Names have meaning.
Many names have a gender specific meaning, which means they should be used with caution. For example, my sister’s name means “fair maiden”. That’s a pretty name for a girl but an odd choice for a boy. My nephew’s name means “master of the house” … a strong name for a boy, but possibly not for a girl.
There are also names which don’t work across different countries. I can think of two names that are popular in the USA but which we’d never use in Australia or New Zealand because they have different meanings:
One is Chuck, short for Charles.
We certainly have people named Charles and Charlotte, and that may well get abbreviated to Charlie but never Chuck. Down under, we chuck (throw) balls. We also use chuck as a synonym for vomit … which is why we don’t use it as a nickname.
Another is Randy.
I have never met a Randy or Randolph in real life, possibly because of the local meaning: it can be applied to males or females, but means someone who wants sex all the time. So no, I was not interested in reading a Christian romance set in Australian (but written by an American) about a young woman called Randy because the connotations are so un-Christian.
I’m also not a big fan of names that could be male or female (like Hunter or Taylor), especially if the spelling doesn’t make it clear (I expect Ashley and Tony to be male , and Ashleigh and Toni to be female).
