海角大神

A University of Wisconsin expert on feminism says Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively may have just doomed America鈥檚 most popular boy鈥檚 name, James, by giving it to their daughter.

Mr. Reynolds, who has been very private about his daughter鈥檚 birth and name, confirmed the baby鈥檚 name on NBC's " this week. The name had been a point of speculation since her birth just before the New Year.

According to the website, the name James was the nation鈥檚 top boy鈥檚 name with 4,866,619 babies taking that name from 1914 to 2013. [Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the year range.闭听听

However, Myra Marx Ferree, an expert in comparative studies of gender, politics and American feminist movements at the said in an interview, 鈥淚f a little girl named James becomes a celebrity, then James will quickly cease to be a boy鈥檚 name and become a girl鈥檚 name."

鈥淭here鈥檚 a history of boys' names becoming girls' names. A very clever algorithm used on which is based on the Social Security Administration鈥檚 database of baby names and if you type in a name it shows you a graph in pink and blue of the name鈥檚 use throughout decades,鈥� Professor Ferree added. 鈥淥nce a boy鈥檚 name becomes a popular girls鈥� name, parents just seem to stop using it for boys.鈥�

Ferree said this happens because 鈥渙ne core dictate of masculinity is called 鈥榓void femininity鈥� - don鈥檛 be a girl or like one in any way鈥�

鈥淚t鈥檚 called , the idea that things associated with men have higher social value,鈥� she explained. 鈥淪o it鈥檚 not such a big thing for girls to do boy things, but it鈥檚 still terrible for boys to do girl things because it devalues you. And it鈥檚 homophobic. It鈥檚 utter nonsense, of course, but it still goes on.鈥�

According to Ferree, American culture has 鈥済otten rid of the sexism that says girls can鈥檛 aspire to do boy things, but not the notion that guys who do girl things are of lesser value.鈥�

鈥淕irl things are still low-value things,鈥� she continued. 鈥淎nything we put in the girl category is a bad thing for everyone. The name stuff is a nice indicator of that social value. Therefore, the boys鈥� name that becomes popularly used for girls is now contaminated with low, girl-value.鈥�

Ferree says that she stumbled upon this gender-bender name phenomenon by accident when her sister, , called her to tell her, 鈥淓veryone with my name is dead鈥� after looking her name up on NameTrends.

鈥淚t caught my interest and I began using the website to track the gender changes in naming,鈥� says Ferree. 鈥淚t seems obvious from the graphs that parents simply stop giving boys a particular name the moment it is viewed as a girl鈥檚 name. 聽Interestingly, though, the same thing does not seem to happen to girls' names.鈥�

Ferree says boys鈥� names with an 鈥渆鈥� sound at the end are the most vulnerable to gender switching when they began to gain popularity when used for girls. However, it is the celebrity factor that, Ferree believes, marks a boy鈥檚 name for social extinction.

鈥淗ave some fun with it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭ype in and see how it went from exclusively a boy鈥檚 name to a girl鈥檚 name. Then try and find someone famous with that name right around the trend switch.鈥�

The name Leslie abruptly switches from being a boy鈥檚 name to a girl鈥檚 name in the early 1950s, which is also when actress Leslie Caron became a superstar after actor/dancer got her to act in the film, "" in 1951. Other famous films starring the actress include ""(1953) and "" (1958).

鈥淕o on,鈥� Ferree coached in an interview, 鈥淭ry , , or . Notice how they begin as a blue line and suddenly switch to pink and shoot up as the blue line just dies?鈥�

Ferree concluded by saying, 鈥淚f that little girl named James grows up to be famous, then you will see James become a girl鈥檚 name.鈥�