Key Facts
- 35% of new babies are given a unisex name, a name used for both genders.
- Logan is the most common unisex name. Last year 8,420 new babies were names Logan. Only 845 (10%) of those babies were female.
- The majority of unisex names lean male.
Unisex names, names commonly used for a boy or girl are fairly popular in the United States. An estimated of new babies each year are given a unisex name.
Some prospective parents hope to better their child’s job prospects by gracing them with an ambiguous or male leaning name. Others simply fancy a name and think it suits their offspring. Because it’s meaningful or cool.
It made us wonder, what makes a name unisex? And what are the most popular unisex names? Are they used more often for girls or boys? Since this is Parenting By Number, we once again hit the data to answer this question and hopefully provide some helpful insight.
Below is a list of the most common unisex baby names according to the Social Security Administration. You can see the gender distribution for each name’s most recent usage in the United States:
Most Common Unisex Names
- Logan Male: 90% Female:10%
- Ezra Male: 95% Female: 5%
- Avery Male: 21% Female: 79%
- Dylan Male: 93% Female: 7%
- Carter Male: 92% Female: 8%
- Riley Male: 25% Female: 75%
- Parker Male: 62% Female: 38%
- Kai Male: 94% Female: 6%
- Angel Male: 90% Female: 10%
- Cameron Male: 89% Female: 11%
- River Male: 64% Female: 36%
- Ryan Male: 89% Female: 11%
- Rowan Male: 77% Female: 23%
- Jordan Male: 86% Female: 14%
- Charlie Male: 47% Female: 53%
- Sawyer Male: 70% Female: 30%
- Micah Male: 95% Female: 5%
- Hunter Male: 91% Female: 9%
- Quinn Male: 18% Female: 82%
- August Male: 91% Female: 9%
- Genesis Male: 6% Female: 94%
- Ryder Male: 94% Female: 6%
- Emery Male: 11% Female: 89%
- Hayden Male: 71% Female: 29%
- Amari Male: 68% Female: 32%
- Eden Male: 25% Female: 75%
- Atlas Male: 95% Female: 5%
- Skylar Male: 5% Female: 95%
- Blake Male: 52% Female: 48%
- Emerson Male: 42% Female: 58%
- Elliot Male: 88% Female: 12%
- Peyton Male: 19% Female: 81%
- Sage Male: 29% Female: 71%
- Remi Male: 13% Female: 87%
- Elliott Male: 83% Female: 17%
- Oakley Male: 30% Female: 70%
- Finley Male: 47% Female: 53%
- Jude Male: 95% Female: 5%
- Tyler Male: 95% Female: 5%
- Phoenix Male: 57% Female: 43%
- Bentley Male: 94% Female: 6%
- Remington Male: 65% Female: 35%
- Tatum Male: 48% Female: 52%
- Rory Male: 56% Female: 44%
- Reese Male: 20% Female: 80%
- Alex Male: 93% Female: 7%
- Camden Male: 94% Female: 6%
- Dakota Male: 44% Female: 56%
- Reagan Male: 7% Female: 93%
- Beckett Male: 94% Female: 6%
- Karter Male: 85% Female: 15%
- Sutton Male: 29% Female: 71%
- Morgan Male: 29% Female: 71%
- Lennox Male: 75% Female: 25%
- Wren Male: 12% Female: 88%
- Taylor Male: 25% Female: 75%
- Dallas Male: 75% Female: 25%
- Ariel Male: 29% Female: 71%
- Bailey Male: 7% Female: 93%
- Ari Male: 59% Female: 41%
- Aspen Male: 13% Female: 87%
- Lennon Male: 24% Female: 76%
- Kyrie Male: 94% Female: 6%
- Shiloh Male: 40% Female: 60%
- Alexis Male: 43% Female: 57%
- Ellis Male: 72% Female: 28%
- Armani Male: 53% Female: 47%
- Milan Male: 70% Female: 30%
- Lane Male: 92% Female: 8%
- Kyler Male: 94% Female: 6%
- Presley Male: 9% Female: 91%
- Paxton Male: 94% Female: 6%
- Jordyn Male: 9% Female: 91%
- Remy Male: 65% Female: 35%
- Bryce Male: 95% Female: 5%
- Harlow Male: 12% Female: 88%
- Hendrix Male: 95% Female: 5%
- Marley Male: 14% Female: 86%
- London Male: 17% Female: 83%
- Reign Male: 33% Female: 67%
- Casey Male: 78% Female: 22%
- Palmer Male: 16% Female: 84%
- Kendall Male: 16% Female: 84%
- Payton Male: 11% Female: 89%
- Haven Male: 10% Female: 90%
- Teagan Male: 10% Female: 90%
- Harley Male: 20% Female: 80%
- Spencer Male: 81% Female: 19%
- Ali Male: 93% Female: 7%
- Noa Male: 12% Female: 88%
- Blair Male: 7% Female: 93%
- Kamari Male: 74% Female: 26%
- Royal Male: 73% Female: 27%
- Jensen Male: 94% Female: 6%
- Baylor Male: 70% Female: 30%
- Leighton Male: 26% Female: 74%
- Jaylen Male: 93% Female: 7%
- Rylan Male: 76% Female: 24%
- Winter Male: 6% Female: 94%
- Journey
Methodology And Takeaways
Using the most recent name data from the Social Security Administration, we found the most common unisex baby names.
First, we determined the percentage of male and female babies given each name. To qualify as unisex, a name must be used a minimum of 5% of the time by both genders.
For example, 5% of Ezras are female and 95% are male, making Ezra a unisex name by our criteria. However, despite there being 27 boys named Madison in the most recent year, over 99% of Madisons are female so it did not qualify.
This gave us a list of 2,166 names, all of which have some level of ambiguity. However, reading that many names sounds like torture and is begging any couple trying to decide on a baby name to bicker. So with that in mind, we trimmed the list to the top 100 qualifying names by occurrences.
All of the names above were used at least 1,000 times in the most recent year of data. This cut less common names such as “Fate” and “Eleven”, which while very unisex are also very uncommon. One day we will probably make an article about these oddities, but for now the suspense will have to linger (or you can email me, if you have an actual interest in these names).
Names are constantly changing- These are just the stats now
Traditionally, unisex names have been formed by male names slowly being used for females. This hasn’t changed, judging by the data.
The commonly cited example of this, of course, is the name Ashley.
However, a new class of ambiguous name has also formed in modern times. Think Ocean or Royalty, both of which were used more than 500 times last year. They tend to be more evenly split and while not nearly as common as Logan or Ezra, are slowly gaining more widespread use.
Don’t let this list limit you. At the end of the day, it’s your child and names are constantly evolving. This is simply the data, what you do with it is up to you.
Have any questions about the data? Feel free to email me at parentingbynumber@gmail.com for more information
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