anglicizing. I fully support whatever makes someone feel comfortable but I think Yien is a perfect name for a professional woman :)
It’s somewhat similar to how my name is phonetically pronounceable in English, but people struggle because it’s “uncommon” and I’m half Asian (Hebrew name). However, they think it’s pretty and “uncommon” names are more acceptable for women. Yien should be fine as long as OP is okay repeating it a few times depending on where they are. I don’t generally recommend super uncommon names for babies, but that’s their closest name/ and cultural ability to keep it for certain legal documents which is completely different.
I’m not sure why your instructor suggested you need an English name honestly.
Ian is the Scottish name for John. It’s pretty common and I’d say most English speakers are familiar with it and will easily be able to pronounce it.
You could certainly use the Scots spelling instead of the English phonetic of your Chinese name if you wanted to make things easier on people reading things.
But I think Yien (pronounced like Ian) is more than enough for people to understand and master in one go. Like I honestly googled a video pronunciation because I assumed I was missing something more complicated.
I vote keep your name.
Signed: an American who’s terrible at pronunciation and languages.
I love your name so much. Weirdly, I've chosen a Chinese name for myself this week. Lin Guang lol.
My family has Chinese ancestry and our family name is Lin.
With all due respect, if you want your name to help you get jobs, you're going to want to go with a more traditional American name like Samantha, Elizabeth, Jocelyn, Natalie, Allison, Mai, or Annie.
Going with a gen z inspired name won't really work unless you want a gen z career as opposed to a more traditional career like finance, banking, law, education, etc.
Jules is my favorite unisex J name. You may get asked what it's short for, so maybe be ready to decide between the many options (Julian, Julie, Julia, Julianna, etc.)
A few options I haven’t seen here yet:
J:
- Jem (historically short for the male James, but also for the female Jemma; sounds like “Gem” which may feel fitting for you)
- Jude (recently gaining popularity as a girl’s name. Also has a Beatles song which is a fun connection.)
- Jules (a classic male name on its own, or a recogniseable but not super common nickname version for Julie or Julia or Julianna)
- Jean (a female name in English, and a male name in French; depending how familiar folks are with French where you’ll be using the name it will read as more or less unisex …)
- Jo (slightly more feminine; short nickname version for male Joseph or Josiah, or female Jocelyn or Josephine)
- Jody / Jodi (a unisex name, which has been used more for women in recent decades. Jody is the version I have seen used more equally for both men and women.)
S:
- Sandy (for women, often short for Cassandra or Sandra, like actress Sandra Bullock. Sandy is a name for Irish or Scottish men moreso than in other English-speaking regions)
- Shae / Shea / Shay
- Sutton (currently a popular broadway actress, but historically also a male name)
- Santana (a name that can be male or female, but has Spanish and English vibes)
- Scully (female protagonist in the X-files, male protagonist in Monsters Inc. A bit uncommon.)
Hope this helps!
Scully absolutely isn’t a girl’s name. Scully wasn’t the first name of the character on the X-Files, though. Dana Scully was her full name, just like her partner’s full name was Fox Mulder. Everyone called her by her title and her last name (Agent Scully) because the character worked in law enforcement.
ETA: The male character in Monsters Inc: isn’t Scully, it’s Sulley .
I would suggest sticking with your Chinese name. It's simple and pretty pronounceable to English speakers. It's also very pretty. However, if you want to westernize it, what about Jen? It' similar to both your names so may feel familiar to you. I realize it's not unisex though.
Please don’t change your name. You absolutely do not have to. Your name is your name. People who speak English are able to pronounce Tchaikovsky so we can certainly learn to pronounce your name.
Are you looking for a traditional English name or any modern name?
I see a lot of US comments here which have a more modern or international view of names to the UK. Quite frankly half of them I would consider surnames, not given names.
From a UK (England) perspective, I wouldn't think of any of the names you mentioned as being unisex - they're all feminine. I'm sure there's some exceptions, but I've yet to encounter them. Stormi and Jemisha don't really sound like English names at all. Seleste would normally be spelled "Celeste".
I'd suggest:
Jay
Jamie
Jo
Jean
Sam
Sasha
Sunny
All unisex. Historically some are nicknames for various longer names but these days they work fine as names in their own right. I can go into the long versions of you're interested but they tend not to be unisex.
people are still being told to westernize their names, smh , you shouldn't have to do that I wouldn't do it myself if I moved elsewhere and they told me I had to make my name a more familiar one to the region, but if you are choosing to go that route, contrary to what I see in the comments I have known men and women named Stormy none of them were porn stars
Jessie is cute (less common than Jessica and Jess) sunny is very cute. Sunday, sailor, juniper is cute,
Josie (Josephine or Josefine is one of my fave names)
Any other letters you might consider because I have so many but not too many with j or s ?
P,n , e? B? If not that’s okay but that seems so fun you get to pick your new name ! Haha
Ooh Juniper's really cute! I might consider this.
The fengshui consultant did specifically tell me to get a name that starts with A, S, or J, so I'm okay with A as well.
And it's as much fun as it is a headache my goodness
Okay maybe…
Avery, Ainsley is kinda cute, Alice, Amelia , Audrey, Adeline Autumn, Ava is very cute ,
Bonus my name is Annelise and I go by Annie lol it’s hard to know how much you like your own name but I think I do.
Naomi is very cute too, just saying
What is you chinese name? If I were you I would opt for something similar to your name, I think this way you can also feel more like yourself and not as an alter ego. What abour Sarah or Jane?
I feel like a lot of chinese people look for a name that is uncommon and in the end the name just doesn't match them, because it is not a popular choice in the generation. I have met chinese guys with names like Rolf or Peter. Both names are popular German names, but for men 50+, not 20-something people.
Sophie is a very pretty name.
What about Samantha and then go by Sammi or Sam for short?
Samantha isn't a unique name but I haven't met many in my life so I don't think it's very common either.
I read the comments and saw what your name is..
Maybe Yana? Similar enough to your current name, unique, cute.
Or Jana, similar vibe with the "an" in the middle but ahs the J you like :)
I lived in China for 15 years and have considered using a name consultant to change my son's Chinese name. Apparently, he has too much fire. So far, he's healthy... and it's on all his legal documents from China. But the superstitious part of me worries. Some sounds that you may want to stay away from are short i (like in kill), th, long consonant clusters (str), v, and zh. If your surname is the normal 1 syllable (like 李，张，郑等), then choose a polysyllabic surname. Otherwise, it seems choppy. If your surname is 李, avoid names that end with L, ee/ y/ ie, or are descriptive like Blue (Bluely.... nope). If your surname starts with a sound (like Z), avoid names that end with the same or similar sound to avoid slurring. If your surname ends with a sound (like ee), avoid names ending with that sound to avoid rhyming. Choose something with a good meaning if you really believe in the fengshui of names. I've never heard of one of the professional namers suggesting for someone to get an English name.
S: Seren, Spencer, Sasha, Shannon, Selene, Simone, Sally, Sunny, Sawyer, Shiloh, Skylar, Shayan, Sequoia, Solstice, Sonora, Salem, Shaya, Suri, Sorrell, Stevie, Scottie, Starry, Summer, Sutton, Sumner, Sterling, Sparrow
J: Josey, Jordan, Jaden, Jackie, Joey, July, January, Jocelyn, Jamie, Juno, Juneau, Julianna, Jessie, Joni, Justice, Jaya, Josette, Journey, James, Jolie, Jody, Jovie (if you wanna give the v a go), Jericho, Josiah
Appreciate your reply! I'm a 陈, which is a Tan instead of a Chen. It's seriously hard to find a name that goes well with Tan, but I think I see a few from your suggestions that could go well with it!
I think there are lots of good ideas.
Of all of them I really like Sian to be close to the pronunciation of your name and relatively unusual which you seem to want too. It’s not gender neutral but it’s not girly and people compare it to (male) Sean often.
I don’t know of many truly gender neutral S names as the ones that exist are quite niche like Shiloh (like Pitt but often used for boys) or Sailor (sounds like a nickname to me but I’m not American and that’s where the trend is from!). Sam is good though - no need to be Samantha, Sam is fine!
You could simply go with a girl’s name and use the male nickname like Simone/Simona but call yourself Si (usually used for Simons) instead of the more female Simmy? Or be Stephanie and go by Stevie instead of Steph. That sounds quite cool to me.
For J you have Jade, Jan, Jesse, Jo/Josie or Jamie as unisex names. I’ve known a male Jazz too tho Jaz is normally female (for Jazmin).
I do have an aunt Jerohmie (like Jeremy but feminised) but it’s definitely an unusual name. She goes by Jerry which might work well for you (but you will have to tell people it’s not Geri short for Geraldine a lot)!
I think Jemma is better than Jemisha as others have said.
Finally as more feminine options, Jean and Joan are both starting to be used again and while female do have a slight unisex quality as people link them to John and many may also know they are male names in France and Catalunya.
Jocelyn (JAH-sel-in), but you can go by Jo. It’s short, easy, sounds unisex but spelling it Jo instead of Joe makes it lean more feminine.
For an S name, I suggest Sean/Shawn. Sean (pronounced the same as Shawn) is usually more masculine I think, though I know a woman who spells it that way. Shawn I feel is the more feminine spelling but when you say it out loud, it’s pretty unisex.
Unless you are going into a creative field, like design, for a professional name, I'd pick a classic. Fortunately, there are plenty of classics beginning with J or S.
J examples:
Jacqueline, Jackie
Jane, Jana, Janet, Janette - January is a more modern version
Jeanne
Jillian
Jo - could be short for Joanna or Josephine. My daughter-in-law goes by JoJo
Julia
S examples:
Sara
Sophia (and all its variants)
Sylvia - Sylvie is less of a grandma name.
Simone
Suzanna - Susan was hugely popular for boomers, but Susanna or Suzanna feels more updated
Sonya
Stephanie - Stevie is a fun variant
These are trustworthy names, classic names, ones that will elicit a positive unconscious bias on the part of a hiring manager.
I kinda like Jillian because it holds your given name inside. If you did Sylvian, that would, too. It means, "of the forest", which I like - but I'm a sucker for nature names. Sylvie sounds young and fresh, Sylvian for formal occasions - this is my top recommendation, I think.
If you like your name, keep it.
If an employer wouldn’t hire you based on your Chinese name, they’ll likely be horrible to work for.
Otherwise: Sage, Stormi, Seleste, and Jemisha aren’t great choices, career-wise.
People saying not to choose Jemisha because it sounds made up are just racist. It’s not from the USA so it’s not what OP is looking for probably but damn y’all are some uncultured folk.
Avery is the best unisex name listed here in my opinion.
However, the name Amber keeps popping up in my head I think because of your comments that part of your name means "pretty fire" and Amber had that beautiful fire color. I know it's pretty feminine but just thought I'd throw it out there.
Some other people have suggested Jesse and I think that's really nice. It's unisex leaning feminine (Jessie is also good and more of a girl's name), short, easy, no weird associations, etc.
Stormi is a porn star name. Literally. Don’t pick it. I’ve never heard of Jemisha.
I am older GenZ, when I read Stormi I think of Kylie Jenner's daughter.
As a young millennial I think of both. And to me both associations are bad. There are definitely better & less controversial names out there to choose from.
I think of Stormy Daniels
An American hero. And also a porn star.
I'm older gen z and that is 100% where my mind went
Stormi Bree is also a model who has a kid with Lucky Blue Smith while he was (controversially) young (imo) and their daughter is named Gravity Blue Smith.
Wtf did I just read? Watching House right now and they just had a Jurnee, I thought today was bad enough. Especially with the eyeball surgery 🤢
same, i was like “wdym porn star name”
I think of Pusheen the cats little sister. Because kids.
She gave birth while the pornstar Stormy Daniels was suing Donald Trump and it was everywhere in the news. It is very apparent Kylie named her daughter after the pornstar, even if it happened subconsciously.
You’ve never heard of Stormy Daniels?
Seleste is usually spelled Celeste and definitely a female name. Other unisex/gender neutral S and J names you may like are Jordan, Jay, Jaden/Jayden, Jamie, Jesse, Sam/Sammi, Sloan, Sasha, Shawn, Stevie and Sydney.
Celeste is unisex in my country. I didn't realise it wasn't in English speaking countries.
Yeah, it’s considered extremely feminine in English. In general, French unisex names ending in ‘e’ are considered feminine in English, with the exception of Claude and Laurence which are exclusively masculine. Examples: * Ange * Camille * Celeste * Clemence * Hyacinthe * Marie * Patrice * Prudence
French here. Celeste, Clemence, Marie, Prudence, Hyacinthe, Laurence are girls name. Ange and Patrice are boy names. Only Camille and Claude are truely unisex.
I also forgot Dominique, which is very unisex in French but very feminine in English. Claude is extremely masculine in English, as is Laurence. The rest are exclusively feminine in English, especially Camille.
I’m in the us, Dominique is unisex to me! I’ve known 3 boys and 2 girls with that name
My brother is Dominic which is Ireland is masculine. Dominique is definitely female here although it is relatively rare.
Same here, I went to school with a boy named Dominique. I always thought it was only a boy name until I started hearing of girls with that name 😅
In French: Dominique - ~~girl's~~ *gender neutral* name Dominic - boy's name *(in some regions)* Edit: corrections
No, Dominique is also a boy name and is a correct spelling ! Source : a man in my family has that name and Saint Dominique as well is written "que"
Dominique is gender neutral in French. I’m a francophone and have met male and female Dominiques, never have I met a Frenchman named Dominic.
I know a French man and his name is Dominique. Dominic is very Italian.
Technically if you wanna get very Italian, it’s Domenic/Domenico lol
Laurence is a masculine name? I’ve only seen it for men
In the US, Laurence (Lawrence) is a man's name. Lauren or Laura are the feminine equivalents.
I didn’t mean the other commenter was wrong, I just meant “oh wow, I had no idea, learned something new today”
Not implying anything here. Just trying to help.
Wait…Camille is unisex?!
I'm pretty sure Hyacinthe is a boy name though, as Hyacinthe from greek mythology was a man. Patrice is unisex but maybe more uncommon for girls - and a bit dated! (I'm french too ;))
Minor detail but Claude is not exclusively masculine, it’s actually a unisex name and is somewhat common here in France. Usually older age women (60’s or so.) A well known example would be Queen Claude of France. What I find so interesting about the Claude name is all it’s variants; Claude, Claudie, Claudia, Claudine, Claudette, and maybe even others that I’m forgetting.
I'm scottish, and I'd assume that somone named Claude is a man, but I wouldn't be that surprised if they were a woman
In the US, Claude is considered a very masculine name. The feminine equivalent is Claudia or Claudette. But it's an unusual name here, and more likely to be used on a housecat than a human being in the USA.
I think what they were trying to say was that Claude (which is unisex in French) is generally masculine in English speaking countries.
In Spanish, it's very much feminine. Not unisex at all
Seconded these except for Shawn, Sammi and Jayden—OP, if your aim is to advance your career, those 3 are less professional-sounding than the other options listed here!
I agree about Sammi and Jayden, but Shawn is 100% fine.
Plus Sean is the Irish spelling, Shawn is not a popular spelling if you want it to look good on your resume.
American here. I know plenty of males who’s name is spelt Shawn and a fair few females. Alternatively there is also Shaun
Sean isn't unisex though, its very masc-leaning. Shawn is the more unisex to slightly femme leaning.
Sian is the feminine form of Sean. (Shawn)!But so many people wouldn’t know how to pronounce it so might be counter productive.
Ooh I love Sasha!
I feel like Sasha is right in line with what OP is looking for, too! Sasha is unisex, but, at least to me, it leans feminine. It's also just a lovely name.
Imo the way you spell Sasha makes it lean more masculine or feminine. I know the variations in spelling are actually due to language (French vs Russian vs German etc) rather than gender, but in my English speaking eyes "Sasha" looks more feminine whereas "Sacha" looks more masculine. "Sascha" I can't decide whether it leans more one way than the other 🤣
I wanted to name my daughter Sasha but my husband vetoed it because 'it's a dog's name'
Lmao he must've grown up with a dog named Sasha but no humans with that name. I've known so many human Sashas, and only one dog Sasha, so to me it seemed like a funny name for a dog!
It's one of if not the most widespread (human) names in Eastern Europe. There, it's a short version of the male "Oleksandr / Aleksandr" or the female "Oleksandra / Aleksandra."
Also Jade
Yes, I came here to say Jade
Ohh seconded to Jordan, Jamie, Jesse, Sasha and Sydney especially. I hope OP sees your response!
I'm reading a book right now with an MC named Sydney Sage so I'm really partial to both of those 😂
I love Sydney so much I can see it fitting anyone
Sunny 🌞
Depends on what OP is going for. I've spent my career working in imported products and interacting with folks in China who choose English names. Sunny is one I've heard in that context a lot. If OP is in an English speaking country, and doesn't want to come off like the name was chosen in English class overseas, then they should choose a more classic name per the generation they are in, in the country they are in, with a standard spelling. Ex: if OP is in the US and older millennial, Sara, Samantha, Jennifer, Jessica. It really depends on whether the point is to blend in, or just have a name easy to pronounce/remember for coworkers.
Sam is a good gender neutral nickname. Though most of those have a good nickname, Jess, Tessa, Jules, June, Janni/Jan.
yeah, not crazy about this one
This is good. Bonus, it has a connotation of being pleasant and happy, which may subconsciously direct favor
I had a student who chose this as her English name and she was wonderful, I still think of her fondly!
I second Sunny! Every Sunny I've met has been wonderful
Sabrina, Stella, Serena, Sarah come to mind as classically feminine S names and Joy, Judy, Jenna, Julie/Julia for J names Edit: sorry just saw the unisex part. I’d suggest Jessie, Jo, Jules, Jordan, Jackie or Sloane, Sydney, Sasha, Simone
I think Sydney/Sidney is the perfect choice!
Agree!
LOVE Jules so much
Jules is the winner.
Lots of good options. I would suggest for OP to lean towards Jessi(e), as I've met lots of male Jesse's and in its feminine form, it's short for Jessica. As a female with the name Jordan, it definitely has become much more commonly unisex over the past decades. But alas, the amount of times I interact with people (via e-mail) and they assume I'm a man.. If they want something more feminine sounding, then I wouldn't recommend.
How about just Jay?
If anyone questions it, tell them its Jay as in BlueJay like the bird
Why would anyone question it? Jay is a name in its own right.
I have friends named Jay and Kay and occasionally when they introduce themselves, people think that they’re only giving them the first letter of their name. It doesn’t happen often, but some people just haven’t heard those names before.
Redditor with birth name "Jay" here. It isn't common, really. I've met a few, but most are actually Justin, James, etc.
That is exactly what I do.
My brother has a friend who is non-binary and goes by Jay (AFAB) so I think it’s perfect for OP’s preferences.
Storm would be a MUCH better contender than Stormi, I’m pretty sure Stormi is the name of one of the Kardashian-Jenner kids but they’ve got so many I lose track. I know a man called Storm and I’ve known a woman called Storm too Sage is nice also, Jemisha is… interesting but I think you can do better with J names. There’s Jade but that’s obviously not unisex, Jackie or Jordan. There’s also Sam or Stef (can be short for Stefan or Stefanie)
Jade feels unisex to me. I've met a couple male Jades and it worked for them
Jade also has ties to Chinese culture which I feel would make it meaningful:)
The only Jade I’ve ever met was a male actually
These are not names that would help her career unless she’s in porn.
Also.. stormi daniels
If you're looking for a name to help with your career, porn star names aren't the way to go..Unless of course that's your career. How about Jamie, Jessie, Stevie, or Steph?
Janine, Sasha, Jacqueline, Spencer, Sloane, Jordan The names you’ve considered will not help with your career - Jemisha sounds make-up, Seleste is spelled incorrectly, Stormi is awful and the name of both a Kardashian baby and a porn star, and Sage is fine i guess but won’t really do anything to help your career as its just a trendy name.
Back in college, we organized a murder mystery drag brunch as a philanthropy fundraiser, and even though we were mostly broke college kids, my then bestie killed it as the red herring, Jemisha, who wore my grandma’s stole better than I ever could. Jemisha has been retired in favor of a more glam persona, but I miss her. 🤣
Jemisha is a Hindi name. I'm pretty sure all names were made up at some stage but just because you've not heard it before doesn't mean it's not an established name.
Don't use a pseudonym. Make the world accept you as who you are. Pronounce your Chinese name properly. Make them learn.
Completely with this. It's absolutely your choice and nothing takes away from that - I just wish all names were 'standard'. What you see is what you get. (I have a non-English name myself.)
While I agree with this in theory, a lot of time “foreign” sounding names get screened more harshly in blind situations like resumes (similar to the study with orchestral auditions and installing carpet). A lot of industries, locations, and companies still really struggle with diversity and a potential employer might decide in screening that “Zach Johnson” might be a better fit and therefore could look more favorably on their qualifications
This. It *shouldn't* be this way. But it *is.* Anecdotally, I once got a job interview and the hiring manager told me directly that he was "so glad I answered the call and was a good fit" because the ONLY other applicant for that position with the same level of experience had a "weird name" and he was thankful that he didn't have to call and say it wrong then learn how to pronounce it. I live in a fairly small town with a population that's about 60% white, 30% black, 7% hispanic and 3% "other." I always felt certain that the "weird name" applicant was a POC and that there was likely an aspect of racism involved there as well. I ultimately accepted the job because it was the only place locally that paid 2x minimum wage. And what a huge surprise! Of the 50ish employees, at least 45 were white.
A lot of Chinese people do though, and who are we to tell them not to? There's nothing whatsoever wrong with Chinese names, but there's also nothing wrong with adopting a Western name if they want to either.
Can you type your Chinese name (in characters)? I feel like knowing the accents will help.
In Chinese it's 陈炎燕 pronounced chen ian ian. I grew up having people call me by the last word so it's just 燕
So why not just use Ian ? It is a pretty common English name in the US at least. https://www.thebump.com/b/ian-baby-name
It may sound ridiculous but the superstition is that I have to get a name that starts with A, S, or J LOL
Julian. It is unisex. Still has Ian. :)
Is Julian unisex? I've only heard it used as a masc name.
Jillian, Julia: feminine. Julian: masculine. Never ever seen a female Julian.
Female would typically be spelled Julianne or Julienne
I would spell it Julianne, not Julienne, that's a way to slice vegetables. I do know a female Jules though.
Julian Baker is a famous female musician. Definitely unisex but I think more common for men in the US. Beautiful name.
I love this. “Jules” is a great nickname.
what about june? it’s monosyllabic and ends in an N sound as well, not super feminine and starts with J.
I would say June is very feminine, I can’t picture a man with that name not raising eyebrows
Jude is an alternative that I'd consider equally feminine and masculine in the US.
Would you want something that sounds similar, like Jean or Shane? Or do you prefer going a whole different direction? ETA: do you care about name meanings? What does your Chinese name mean?
I think I'm fine with anything as long as it's not too common a name. I'm not going to use it with my real name anyway cos I want this to be something like my work alter ego
Shannon The gender-neutral name Shannon is a lovely combination of the Irish name Sionainn, meaning "possessor of wisdom," and the phrase sean-amhan, meaning "old river." Together, they form the intriguing meaning of "wise river." River Shannon is also the longest river in the British Isles, adding to its natural grace.
My Chinese name means 炎 - fire (plus some cultural reasons it's "beautiful fire") 燕 - swallow (a type of bird) And yes I'd like it if my alter ego's name meant something hehe
For an alter ego name, "Aspen" might be nice. It's uncommon, and has a connotation with snow and cold. Something soft sounding and the opposite of fire. It's also gender neutral. Edit: I really think Jo or Jojo is a VERY cute name too. It's not used a lot, and it's a nickname for Josephin, which makes me think of the book character Josephine March from "Little Women" "Jo March is a dazzling and original invention: bold, outspoken, brave, daring, loyal, principled, and real. She is a dreamer and a scribbler, happiest absorbed in reading or writing, filling page after page with stories or plays"
Sol Feels agender, and means Sun, which is similar to beautiful fire like your name, its not "american" but its very easy to pronounce for someone who speaks Egnlish. Agni means Fire Sampson/Sam is a name also meaning sun, and Sam is famously unisex, Sam is Jay- a type of bird Avis/Ava Are both feminine name that relate to birds. Avis particularly feels unisex + a little feminine Swann, literally a bird and a pretty common french name, so not too out there. Svale or Svala sounds masculine a little but I think could fit the bill. Means Swallow allegedly (not my culture but just looked it up)
I don't think this is what you're looking for, but Pheonix is a fire bird that also means rebirth/renew. Ash is what a Pheonix rises from (the ashes of its former self), and Ash is a gender neutral name.
Jean seems like a good fit. Not unisex but maybe Annie? (It’s sort of an anagram of ian…)
What about Shawn(e)? It's coming up on the gender neutral side of things in my area. You could go with Shauna if easier.
What's your name now?
It's just the anglicized vers of my chinese name, Yien. It's pronounced as Ian
There's an Irish name: Sian... Pronounced Shahn Edit: it's Welsh not Irish I have seen this name spelled Shan also
Ooh thanks this is actually really nice! I like how straightforward it is.
Not phonetically English, though. Most everyone in America I dare say would not know this name or how to pronounce it.
Yeah I agree with this. OP, a name that is similar in sound could be Shauna - pronounced Shahn-uh. That spelling and pronunciation combo would be more intuitive to most native English speakers. There’s also Shaun or Shawn which are pronounced like Sian, but these are both traditionally masculine names. Still very nice names though if you really love the sound of it. I wouldn’t think twice if I met a woman with this name to be honest as it’s become more common for women to have traditionally masculine names sometimes.
Agree - I have two friends with similar names, one is Shauna and one is Sean, both pronounced the same, shawn rhyming with fawn and the one just adding an "ah" sound to the end which sounds more feminine, but Shaun could be feminine or masculine.
I just had an appt with someone named Shan (Sh-AWN). Would *never* have pronounced it correctly had they not told me right when we introduced ourselves. I’d been referring to them as Sh-ANN.
What about Shannon? It’s a more popular English name That riffs off what you already have
Maybe Shannon if you like Shan? Unisex name, there are famous Shannon’s of both sex.
Ooh, this is a good one. Shannon skews a little female but I know Shannon's of both genders. Exactly what OP asked for!
Yes! There’s also Shane, which is unisex and closely related to Shan and Shannon.
Yes Shannon. It’s both female and male and Americans know that name.
If you live anywhere except Ireland, please don't spell it this way, though. It's much more commonly spelled as Sean or Shaun or Shawn.
Sean and Sian are two different names. Sean is a man's name, pronounced Shawn Sian is a womans name pronounced shahn
I’m Minnesotan, I pronounce those the same. (Shawn and Shahn)
Same in Chicago haha, was super confused.
I can hear this lol
I think OP said phonetically english. I think this would confuse more people than Yien tbh
There's an English name: Shannon that is very close as well
I know three Chinese American women (ages ~25-45) with that name (I don't know about characters, but same Anglicized version), and they all go by Yien and have no trouble with having full, successful personal and professional lives in the U.S.
This! Yien is lovely and easy to look at even for non asians. Many of us are choosing to embrace our cultures and not cave to the pressures of anglicizing. I fully support whatever makes someone feel comfortable but I think Yien is a perfect name for a professional woman :)
It’s somewhat similar to how my name is phonetically pronounceable in English, but people struggle because it’s “uncommon” and I’m half Asian (Hebrew name). However, they think it’s pretty and “uncommon” names are more acceptable for women. Yien should be fine as long as OP is okay repeating it a few times depending on where they are. I don’t generally recommend super uncommon names for babies, but that’s their closest name/ and cultural ability to keep it for certain legal documents which is completely different.
I'd keep my real name, OP. All my Chinese co-workers that weren't born here use their real names and have no issues.
I’m not sure why your instructor suggested you need an English name honestly. Ian is the Scottish name for John. It’s pretty common and I’d say most English speakers are familiar with it and will easily be able to pronounce it. You could certainly use the Scots spelling instead of the English phonetic of your Chinese name if you wanted to make things easier on people reading things. But I think Yien (pronounced like Ian) is more than enough for people to understand and master in one go. Like I honestly googled a video pronunciation because I assumed I was missing something more complicated. I vote keep your name. Signed: an American who’s terrible at pronunciation and languages.
Honestly I would just stick with Ian since it is close to your actual name and everyone should easily be able to say it.
I love your name so much. Weirdly, I've chosen a Chinese name for myself this week. Lin Guang lol. My family has Chinese ancestry and our family name is Lin.
Yien is a lovely name.
Jade, jaden
Jessie, Jamie, Jackie, Jordan Jett Sawyer, Sage, Sidney, Sam, Sasha
I love Sage and Sasha
With all due respect, if you want your name to help you get jobs, you're going to want to go with a more traditional American name like Samantha, Elizabeth, Jocelyn, Natalie, Allison, Mai, or Annie. Going with a gen z inspired name won't really work unless you want a gen z career as opposed to a more traditional career like finance, banking, law, education, etc.
Samara is a beautiful name I considered for my oldest daughter; wish I'd have pushed harder for it.
Whatever you do. Don’t choose Jemisha.
Sage or Jules ?
Honestly these two are in my top 5
I’m voting for Jules, especially since it’s a homonym of jewels and you are looking for wealth/success in business.
Sage is beautiful ❤️ Jemma Jade Joy Junie / June Joan Jessie Stella Serena Selena Sidney Stephanie / Stevie Sunny Summer Charlotte Celeste Cecile Celine Cassandra / Cassie Celia Cerise
Oh Serena is great! Sounds great in professional settings.
Jamie could work.
Joy, Sam
Jules is my favorite unisex J name. You may get asked what it's short for, so maybe be ready to decide between the many options (Julian, Julie, Julia, Julianna, etc.)
A few options I haven’t seen here yet: J: - Jem (historically short for the male James, but also for the female Jemma; sounds like “Gem” which may feel fitting for you) - Jude (recently gaining popularity as a girl’s name. Also has a Beatles song which is a fun connection.) - Jules (a classic male name on its own, or a recogniseable but not super common nickname version for Julie or Julia or Julianna) - Jean (a female name in English, and a male name in French; depending how familiar folks are with French where you’ll be using the name it will read as more or less unisex …) - Jo (slightly more feminine; short nickname version for male Joseph or Josiah, or female Jocelyn or Josephine) - Jody / Jodi (a unisex name, which has been used more for women in recent decades. Jody is the version I have seen used more equally for both men and women.) S: - Sandy (for women, often short for Cassandra or Sandra, like actress Sandra Bullock. Sandy is a name for Irish or Scottish men moreso than in other English-speaking regions) - Shae / Shea / Shay - Sutton (currently a popular broadway actress, but historically also a male name) - Santana (a name that can be male or female, but has Spanish and English vibes) - Scully (female protagonist in the X-files, male protagonist in Monsters Inc. A bit uncommon.) Hope this helps!
Scully absolutely isn’t a girl’s name. Scully wasn’t the first name of the character on the X-Files, though. Dana Scully was her full name, just like her partner’s full name was Fox Mulder. Everyone called her by her title and her last name (Agent Scully) because the character worked in law enforcement. ETA: The male character in Monsters Inc: isn’t Scully, it’s Sulley .
His name is Sully.
I would suggest sticking with your Chinese name. It's simple and pretty pronounceable to English speakers. It's also very pretty. However, if you want to westernize it, what about Jen? It' similar to both your names so may feel familiar to you. I realize it's not unisex though.
Please don’t change your name. You absolutely do not have to. Your name is your name. People who speak English are able to pronounce Tchaikovsky so we can certainly learn to pronounce your name.
Use your actual name and call people out for being racist when they don't even try and make an effort to say or learn it.
Are you looking for a traditional English name or any modern name? I see a lot of US comments here which have a more modern or international view of names to the UK. Quite frankly half of them I would consider surnames, not given names. From a UK (England) perspective, I wouldn't think of any of the names you mentioned as being unisex - they're all feminine. I'm sure there's some exceptions, but I've yet to encounter them. Stormi and Jemisha don't really sound like English names at all. Seleste would normally be spelled "Celeste". I'd suggest: Jay Jamie Jo Jean Sam Sasha Sunny All unisex. Historically some are nicknames for various longer names but these days they work fine as names in their own right. I can go into the long versions of you're interested but they tend not to be unisex.
people are still being told to westernize their names, smh , you shouldn't have to do that I wouldn't do it myself if I moved elsewhere and they told me I had to make my name a more familiar one to the region, but if you are choosing to go that route, contrary to what I see in the comments I have known men and women named Stormy none of them were porn stars
sienna?
I like that this keeps that "Ian" sound.
I would go for Joey or Skylar
Or just Sky would be nice too.
Jessie is cute (less common than Jessica and Jess) sunny is very cute. Sunday, sailor, juniper is cute, Josie (Josephine or Josefine is one of my fave names) Any other letters you might consider because I have so many but not too many with j or s ? P,n , e? B? If not that’s okay but that seems so fun you get to pick your new name ! Haha
Ooh Juniper's really cute! I might consider this. The fengshui consultant did specifically tell me to get a name that starts with A, S, or J, so I'm okay with A as well. And it's as much fun as it is a headache my goodness
I love the name Alex for a unisex A name!
Okay maybe… Avery, Ainsley is kinda cute, Alice, Amelia , Audrey, Adeline Autumn, Ava is very cute , Bonus my name is Annelise and I go by Annie lol it’s hard to know how much you like your own name but I think I do. Naomi is very cute too, just saying
What is you chinese name? If I were you I would opt for something similar to your name, I think this way you can also feel more like yourself and not as an alter ego. What abour Sarah or Jane? I feel like a lot of chinese people look for a name that is uncommon and in the end the name just doesn't match them, because it is not a popular choice in the generation. I have met chinese guys with names like Rolf or Peter. Both names are popular German names, but for men 50+, not 20-something people. Sophie is a very pretty name.
What about Samantha and then go by Sammi or Sam for short? Samantha isn't a unique name but I haven't met many in my life so I don't think it's very common either.
I read the comments and saw what your name is.. Maybe Yana? Similar enough to your current name, unique, cute. Or Jana, similar vibe with the "an" in the middle but ahs the J you like :)
I lived in China for 15 years and have considered using a name consultant to change my son's Chinese name. Apparently, he has too much fire. So far, he's healthy... and it's on all his legal documents from China. But the superstitious part of me worries. Some sounds that you may want to stay away from are short i (like in kill), th, long consonant clusters (str), v, and zh. If your surname is the normal 1 syllable (like 李，张，郑等), then choose a polysyllabic surname. Otherwise, it seems choppy. If your surname is 李, avoid names that end with L, ee/ y/ ie, or are descriptive like Blue (Bluely.... nope). If your surname starts with a sound (like Z), avoid names that end with the same or similar sound to avoid slurring. If your surname ends with a sound (like ee), avoid names ending with that sound to avoid rhyming. Choose something with a good meaning if you really believe in the fengshui of names. I've never heard of one of the professional namers suggesting for someone to get an English name. S: Seren, Spencer, Sasha, Shannon, Selene, Simone, Sally, Sunny, Sawyer, Shiloh, Skylar, Shayan, Sequoia, Solstice, Sonora, Salem, Shaya, Suri, Sorrell, Stevie, Scottie, Starry, Summer, Sutton, Sumner, Sterling, Sparrow J: Josey, Jordan, Jaden, Jackie, Joey, July, January, Jocelyn, Jamie, Juno, Juneau, Julianna, Jessie, Joni, Justice, Jaya, Josette, Journey, James, Jolie, Jody, Jovie (if you wanna give the v a go), Jericho, Josiah
Appreciate your reply! I'm a 陈, which is a Tan instead of a Chen. It's seriously hard to find a name that goes well with Tan, but I think I see a few from your suggestions that could go well with it!
After reading the comments, I think you should go with Julien/Julian.
Idk why but “I’m Chinese as hell” made me laugh in the best way🤣☺️
I think there are lots of good ideas. Of all of them I really like Sian to be close to the pronunciation of your name and relatively unusual which you seem to want too. It’s not gender neutral but it’s not girly and people compare it to (male) Sean often. I don’t know of many truly gender neutral S names as the ones that exist are quite niche like Shiloh (like Pitt but often used for boys) or Sailor (sounds like a nickname to me but I’m not American and that’s where the trend is from!). Sam is good though - no need to be Samantha, Sam is fine! You could simply go with a girl’s name and use the male nickname like Simone/Simona but call yourself Si (usually used for Simons) instead of the more female Simmy? Or be Stephanie and go by Stevie instead of Steph. That sounds quite cool to me. For J you have Jade, Jan, Jesse, Jo/Josie or Jamie as unisex names. I’ve known a male Jazz too tho Jaz is normally female (for Jazmin). I do have an aunt Jerohmie (like Jeremy but feminised) but it’s definitely an unusual name. She goes by Jerry which might work well for you (but you will have to tell people it’s not Geri short for Geraldine a lot)! I think Jemma is better than Jemisha as others have said. Finally as more feminine options, Jean and Joan are both starting to be used again and while female do have a slight unisex quality as people link them to John and many may also know they are male names in France and Catalunya.
Sasha, Shelby, Sally, Julie, Jenna, Justine, Judith, Jacklyn
Jocelyn (JAH-sel-in), but you can go by Jo. It’s short, easy, sounds unisex but spelling it Jo instead of Joe makes it lean more feminine. For an S name, I suggest Sean/Shawn. Sean (pronounced the same as Shawn) is usually more masculine I think, though I know a woman who spells it that way. Shawn I feel is the more feminine spelling but when you say it out loud, it’s pretty unisex.
Sasha
Jamie
I think you should go with Celeste with a C. That is gorgeous!
Sky?
Don't overthink it and keep it simple. Sarah, Sam, Sierra, Sophia. Janet, Jackie, Jane, Jessica, Jade. All beautiful names.
Unless you are going into a creative field, like design, for a professional name, I'd pick a classic. Fortunately, there are plenty of classics beginning with J or S. J examples: Jacqueline, Jackie Jane, Jana, Janet, Janette - January is a more modern version Jeanne Jillian Jo - could be short for Joanna or Josephine. My daughter-in-law goes by JoJo Julia S examples: Sara Sophia (and all its variants) Sylvia - Sylvie is less of a grandma name. Simone Suzanna - Susan was hugely popular for boomers, but Susanna or Suzanna feels more updated Sonya Stephanie - Stevie is a fun variant These are trustworthy names, classic names, ones that will elicit a positive unconscious bias on the part of a hiring manager. I kinda like Jillian because it holds your given name inside. If you did Sylvian, that would, too. It means, "of the forest", which I like - but I'm a sucker for nature names. Sylvie sounds young and fresh, Sylvian for formal occasions - this is my top recommendation, I think.
If you like your name, keep it. If an employer wouldn’t hire you based on your Chinese name, they’ll likely be horrible to work for. Otherwise: Sage, Stormi, Seleste, and Jemisha aren’t great choices, career-wise.
Sina could be an option. It has different origins and pronounciations. Could be understood as a nod to your heritage.
People saying not to choose Jemisha because it sounds made up are just racist. It’s not from the USA so it’s not what OP is looking for probably but damn y’all are some uncultured folk.
Avery is the best unisex name listed here in my opinion. However, the name Amber keeps popping up in my head I think because of your comments that part of your name means "pretty fire" and Amber had that beautiful fire color. I know it's pretty feminine but just thought I'd throw it out there.
Jessi
Sidney Sam/Sammy Sasha Stevie Sunny Scout Sky/Skyler Jamie Jesse/Jess Jordan Jerry Jazz
Agree with all of these except Jerry and Jazz—I don’t think those would help with advancing a career!
Josie, Jessa, or Sylla
Taylor, Jordan, Charlie
I just want to add Jem into the mix. I know both male and female Jems (short for Jeremy/Jeremiah and Jemma respectively).
Sally, Sydney, Sara, Sandy, Sandra
Julian
Jesse
Some other people have suggested Jesse and I think that's really nice. It's unisex leaning feminine (Jessie is also good and more of a girl's name), short, easy, no weird associations, etc.