Friday 6 July 2007

So he's a girl, then?

I've ranted about his before, but now for the sake of the wonderful Parent Bloggers Network I will remind you of the necessity of being polite when talking to a new mother about her child's name.

My son's name is Sacha.  S-A-C-H-A.  Middle name, Adam.  When we chose this name, we did not really think that the name would cause a stir.  I've known a few Sachas, both male and female, and thanks to the famous Sachas (Trudeau, Baron Cohen), I thought the world was ready for one more.

Here is a conversation I recall from an outing to a restaurant when Sacha was 3 months old.

(Note: He was wearing a green and blue boy’s outfit with little trucks on it and it said "Little Construction Company."  Now, I know that women are very active in the construction industry, but I have yet to see a 3 month old girl sporting a truck-and-backhoe brazed outfit.)

Server: He’s SO cute! (referring to Sacha and making googoo noises at him)
Me: Thanks!
Server: How old is he?
Me: He’s almost 3 months old.
Server: What’s his name?
Me: His name is Sacha
Server: Oh! He's a girl? (with total embarrassment about getting the sex of our baby wrong)
Me: No, HIS name is Sacha.
Server: Oh!

Notice the number of times the word he is used in that conversation, and yet the table wench server still thought that he must be a girl because his name is Sacha.  What's wrong with the name Sacha for a boy?  In fact, Alexander the Great was commonly known as Sacha!  I don't remember where I got that information, but if you google it, I'm sure it will come up.

And sadly enough, this was not the only time it happened.  Apparently, dressing a boy in blue does not overcome the public brain fart when trying to reconcile Sacha = boy.

****

Don't you wish you could have just handed them this?

14 comments:

  1. Oh geez.

    Fool.

    I like the name...for a boy or a girl!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I know both male and female Sashas (and Mishas) and other beautiful names. I try not to assume...

    Once, though, I was the one who mixed up the gender based on names. A woman asked for reservations at a drop-in preschool for her children "Holly" and "Mac" so I put the "Holly" name-tag on the girl and the "Mac" on the boy.

    The woman screamed at me. "Hawley" was her son and "Mac" (short for MacKenzie) was her daughter.

    ReplyDelete
  3. My kids actually get mixed up sometimes. My son's name is Amory and my daughter is Corey. Anyway, good topic. I always thought that Sacha was a boy's name traditionally and thought the GIRL Sashas were "wrong" if anyone was. I guess now in Kansas, it's not a big deal because we have a guy on our college basketball team named Sasha.

    Anyway, I'm babbling. I came over from your link on parent bloggers.

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  4. that's why you have the 9 months of pregnancy to think of a baby name...so that when the time comes, YOU love it and will stand by it even when other people act like idiots.

    and, dressing your kids in boy/girl clothing doesn't help either...I get "he" even when my daughter is wearing a big pink bow. oh well.

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  5. miss bliss: Thank you! I do love my son's name! I just hate how retarded so many people get when they discover that his name isn't Ethan, Jacob, Cole, or something equally trendy.

    ReplyDelete
  6. My mother dressed me in all pink and taped bows to my head. I was bald as bald could be, you see. Even with the uber-girly dress, people still called me a boy. Ah, people.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I hear you! My son is also named Sasha and I've had the same stupid conversations with people. Right now, as in this very minute, my husband and I are discussing whether we should change the spelling to Sacha because people always think he's a girl. EVEN HIS DOCTOR made this mistake. He was looking at my son's chart and asked something about "her." Agh!! I think we may go for the change in spelling just to ease the issue, at least on paper.

    ReplyDelete
  8. [...] spelling she said, “It’s chunkier,” which sealed the deal for me. And by the way, we’re not the only ones who have a boy named Sasha, Sacha, Sascha, who are having this [...]

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  9. We are looking at naming our kid Sacha, should he turn out as a he. I would like to hear more from people who grew up named Sacha... was it difficult growing up with that name? It sounds like a cool name for a boy... might even help him get dates later on in life!

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  10. patricia ellsworth8 July 2008 at 09:43

    I think Sasha/Sacha are both strong male names.Parents of girls are forever trying to feminize masculine names. But, I think it's a good idea once in awhile to let those parents know that this one is not up for grabs. I agree with the previous poster that girls in high school will find him intriguing with this name. It won't be long before there are girls named Tyler. ( There are already girls named Riley, Rory, Casey, Cody, and Devon.)

    ReplyDelete
  11. patricia ellsworth8 July 2008 at 10:35

    I thought of a few more for your amusement. There is Andie(Andy), Billie(Billy), Bobbi(Bobby),Jamie, Alex, Jack, Spencer/Spenser, Taylor, Bailey, Morgan. AND, Nicole Kidman just used the name Sunday for her new baby. I thought 'Sunny' for a boy. Nope. Revealed it was Sunday Rose - born on a Monday! Go figure.

    ReplyDelete
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Thoughts? Comments? Questions?