A conversation we had at a local restaurant this evening with our server. By the way, Sacha was wearing a boy’s outfit with little trucks on it.
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: Sacha
Server: Oh! It’s a female? (with total embarrassment about getting the sex of our baby wrong)
Me: No, HIS name is Sacha.
Server: Oh!
I know that Tony and I did not pick a conventional name for our son, but most of you know that we are not conventional people. But seriously, has NO ONE ever heard of Sacha as a boy’s name? Let me think of some people who share my son’s name:
Sacha Baron Cohen - otherwise known as Borat
Sacha Trudeau - Pierre Trudeau’s son
Sasa Petricic (pronounced Sacha) - a reporter on CBC news
But really, I think that the first example should suffice, as “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for make benefit glorious nation of Khazakstan” is sweeping the box office right now.
Above all else, however, why do people make assumptions based on a name? If I say “My son” or “he”, that should be enough to let others know that my child is male, regardless if his name is Sacha, Leslie, Clare, Ashley, Shannon, Robin, etc. By the way, those are all GUYS that I or Tony have met in the past.
And furthermore, who said that Elliot is a boy’s name? I know Andi gets the same grief over Elliot’s name (although hopefully people are not so dense as to think that Elliot is a boy as she is now 2 years old).
The point is, unisex names are becoming very common: Connor, Avery, Kolbi/Colby, Jordan, Bailey, Erin/Aaron, Taylor, Riley, Alex, Gabriel/Gabrielle, Kerry/Cary/Carrie, Tony/Toni, Adrian/Adrienne, Kelly, Mackenzie, need I go on? Furthermore, there are many names that I am not sure what they were originally supposed to be: Pine, Dweezil, River, Ocean, Summer, Enzo, August, Phoenix, London, Jaden, Pilot, Timberland, Xenon, Rumer, Scout, Jigme, Apple, Ireland, etc.
Just because it isn’t common here doesn’t mean that it is wrong or bad. Maybe people should just become a little more worldly and start tuning in to societies beyond our own and realize that Sacha, in fact, is originally a boy’s name! And even if it wasn’t, who cares! Just mind your manners and accept the fact that my son’s name is Sacha and the world is not going to explode because of it.
