What's+In+A+Name?

If the only thing we knew about the protagonist was that his name was Hilary and no references were made to what his gender was, based on his name, I believe most readers would naturally assume Hilary was a girl. I went to the website, [] which has the etymology and history of most first names, and found out the following: **HILARY** Gender: Feminine  & Masculine  Usage: English Medieval English form of [|HILARIUS] or [|HILARIA]. During the Middle Ages it was primarily a masculine name. It was revived in Britain at the beginning of the 20th century as a predominantly feminine name. In America, this name and the variant //Hillary// seemed to drop in popularity after Hillary Clinton (1947-) became the first lady. ** HILARIUS ** Gender: Masculine Usage: Ancient Roman Roman name which was derived from Latin //hilaris// meaning "cheerful". Alternatively, it could be derived from the Greek name // [|‘Ιλαρος] (Hilaros)// also meaning "cheerful" (the Greek word // [|‘ιλαρος] // was the source of the Latin word //hilaris//). [|Saint] Hilarius was a 4th-century theologian and bishop of Poitiers. This was also the name of a 5th-century pope. ** HILARIA ** Gender: Feminine Usage: Ancient Roman, Spanish Feminine form of [|HILARIUS] The protagonist is a boy searching for his identity. I find it interesting that the author would give the protagonist a name that is both feminine and masculine. Is this done on purpose? If so, why?

Gender: Masculine Usage: Irish Anglicized form of [|FIONN]. Huckleberry Finn was a character in Mark Twain's novels **FIONN** Gender: Masculine Usage: Irish, Irish Mythology Means "fair" or "white" in Gaelic. Fionn mac Cumhail was a legendary Irish hero who became all-wise by eating an enchanted salmon. He fought against the giant Fomors with his son Oisín and grandson Oscar.
 * FINN (1) **

Gender: Masculine Usage: Scandinavion From the [|Old Norse] name //Finnr// which meant "person from Finland".
 * FINN (2) **

The name Finn is clearly a masculine name, though it does mean "fair." Why would the author choose a masculine name for this character who is not? Why not give this character name that could be masculine or feminine? What is to be said about the characters of Finn and Hilary using each others names now that we have looked more closely at the context of their names? When Hilary is trying to be bold he uses Finn's identity and in the end he uses the name as his own once he is branching out from his past. When we see Finn in the hospital, she uses Hilary's name. What is to be said about each character's gender confusion, [|sexual identities] or representations?

What effect does this sexual ambiguity have on the novel?