Onomastics

Just a list of boy names that have become girl names. As you can see, this has been going on for some time. Each new one always sounds strange and inappropriate to me, but apparently we get used to it fast enough.

And no, they never go in the other direction. What the baby-name pages call androgynous or unisex names are merely names switching from male to female.

Leslie
Terry
Tracy
Beverly
Kelly
Shirley
Ashley
Dana
Jordan
Jamie,
Casey
Whitney
Sydney
Florence
Lindsey
Hillary

There's a strong tendency for the -y and -ly names to switch over for girl use. It is clearly more acceptable for a girl to have a boyish name than a boy to have a girlish one. There are a few possible explanations, but I lean toward the idea that masculine names often have higher status in terms of strength and solidity.