Geezer Names for Girls

Mercer is one fashionable occupational name that can work as well for girls as boys, perhaps because of the soft c or the conventionally feminine nickname Mercy.

Old-fashioned nickname for Nora, Honora, Eleanor, Noreen... or any name with that "nor" sound.

The Reid spelling is surprisingly more popular than the naturey Reed for both boys and girls, though more than 95% of little Reids are male.

Toby is an early unisex name with a Shakespearean pedigree; when used for a girl it retains its tomboyish quality.

Royce is a grandpa name with an upscale link to Rolls Royce, and a surprising rise for girls since the early noughties. Rebel Wilson has a daughter named Royce Lillian.

A jaunty offshoot of Sullivan, Sully will be associated by kids with the beloved character in the Pixar animated film Monsters, Inc. Rare for a girl, but with a cool surnamey style and echoes of midcentury favorite Sally.

Diminutive of Alvina, and a cute boyish retro nickname we can see making its way back onto a few birth certificates today.

Artie is usually short for Arthur, but with boyish nicknames like Billie and Frankie rising, it could make for a sweet retro nickname for a girl too – perhaps short for Artemis or Arlette.

There was an eighties cartoon queen named Jem (& The Holograms), and this is as likely to be a full name as a short form – deriving from Jemma, Jemima or Jameela.

Teddy or Teddie is an adorable short form of Theodora or Edwina, made more feminine by the -ie ending. Extremely cutesy for a full name, but feels increasingly wearable in this era of nicknames as given names. Television personality Teddi Mellencamp Arroyave is a famous bearer of another spelling variation.

Like Marvin and Melvin, Sheldon has been perceived as about as far out as you can get, though there are very pretty towns in Devon and Derbyshire that inspired it. Sheldon Lee Cooper is the lead (male) nerd character on the TV hit The Big Bang Theory, giving the name a brainy image. Nickname Shelly is sweet and naturey, in a retro kind of way.

Porter is one clubby surname or occupational that was given to around 80 baby girls in the US last year -- and nearly 600 baby boys.

Short for Samantha or long for Sam, Sammy is a sweet midcentury nickname name that we can see coming back.

More famously spelled Wallis as a feminine name: the woman for whom the King of England abdicated the throne.

Troy shot to popularity as a first name in tandem with that of 1960s heartthrob Troy (born Merle) Donahue; its image has now, thanks in part to the Brad Pitt-starring epic, Troy, receded back to conjuring up the ancient site of the Trojan wars. A handful of baby girls also receive the name each year, down from a peak of 119 births in 1961.

An Irish classic for boys that has a streamlined, surnamey, unisex appeal in this spelling.

While actress Glenn Close didn't inspire many parents to give their daughters her name in particular, she did help launch a general trend toward boy names for girls.

An old-man name that sounds cute when used for a little girl, and is starting to seem cool again for boys too.

Not one but two Spice Girls are named Mel, which led to it briefly being more popular for girls than boys in the 90s and early 00s, but it has now fallen out of favor for both sexes.

Once a cowboyish old man name, Clem is now more commonly heard as a nickname for the fashionable Clementine, meaning "merciful one". Clemency, Clemence and Clementia are other possible long forms.