Richard Troy wrote:
>
>
> On Fri, 8 Dec 2006, Raymond O'Donnell wrote:
>> Yes, the table is used only for humans; it's part of some
>> administrative software I'm writing for an educational institution,
>> and the primary purpose of the gender column is to help the users
>> cope with a problem new to the west of Ireland - the large influx of
>> immigrants from Africa, eastern Europe and elsewhere means that it's
>> no longer possible to tell a student's gender just from their
>> name....!
>>
>> --Ray.
>
> Ray, darest I point out that that's never been possible in English anyway?
> There are dozens if not hundreds of androgenous names - Pat and Tracy come
> immediately to mind, and there are countless others!
Or with Irish names: Sheridan, Tara, Shay, Shannon, Rory, Ronan, Riley,
Renny, Regan, Quinn, Murphy, Keverne, Keeley, Kane, Erin, Darby, Dara,
Cary, ...
Yes, I was researching baby names not all that long ago... :)
Cheers,
Steve