Some mixed first names are very well known, but some make us completely forget that they can be worn by all genders. This is the case with this very fashionable name for girls.
Camille, Dominique, Frédérique, Sasha/Sacha, Alix… We know perfectly well that some first names are mixed. Moreover, some are very trendy at the moment, like Lou, Charlie, or even Eden. But, for other first names, we are completely unaware that they can be worn by all genders.
It must be said that, often, even if a first name is mixed, it is rarely as trendy for girls as for boys at the same time. This is the case for Charlie, for example: for several years, his number of attributions has been much higher among girls than boys. We therefore associate certain first names with a specific gender, and this can change depending on fashion and times: Lesley has long been a first name largely given to men in Anglo-Saxon countries, but it is now much more worn by women, so much so that some do not know that it is a mixed first name.
These are far from being the two examples of this kind. We can also cite the case of Cléo or Wendy… But also the first name Iris! Yes, we would tend to think that this first name of Greek origin, which means “rainbow”, is exclusively feminine. Yet, The Official First Namesa reference work on the subject, devotes a paragraph to it in the section of female first names AND in that of male first names. Besides, we really say an iris when we talk about the flower so named.
However, if Iris is a mixed first name, it is extremely rare that it is given to a boy. INSEE does not refer to it as a male first name, which means that it is given to fewer than three boys per year, or even none. There are no traces of known male figures who wore it.
On the other hand, we can cite many women who are called Iris, and in particular Iris Mittenaere. Miss France 2016 has undoubtedly contributed to the popularity of this first name: the popularity of this first name has been slowly climbing in France since the end of the 1970s, and it experienced a big jump after she won the crown. Currently, this first name is so trendy among girls that it is part of the top 20 most given in 2024. Its peak of attributions was reached in 2021, when 2005 girls received it at birth. And since it is a short first name and in reference to nature, two things that particularly appeal to today’s parents, so much so that he undoubtedly still has good times ahead of him.
