On a recent trip through the South, I met two young sisters charmingly named Mason and Ellis. Surname-names for girls are characteristic of the traditional South, where family last names have long been passed down as firsts to girls as well as boys.
Little girls might well have a conventional first name like Mary or Elizabeth, but their full name is Mary Ellis (say) and they’re known as Ellis. The Mary or the Elizabeth might be mom and/or grandmother’s name; it’s the Ellis part that makes the name distinct.
Of course, surname-names are used for girls in many places beyond the American South these days, though not everyone likes the practice. Boys’ names should be left to the boys, some feel, and girls’ names should be decidedly feminine, and unisex names are all-around unappealing.
Well, we don’t feel that way. We think surname-names, ala the Southern custom, can be elegant and original on a girl and can impart a sense of gravity and tradition. And yes, some of these names, like Bradley, are also male first names.
Some choices we think work well include:
Bradley
Brooks
Carter
Chandler
Drury
Ellis
Ellison
Gibson
Hayden
Keagan
Landon
Lowell
Mason
Miller
Murray
Norris
O’Brien
Oakley
Parker
Randolph
Sawyer
Stuart
Walker
Winston
Which names like this have you heard? Which work, in your opinion, and which don’t?
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