History Main / TomboyishName

* ''Literature/HighFidelity'': Due to the series making Rob a woman, the name becomes one (it turns out that her full name's Robyn).

* ''Series/First Kill'': Cal's tomboyish, so this nickname fits her well.

* ''Series/{{Imposters}}'': Lenny a woman with shaggy, fairly short hair, a masculine wardrobe sense and she's the brutal enforcer of a crime boss.

* Michael Tree in the ''ComicBook/MsTree'' comics.

* OlderThanRadio: The character Jo in the book ''Literature/LittleWomen'', who was also a {{tomboy}}.

* Makoto from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII 3rd Strike''. Coincidentally enough, her voice actress is named Makoto, as well.

* Since there were several "Makoto"s mentioned in the Anime & Manga section, there should be at least some mention of the one from ''VideoGame/StreetFighterIII 3rd Strike''. [[TheDanza Her VA is also named Makoto, as well.]]

** The episode "'L' for Love" reveals that Luna has a crush on someone named "Sam". The very end of the episode [[SamusIsAGirl reveals]] that Sam is a girl.

* ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'': ADA Alex Cabot, and her replacement Casey Novak, both from this show.

* ''Series/BlackSails'': It's not stated if Max is a nickname (say for Maxine) but she's also a very assertive, bold young woman in a way that would have deemed very unfeminine then (not that pirates care about the conventional mores), though she still has a very feminine style in her appearance.

* ''Series/Community'' had Francesca "Frankie" Dart. Not particularly tomboyish in personality though, she was more of an OnlySaneMan.

* In the CBBC comedy ''Kevin's Cousins'', the cousins in question are called Molly and Danny. Danny doesn't arrive until the end of episode 1 and ([[GirlsHaveCooties to Kevin's horror]]) turns out to be another girl.

[[folder:Real Life]]
* Actresses with Tomboyish names include Creator/BilliePiper, Creator/HaydenPanettiere, Creator/GlennClose, James "Jaime" King, Creator/JamieLeeCurtis, Creator/BlakeLively, Christopher Norris and Creator/SeanYoung. Though Billie and Jamie/Jaime are technically also feminine names. And Young is actually a case of MiddleNameBasis; her first name is the unquestionably feminine Mary.
* Series/{{ER}} actress Michael Michele, born Michael Michele Williams. Even better: she was named after her mother's best friend, a woman named Michael Ann.
* Michael Learned, from ''Series/TheWaltons''. Her parents were pointedly elusive about why she was given a masculine first name. In fact, during the show's first five seasons, she was listed in the opening credits as "''Miss'' Michael Learned" to avoid viewer confusion.
* Barack Obama's mother, who went by her middle name Ann, was named Stanley after her father. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PYA_wfuL4GQ Probably where this reporter's confusion came from.]]
* Creator/AnneRice was born Howard Allen Frances O'Brien. She was named after her father. In a twist, Anne [[EmbarrassingFirstName hated the name with a passion]]; she had "Howard" legally changed to "Anne" when she was 6 years old.
* A bizarre twist on this trope is when names originally seen as masculine eventually are seen as feminine:
** Over the last hundred years, Ashley has gone from being a male name to a female one (not a surprise to anyone who has seen ''Film/GoneWithTheWind'').
** As has Meredith, though that could be more the transition from Wales to the U.S. than time...
** Not to mention Madison; the name's popularity as a female name has been credited to its appearance as a name chosen by the mermaid in ''Film/{{Splash}}''.
** As mentioned above, Shirley was a distinctly male name until 1849, when a book came out featuring a female protagonist who had been named Shirley (because her father had wanted a boy), thereby popularizing the name for girls instead.
** Andrea is a common men's name in Greece and Italy (the equivalent of Andrew) and a sometimes common girl's name elsewhere. It is derived from the Ancient Greek name Andreas, which is rooted in ''andreia'' "manliness".
** "Lee" (not that Chinese surname) and any names that end in "-lee" or a variation thereof were at one point exclusively male.
** Aubrey, from the Germanic ''Albric'', meaning 'elf king', or 'supernatural being', was originally a Germanic surname, then an English first name for boys, and then, during the 20th century, gradually became more associated with girls. Today, it ranks as the 65th most popular girls' name in the US, and hasn't made top 1000 for boys' names since 2002.
** When Howard Hawks hired Leigh Brackett to co-write the screenplay for ''Film/TheBigSleep'' (with Creator/WilliamFaulkner), he was surprised at their first meeting to find the writer he hired was a woman.
** "Ariel" is very much a masculine name in the Bible, as with other names ending in "-el". Among Jews, it still is (e.g. late Israeli PM Ariel Sharon). Thanks to ''Theatre/TheTempest'' and, much later, ''WesternAnimation/{{The Little Mermaid|1989}}'', the name is commonly associated with girls in the West (though Shakespeare's Ariel was originally written to be a male).
* There's a well-known human rights lawyer in Britain called Gareth Peirce, although she changed her name legally. "Gareth" was originally her middle name.
* Music/FleetwoodMac:
** Born a Stephanie, Music/StevieNicks has gone by Stevie for most of her life. She had difficulty pronouncing her name when she was young, and the nickname stuck.
** Inverted with Lindsey Buckingham, who is male.
* An inversion occurs in the nickname of a West German striker who played in the 1966 [[UsefulNotes/TheWorldCup World Cup]] final, Lothar "Emma" Emmerich.
* An even more dramatic inversion is an American athlete named Danielle Hunter. ''HE'S'' an edge rusher for the Minnesota Vikings. (He pronounces his first name duh-NEEL.)
* Another inversion is Australian [[UsefulNotes/NationalBasketballAssociation NBA]] player Patty Mills, a man whose first name is Patrick.
* Brett Anderson. No, not the guy who sings for Suede, or the pitcher for the Oakland Athletics, but the girl who fronts The Donnas.
* Porn actress Daryn Darby.
* Former [[Music/RobZombie White Zombie]] bassist Sean Yseult.
* Actress Creator/JenniferJasonLeigh. Her first name isn't, but her middle name definitely is.
* [[http://www.caymanilika.net/ Cayman Ilika]], named for the Cayman Islands, where her parents spent their honeymoon.
* Justifiablely averted in Germany where parents are banned from assigning names that doesn't clearly designate their child's gender.
** Can still happen with middle names. Just ask actor Klaus Maria Brandauer or comedian Markus Maria Profitlich.
** Not uncommon in some countries for Roman Catholic men to have María as a middle name. See also German author Erich Maria Remarque (who changed his middle name in honour of his mother), Spanish politician José María Aznar, Spanish golfer José María Olazábal, French politician Jean-Marie Le Pen. In this case, however, "José María" is considered a "compound name", as both names will be used together. If someone referred to Mr. Aznar as "María Aznar" or even "J. María Aznar", people will assume the speaker is referring to somebody else (a female).
** In Spanish, at least, the combined name "María José" is also common. Again, it's exclusively a female name.
** The French equivalent of the above, "Marie-Jose", is not unheard of, with one notable example being double Olympic gold medal sprinter Marie-Jose Pérec. Again exclusively female.
* ESPN ''Series/SportsCenter'' anchor Chris [=McKendry=] is a woman, as is MSNBC anchor Chris Jansing. Though it's actually a Tomboyish ''Nickname'', as both were born with the first name Christine.
** Chris Evert counts too. Yes, she's also a Christine.
* Rare Japanese example with English masculine nicknames can go to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leo_Ieiri Leo Ieiri]], a Japanese singer and a songwriter. Her real name wasn't revealed in public.[[note]]The name was inspired by the protagonists in ''Film/TheProfessional'' as well as ''Manga/KimbaTheWhiteLion''.[[/note]]
* [[http://talent.tpsonline.org/index.php?action=view_single&Image_Number=17589&membernumber=6717 Tsige (pronounced "Ziggy") Tafesse.]]
* In many countries, it's hard to refer to Alan Dawa Dolma, a Chinese-Tibetan singer who sang the opening theme of the first [[VideoGame/GodEater God Eater]] game, using her professional name "[[AllLowercaseLetters alan]]" without making people think you're referring to some guy named "Allan".
* Princess Michael of Kent. She isn't technically a princess in her own right, but is referred to as one due to her husband's title and for some odd reason that meant she's known by her husband's first name as well. Her full name is actually [[OverlyLongName HRH Baroness Marie-Christine Anne Agnes Hedwig Ida, Princess Michael of Kent]].
** This was also common practice in the royal house of Prussia, where the consorts of lesser princes were referred to by the name of their husbands. Empress Victoria (daughter of Queen Victoria) was sometimes referred to as "Empress Frederick" after the death of her spouse, Frederick III, possibly to avoid confusion with her daughter-in-law, Empress Auguste Viktoria.
* [[Creator/LaurenBacall The]] [[Creator/HumphreyBogart Bogarts]] named their daughter "Leslie Howard Bogart" after the late Leslie Howard, who insisted to the studio that Creator/HumphreyBogart reprise his stage role in the movie adaptation of ''"The Petrified Forest"'', which [[StarMakingRole boosted his career]].
* Ryan Reynolds (no, not [[Creator/RyanReynolds that one]]), who dubs anime for Creator/{{FUNimation}}.
* The Hues Corporation, a disco band from the 1970s best known for "Rock the Boat", had a female singer named H. Ann Kelly, where the "H" stands for "Hubert".
* Old Hollywood actress Jeff Donnell. Named "Jean Marie" at birth, she took her nickname from ''ComicStrip/MuttAndJeff''.
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** ''VideoGame/StarTrekVoyagerEliteForce'' names the player character Alex Munroe, allowing choice of either male or female models, then proceeds to [[LastNameBasis only address them as "Munroe"]], rendering the first name a moot point.

* ''Film/JaggedMind'': Protagonist Billie has one. She's a lesbian with a mildly tomboyish style. It's not said if it's short for something else (e.g. Wilhelmina).

* Yukio from ''Film/TheWolverine''.
* ''Film/ASafePlace1971'' has Noah, originally named Susan.
* In ''Film/IfYouCouldSayItInWords'', Nelson's older sister Samantha goes by Sam. Her tomboyish traits vanished when she hit puberty, but the nickname stuck.
* ''Film/{{Alto}}'': Frankie is a female character (her full given name is Francesca).
* In ''Film/CallMeBwana'', Matt is told that an agent named Fred Larson will meet him on the plane to Africa. He's surprised to learn that Fred is short for Frederica.
* ''Film/TheHaunting1999'': Theo is a bold and open bisexual woman.
* ''Film/TrapForCinderella'': Micky is not a traditional female name (it turns out to be a nickname for Michelle, but that's [[OnlyKnownByTheirNickname rarely used]]). Though she does have a feminine style, Mickey's freespirited and bold. It's {{downplayed}} though.
* ''Film/HeartsBeatLoud'': Sam is a lesbian with a slight tomboy style who goes by this rather than Samantha.
* ''Film/ForbiddenLoveTheUnashamedStoriesOfLesbianLives'': Mitch is the name of Laura's lover in the pulp story. She's feminine like Laura, although more experienced and bold.

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* In ''Film/SomeKindOfWonderful'', the main character's tomboy best friend goes by her last name, Watts. At the end of the first draft of the screenplay it's revealed that her first name is actually Susan, but this never happens in the finished film.

** In the Swedish 1950 film ''Girl With Hyacinths'', the protagonist is trying to find out why a young girl killed herself. The only clue is the name of a lover, Alex. At the end of the film, the protagonist is rather stunned to discover that [[TwistEnding Alex is a woman]].

** Wen Spencer's fantasy novel ''Tinker'' centers around a girl named Alexander Graham Bell. She prefers to go by her (also tomboyish) nickname, Tinker.
*** Tinker doesn't sound tomboyish when combined with her surname, though.