I always knew Arionwyn was a girl... * shrugs *

I know nothing about the character, etc, but by the name it seemed obvious to me that the character was a girl. *shrugs*

It seems obviously girl to me, though that may be because it reminds me of Arwen and Éowyn a bit.

My first thought was male, before I read the post, and then I thought it could be either, but after thinking about it more, I decided that it was probably female, because of other similar names I knew about.

I knew it was a girl, but it's always sounded feminine to me.

eru

When I saw the name, I assumed it was feminine.

I know the character, so I know she is a girl. I would have naturally assumed the name was feminine, but I could also see some people thinking it was male.

Three or four pages? *thinks * Depends on what is happening in those pages, I suppose. If I become bonded to the character that early in the book (has happened before) and think of the character as a guy instead of a girl.... I will forever remember that, and carry it with me the rest of the book. At least subconsciously.

As a general rule, though, I would say that's still really early in the book, so it isn't too damaging. Now half way through we might have a problem.

Besides, the general consensus is that the name sounds feminine, so I would say you have few readers who would see her as a man.

I spent most of To Kill a Mocking Bird wondering if the main character was a girl or a boy... it started to drive me nuts. I didn't even know her name for the longest time... I just couldn't draw the right connection. I was clueless as to anything about the main character.

As long as you don't do that I think we're good. The ending 'wyn' is very feminine. I've always known she was a girl too... also, it's pretty easy to establish that she's a girl early on by referencing her clothing. (If it's applicable, that is...) if you mention a skirt, or a dress or jewelry, or long hair, people are going to instantly think of a girl, I think.

Same here. It confused me.

I'm with Airi on this. I think, if it isn't really far into the book that we find out that the character is a girl, it will be fine.

It wouldn't really bother me.

Arionwyn does sound like a girl's name.

It could be either male or female, I think, though I always consider that kind of 'wyn' name to be male... But that's because I study into Irish names too much, and most boy names end in 'wyn'.