Long before girls began to acquire trendy, unisex names like McKenna, Morgan, Payton, and Taylor -- an improvement on Brandi, Brittany, and Tiffany -- they had already claimed ownership of many formerly masculine names; for example:
- (George) Beverly (Shea), composer and singer of religious songs, long associated with Billy Graham
- (Arthur) Evelyn (St. John Waugh), English writer
- Marion (Morrison), a.k.a. John Wayne
- Meredith (Willson), American composer (e.g., The Music Man)
- Merle ("Punk" O'Rourke), my father's uncle by marriage, and an outstanding semi-pro pitcher