Trivia question redux

[svrfsvp]

Or perhaps reflux, but I thought of this while working today.

What do the following all have in common: Joyce Kilmer, Carroll Shelby, Gayle Sayers, Lynn Swann and Lassie?

Please feel free to add to the list once you have the answer...

[Dobie]

They're all males with feminine names.

[ArtVark]

Evelyn Waugh, Leslie Groves, Connie Mack (although that's a nickname), also qualify.

[svrfsvp]

Leslie Nielsen. Joan Miro. And here's a reach - Ellery Queen - fictional character. Ellery - who knows...

[TomK]

"Gayle Sayers" is not correct....the man's name was "Gale". Also as in Gale Gordon, longtime foil to Lucille Ball.

[Ken Jennings]

The reverse of this is harder because so many once-male names are now widely unisex. There's still Glenn Close, I guess. Michael Learned. Others?

[missbitesalot]

James King. If author's pen names count, there's the "Georges"—Georges Sand, and George Eliot.

[krf100]

James King. If author's pen names count, there's the "Georges"—Georges Sand, and George Eliot.

George Elliot... That's who I've been trying to think of. Thank you.

[Poquelin]

James King. If author's pen names count, there's the "Georges"—Georges Sand, and George Eliot.

At the risk of appearing like the pedant that I am, I must point out that Sand's first name was George, not Georges.
In French the name George is a perfectly acceptable feminine name (equivalent to Georgia), whereas Georges is masculine

[missbitesalot]

Right you are: I'm not sure why I thought there was an S on the end, since I just looked at the wikipedia entry before typing that. Though I'm curious to see something backing up the "George- as-woman's-name-in-France" thing, as I've never heard that before, and can't find anything about that on google.

[Poquelin]

Right you are: I'm not sure why I thought there was an S on the end, since I just looked at the wikipedia entry before typing that. Though I'm curious to see something backing up the "George- as-woman's-name-in-France" thing, as I've never heard that before, and can't find anything about that on google.

You mean, my word is not good enough?

OK, since you asked. To prove my contention requires a brief etymological discourse.

The English masculine name "George," which in French is "Georges," derives ultimately from the Greek word GEORGIOS (=Farmer). You can see that the final S of the Greek is retained in the French

In Greek, the feminine form of GEORGIOS is GEORGIA, which becomes the feminine "George" in French, without the S. (Though as a name it is uncommon -- the diminutive form "Georgette" is far more common).

[missbitesalot]

Oh, I was thinking Georgette, Georgine, Georgia, and so on for the feminine form of George, but didn't realize that -s was also feminine. *The more you know!* :p

Though I think part of what made me assume it was male is that she dressed like a man in public also.

[gvonk]

I guess Billie Holiday and Dale Evans count too.

[nrajeff]

How about Paris Hilton? Wasn't Paris a male god?

[IndySOG03]

How about Paris Hilton? Wasn't Paris a male god?

Not a god, but he was a male figure in mythology. He sparked the Trojan War by picking the Golden Apple of Aphrodite, and thus went after the Face that Launched a Thousand Ships, Helen (of, well, Troy).

[svrfsvp]

I just thought of another one - Faye Throneberry, professional baseball player and brother of Marv Throneberry, whose baseball card I alway got in the packs with the stale gum. Never got the Mickey Mantle cards, nooooo, always Marv Throneberry... sigh...

[metsfan001]

HOLY CRAP! I'd pay quite a bit for a Marvelous Marv card!

[Dave Hall]

And speaking of Fayes associated with baseball, remember the late MLB Commissioner, Faye Vincent?

[ArtVark]

The reverse of this is harder because so many once-male names are now widely unisex. There's still Glenn Close, I guess. Michael Learned. Others?

Darryl Hannah? Sean Young?

[ninjapirate]

Drew Barrymore, Dana Carvey, Haley Joel Osment (except the Joel gives it away), Andrea Bocelli (accepted masculine name in Italy, I suppose) and the quintessential Marion Morrison even if he didn't use it publicly.

[porpoise spit]

Mandy Patinkin, James King, any female model who takes on the name "Bambi."

[svrfsvp]

Oh yeah, I thought of another one - Carroll O'Connor of AITF.

Thanks for the Bambi post - that's a name that not many guys would want anymore.

[ninjapirate]

Right in the middle of something completely unrelated at work today, the name Stacey Keach came careering through my brain.

[TomK]

Right in the middle of something completely unrelated at work today, the name Stacey Keach came careering through my brain.

If your career is a publicist, that could be fortuitous indeed........