Harper

[smashley]

is it too boyish or can u see it on a girl?

[djasinski]

I would say this is a girls name. and it is very pretty.

[myboysmom]

I love it for either one! Very cute.

[momofahunter]

I don't know.... when I first said the name, I thought boy. Harper sounds boyish to me. But, if you like it, then go for it; use it anyway. It's a neat name. :)

[Ombeline]

In the past, it was a last name (based on a profession), very rare as a first name and then only for boys, but it's starting to catch on for girls. It doesn't seem too boyish to me. Harper just means "person who plays the harp"--English nouns are usually convenient that way, not gender-specific like other languages. Are you planning to sign your baby up for music lessons? :) The only Harper I know of is the wonderful (female) novelist Harper Lee, who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird. Her real name is Nelle Harper Lee but she always goes by Harper.

[excited4mommyhood]

I would have never even thought of Harper as a name for a boy! Though I don't personally know any, there was a female character in a movie I saw years ago named Harper, there is of course Harper Lee, and Lisa Marie Pressley named one of her twin girls Harper. (Can you tell I'm a fan of the name ;) )

[nikkimama]

on a disney show names wizards of waverly place one of the GIRL characters is named harper.... i think its wicked cute for a girl!

[blueskiez6]

It is an absolutely terrific name - especially for a girl, in my mind! I spend a lot of time studying names - even before I was pregnant!- just for fun, and Ombeline's above post with details about the names origin etc. are right on target - right down to the name being given more commonly to females in more recent years (much like Lindsay,Leslie,Taylor, etc of past trendy surname to boy name to girl name fads gone by...). We may even be able to say it has unofficially made the crossover of girl names that rarely go back to boy names (again, think: Lindsey). The one issue I have with this fantastic name is that I think it may be doomed to become this next generation of babies' equivalent to the ever-so-trendy- Isabella/Ava/Aidan/Emma/Olivia/Jack/etc. ---> these are all wonderful names that were once less common in modern times & had a major revival the last several years...almost to the point of being way overdone. Of course, if that does not bother you, then go for it! If you love it, you love it- who cares how trendy or not-trendy it is! Afterall, "overdone" names get overdone for good reason - they are usually awesome names! JUst don't be disappointed if you get to playgroup & your kid already has to tack her surname initial onto the end to differentiate between the other little Harper's -or perhaps you might catch the crest of the wave and classroom's will be filled with Harper's galore in a year or two once it catches on. We partly have celebrity Victoria Beckham to thank for that as she recently names her first daughter Harper - people don't always necessarily realize they are getting the name from the celbrity, but there is a reason the name you feel is pretty rare and exotic starts sounding extra nice in the first place - somehow, the name's rising popularity in ranks has subconsciously entered your mind through osmosis of pop culture/media/even news! Even if you swear to never touch a tabloid, just hearing the name around more often - familiarity breeds fondness! -even by osmosis, is typically how we got the name in our head anyway...or got our eye caught on it in the baby names book anyway! Either way, good luck & hope you find the right name!