A few male names are almost exclusively used by women in the S.C.A., and vice-versa. Usually this is because of some famous person or fictional character who bore that name in the "wrong" gender.
ARIEL: This name has been used as a male name since biblical times (Ezra 8:16). In the Middle Ages, the name was believed to be used by a spirit of the air: its use in Shakespeare's The Tempest was for a male spirit. The modern American use is female, which has probably been strengthened by the female character of that name in Disney's The Little Mermaid. - (A Dictionary of First Names, Hanks and Hodges, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 25, The New American Dictionary of First Names, Dunkling and Gosling, Signet Books, New York, p. 30, Complete works, William Shakespeare, Walter J. Black, Roslyn, NY, p. 4, The Holy Bible (King James Version), The Gideons International, Nashville, TN, p. 468)
HAGAR: This female name is biblical, the name of Sarah's handmaiden who bore Abraham his first child (Genesis 16:1). The author of Hagar the Horrible probably mistook it for a relative of the many Old Norse names ending in -geirr and cognate Old English/Old German names ending in -gar (meaning spear), such as Asgeirr, Berengar, etc. - (A Dictionary of First Names, Hanks and Hodges, Oxford University Press, Oxford, p. 147, The Holy Bible (King James Version), The Gideons International, Nashville, TN, p. 13)
VIVIAN: This English male name is derived from the Latin Vivianus. This spelling can be dated to 1544. The period female form is Viviana. Lord Tennyson (19th c.) was responsible for the use of the name Vivien for the Arthurian Lady of the Lake character previously known as Ninian. This name's use by the actress Vivien Leigh caused most recent American uses of the name to be female. - (The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names, E.G. Withycombe, 3rd ed. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pps. 290-291, The New American Dictionary of First Names, Dunkling and Gosling, Signet Books, New York, pps. 436-437)
BRANWYN: This is a subtle but significant spelling distinction: Branwen is a female character in the Mabinogion, but all Welsh names ending in -wyn (with the "y") are male. Branwyn is not actually found as a period Welsh name; it is a valid hypothetical male name construction, but not a female name construction. Do not confuse Welsh -wyn with the similar-sounding Anglo-Saxon -wynn, which is female; the two languages are not interchangeable. - (Mistress Keridwen ferch Morgan Glasfryn, citing research on period Welsh name formations gleaned from numerous period documents)
