Do monks take 'female' religious names the way nuns take 'male' names?

[SisterLuke]

Ever since I was a child (even though I was raised Protestant) I’ve been fascinated by all things to do with the religious life, and one of the interesting particularities I’ve noticed is how nuns will often take a name that would otherwise be considered masculine, such as ‘Sister James’ or ‘Sister Thomas’ (or the character I named my profile after). This made me curious as to whether the reverse has ever been true for monks.

I know religious and men in general in Spanish and French-speaking countries, among others, have names such as Maria or Marie that are unisex in those languages, but would be considered feminine in English, but I was wondering if male religious in English-speaking countries would ever/have ever taken taken the name of a female Saint such as ‘Brother Agnes’ or ‘Brother Theresa’, for example.

 

[0Scarlett_nidiyilii]

Sometimes as a second name.

 

[aroosi]

‘Maria’ is used in Italy also for males but always as a middle name and usually in old fashion or aristocratic families. In Southern Europe I honestly never came across a nun with a typical male name as in the examples used in your original post

 

[BartholomewB]

I know religious and men in general in Spanish and French-speaking countries, among others, have names such as Maria or Marie that are unisex in those languages, but would be considered feminine in English,

That’s not quite exact. There are compound names, or hyphenated names, that are common in French, Spanish, and other languages, but there is still a clear distinction between men’s names and women’s names. For example, a man can be called José Maria, and a woman can be called Maria José, but not the other way around.

 

[OddBird]

I know religious and men in general in Spanish and French-speaking countries, among others, have names such as Maria or Marie that are unisex in those languages

In French, we wouldn’t use “Marie” on its own as a masculine name. It’s always in a compound (like Jean-Marie, for example). The order of the names in the compound also matters : Pierre-Marie is a man’s name, but Marie-Pierre is a woman’s name.

ETA : Sorry for repeating, I hadn’t seen that @BartholomewB had beaten me to it

 

[JHFamily]

I know many monks here in the United States that have some form of Mary as a part of their names.

 

[LilyM]

There is (or used to be in recent years) a priest on EWTN who was Father Anthony Mary.

I haven’t heard any examples of uses of names other than Mary/Marie/Maria for men in general or men in religious life.

 

[SisterLuke]

Thank you @BartholomewB and @OddBird for correcting me. I must have misconstrued the sources I read.