Reader Melissa had a really good idea: We should do a series of posts called things like “What’s your favorite unisex name?” or “What’s your favorite uncommon name?,” and then have a list of links to that series in the sidebar. It might make a good reference section for people to browse when they’re looking for inspiration.
So let’s try it, and let’s start with “What are some of your favorite unisex baby names?”
If you’re like me, you might be suddenly nervous about your choices. Let’s agree NOT to be: we’ll just list any that come to mind, and it doesn’t matter if they’re our actual top favorites because we can always come back and add more later, and of course our answers don’t have to correspond with names we’d use OURSELVES, and duplicates in the list are fine and expected and even helpful for showing group preferences. We’re just creating an inspiration/idea list for others to look through.
I’ll go first:
Carson
Ellis
Emory
Grey
Hollis
Joe/Jo
Lane
Lee/Leigh
Merritt
Reese/Rhys
Rory
Teagan
Now it is your turn. You can list one or many, whatever you like. Think of it like someone says to you “I’d like to find a good unisex baby name,” and you say “Ooo, how about…?”
Elliot
Morgan
Alex. Ryan, sort of (I’m not sure how I feel about it for girls). Andy/Andi.
(Can you tell I’m procrastinating this morning and, thus, entirely caught up on my google reader?)
Jordan
Harper
Lake
Wren / Ren
Charlie
Cameron! (my kid’s name) Though I prefer it for boys over girls and don’t care for creative spellings the girl version often gets (Kamryn, etc.)
Morgan
James (Jamie)
Charlie
Adrian (Adrienne)
Actually, now that I think of it, I love unisex names for boys, but prefer girlier names for girls.
Ooh fun! How about
Harley
Shiloh
Zooey
Riley
Valentine (My favorite! Oh I love it so!)
I’ll be honest, I was waiting for a post like this! Name sharing is fun ^_^
Great idea! Here are the names that come to mind…
Avery
Darcy
Jordan
I love Darcy too! And Darby.
Kelly
Morgan
Harper
Ellis
I’m not that into unisex names but I like:
Taylor
Reilly
Rowan
Logan
Ever
Emerson
Sage
River
Finley
Quinn
Rowan
Riley
Morgan
Quinn
Sawyer
Casey
Spencer
Parker
Jess/Jesse
Regan, Morgan, Carter, Emerson & Quinn.
At Universal Studios, there is a ride where the host is always named “Taylor” regardless of sex. ;)
I’m not a fan of unisex names in general, but I do like
Avery,
Adrian,
Paige
and Robin for either boys or girls- mostly because in my mind, these are truly unisex and not just borrowed from the opposite sex (Paige, you say? Yes- my pediatrician’s name was Paige.)
I do like feminized boys’ names- Georgette,
Paula,
Josephine,
Clementine,
Claudia,
Erica,
Alexandria
Maybe this could be an idea for one of those lists.
Logan
Taylor
Morgan
Skyler
Jamie
Jordan
Cameron
Dylan/Dillon
Sydney/Sidney
Drew
Campbell
Alex/Alexis
Sam/Sammy
Ryan
Casey
Peyton/Payton
Devin/Devon
Jessie/Jesse
Avery
Here is my list –
Lennox, Riley, Reagan, Kipling (I have known both a man and a woman with this name and love it), Barrett, Brooks/Brooke, True, Linden, Winter/Wynter,
Riley
Morgan
Taylor
Cameron
Jordan
Robin
Avery
I LOVE Peyton, but don’t really consider it unisex. Although I KNOW it is, I ALWAYS think boy first, and onyl after I learn that the child is a girl do I remember that Peyton is unisex.
I’m also surprised at some others’ names on this list! For example, I never though of Brooke (my own name) as being unisex, but a few have listed it. Cool to see what other people think! :) Love this idea! Can’t wait for more lists!!
Not really a big fan of unisex names, but there are a handful I don’t mind.
Harper, Jesse/Jessie, Francis/Frances, Casey.
Avery, Hayden, Reese/Rhys, Rowan, Aiden/Aden, Emerson are the few I can think of at the moment
Jamie (This is my sister’s name but I love it as a nickname for James!)
Avery
Sam
Alex
Jordan
Lou(Louis/Louisa)
Cameron
Colby
Taylor
Tyler (I knew a female Tyler in high school)
Kelsey (I also knew a male Kelsey in high school)
Aaron/Erin (I know some people pronounce them differently but they sound exactly the same to my ear)
I do prefer more manly or identifiably male names for males, but unisex names can be fun.
Arden
Auden
Briar
Dagmar
Ellis
Ever
Hollis
Kirby
Lake
Linden
Meredith
Peregrine
Reese, Rhys
Rowan
Sage
Wren, Ren
Rowan,
Avery,
Larkin,
Briar,
Riley,
Casey
Sounds like my name list!
Most of my favorite unisex names are nature names:
Rain
Juniper
Rowan
River
Linden
Ash
Lark
Morgan
Auburn
Skyler
Garland
Lake
Sterling
Quill
Vale
Azure
Hawthorn
Oliander
Indigo
Leslie/Lesley
Sage
Cedar
Robin
I generally don’t like unisex names, and the ones I do like I would only use for one gender (like Kelly for a boy, Rowan for a boy or Evelyn for a girl).
The few names I would happily use for either sex are:
Rhian/Rian
Rory
Alex
Blake
Drew
Aaron/Erin
Devin/Devon
Robin
Old fashioned, I know, but I love
Robin
New favorites from this list are Lennox and Linden
Also Darcy & Morgan
but only for girls – does that make them not count? Morgan is my great regret that it doesn’t work with our surname name.
Finally, I always think of Tatum as unisex and like it for a boy even though that doesn’t seem to be the trend.
I like Cary, Kelly, or Jamie for boys.
Evan/Evynn
Ryan/Rhian
Rhys/Reece
Micah/Myka
Everly/Everleigh
Devin/Devyn
Charlie
Peyton
Barrett
Logan
Tatum
Dylan
Quinn is the only name I consider truly unisex. It sounds strong and unequivocally masculine on a boy, but stil sweet and fun on a girl. Pretty much any other name seems like it belongs to one side but could be loaned to the other.
I have to plug my own name here – Austin!
Love this game!!!!
Being an Erin who always gets asked, “is it spelled Erin or Aaron,” I am not a huge fan of unisex names except for these….
Morgan
Avery
Addison
Allie
Sydney/Sidney
Quinn
Everly
Ezra
Finn/Finley
Quinn
Zander
Riley, Avery, Jaime, can’t think of more lol
I’m sure these are mostly repeats, but my unisex list (most of these I prefer on girls):
Adair
Rowan
Hadley
Ellery
Everly
Emery
Ellis
Bennett and Ash(e)!!
Never quite got up the courage to use Noel for a boy, but I love it.
Alex, absolutely. I think this is the most resilient unisex name.
Jordan
Cameron
Hayden
Rory
Aaron/Erin
Jaime/Jamie (I want the male nn to make a comeback!)
Genius picks from those listed so far:
Francis/Frances
Lou
My friends picked out Avi for their baby before finding out the sex. Ari has a similar unisex feel for me.
Others that have flexibility in my head:
Alex
Chase
Charlie
Davis/Dav(e)y
Hadley (love this after reading The Paris Wife)
Noah (there’s a little-known female Noah in the Old Testament – she and her sisters are the first listed female property owners!)
I’m also a fan of last-names-as-first when they actually come from your family. But that’s just me (a first-name-Lashley who comes from last-name-Lashleys). …Could Hyphen be a unisex name?
Rory for either
Casey for either
Robin, though I prefer it for a boy
So, one of my children has recently suggested that they might like me to help them choose a gender neutral name, and so, I’m happy to have found my thinking from not too far after they were born. Took a quick look through the comments and will now add:
Blair
Rowan
Drew
Blake
So, one of my children has recently suggested that they might like me to help them choose a gender neutral name, and so, I’m happy to have found my thinking from not too far after they were born. Took a quick look through the comments and will now add:
Blair
Rowan
Drew
Blake
Blythe
Garnet
Marlowe
Sasha
Finn
Haven
Rowan
Ash
Sage
True
Story
Elan
I LOVE
Riley
Morgan
Carson
Robin
Lennon
Kellen
Dillon
Emory
Riley
I love unisex names!
Daryl
I LOVE unisex names!
Billy/Billie
Jamie
Drew
Cameron
Avery
Rowan
Dylan
Definitely Charlie, although more like an unisex nickname, for Charles or Charlotte.
Adair
August
Avery
Birch
Blair
Blake
Bryn
Darby
Darcy
Dagmar
Finn
Jo/Joe
Izzy
Kai/Kaia
Lake
Linden (I love it)
Matti
Max
Nico
Ollie
Ozzy
Rain
Ray
River
Sage
Slate
Stone
Sunny
Tatum
Usagi (means rabbit in Japanese)
Ute (means poem in Japanese)
Vespers
Zaire
Zooey
and I forgot Quinn and I do love Charlie, and Carly is nice for girls as a homage to Carlos. Hayden and Georgie are long time favorites. Leaf! Sea! This was fun.
Dagmar (I do really like it)
I LOVE:
Jensen
Peyton
I tend to prefer unisex names for girls over boys.
My name is Erin and I just have NEVER got it when people ask if it’s Erin or Aaron. Goodness! Aaron is for boys, and do I look like a boy?? Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest. :-)
I don’t care for unisex names but here are my favorites. Although they’re considered unisex I definitely have a specific gender in mind for each one (usually female).
Bay
Cedar
Elliott
Finley
Finland
Harper
Holland
Jesse
July
Lane
November
Ray
Scotland
Story
Winslow
I knew a guy named Les, but it was short for Lesley, and I thought that was neat. I also think of the soldier from Gone With The Wind whenever I hear the name Ashley. Other than those, I like noun names as unisex:
River
Story
Fable
Sage
Jade
Ellis/Ellison
Grey
Lou
Sasha
Jamie
I am a little surprised no one has said my own name (unless i missed it)which is Chris. I know you don’t hear it a lot anymore, but I know so many Chris’/Kris’ in my age group and it is a mix of males and females. I know it is a nickname for Christopher/Christina/Christine, but it is definitely unisex.
Remy
Rowan
Ellis
Grey
Avery
There were 4 people named Noel at my very small church a few weeks ago: an older woman; a man who was younger than she was; a young woman; and an 8-year-old girl.
None of them had been born on or near Christmas.
It was awesome.
Some of these have been listed. But, my husband and I enjoy the unisex names:
Cory/Cori
Lennon
Sawyer
Parker
Ryan
Carson
Rowan
Oakley!
Camden or Camdyn
Austin
Bennett
My daughter is a Jane Austin fan. We both agree these would be great girl names. We know a girl named Austin.
Drew
Jordan
Perri / Perry
Phoenix
Quinn
River
I haven’t read any answers; didn’t want to be swayed by anybody’s comments. Also, I REALLY feel that a unisex name needs a gender-specific middle name.
I feel like a lot of unisex names go with a specific gender even though they are technically “unisex.” For example, Carson, which feels quite masculine with the car and son in it (no offense intended of course).
However, I do like Jamie and Robin for both genders, but it seems like Robin is leaning towards the girls now (still, Robin Hood would probably make it workable for the boys).
My favorites are:
Ellis
Wynne/Wynn
Hollis
Rowan
Linden
Dylan
Briar
Rowan
Ashley
Robin
Valo
Darcy
River
Linden
Jesse
Avery
Leonide
Riley
Tyler
Kyle
Finnley
Hayden
Oh glad you liked my idea!! :-)
My favorites (and preferred genders) are:
Reese (g)
Remy (b)
Remi (g)
Emerson (g)
Charlie (b/g)
Lane (b)
Tate (b)
Rowan (b)
Andy
Dallas
Ray/Rae
Carmen
K.C/Kayce
Pat
Lennox
Jordan
Riley
DJ
Joe/Jo
Sam
Lenni/Lenny
Kim
Tonny/Tonni
My favorite has to be Grayson. But i also like Taylor, Jayden, Micah & Ashton.