Girl name? Boy name? New parents care less about gender in naming their babies
Expect to hear Dylan, Avery and Logan more often in coming months. Those three names topped names.org's list of gender-neutral names in 2023, and the site expects them to grace thousands more birth announcements in 2024.
Americans are picking gender-neutral names for their babies more often than ever before. Just under 17% of 2023's baby names were unisex, based on names.org's criteria.
“I think it’s part of a broader trend of Americans looking for more unique names,” said Matthew Kolb, chief technical officer of names.org.
Gender-neutral baby names that could be the most popular in 2024
Based on data from the Social Security Administration and visitors to its site, names.org predicts these will be the 10 most popular unisex names in 2024. Names.org claims to have a 95% accuracy rate in predicting a year's naming trends.
Gender-neutral baby names rising in popularity
"Especially during the ’90s, we saw gender-neutral names rise in popularity," Kolb said. That corresponded, he said, with "a more dramatic rise in the popularity" of less common names.
What does it take for a name to be considered gender neutral?
Names.org's list of gender-neutral names include those given to both genders at least 5% of the time. That might sound like a low bar. But "91% of names are either 99% male or 99% female," according to names.org. They estimate 60% of the gender-neutral names are given to girls.
Percentage of unisex names nearly doubles since 1980
Gender-neutral names were more common in the South decades ago, but within the past decade, more than 10% of the children born in every state have a unisex name – except for Rhode Island and New Mexico.
Percentage of gender-neutral names in every state
Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia and Alabama have been among the states with the most gender-neutral names for years. Kolb pointed out that during the past decade, the percentages of unisex names in Midwestern states have closed the gap with the South.
Even more children probably answer to gender-neutral names
Because name.org relies on the Social Security Administration's data to collect names, they probably are undercounting the percentages of children who actually answer to gender-neutral names.
"I don't have data on nicknames," Kolb said, which he knows from his own friends leads to undercounting. He said he's close with one family whose daughter Alexandra goes by "Alex." Another has daughter Charlotte, who they call "Charlie."
"Just in my close friend group those would not meet the definition of gender-neutral names," Kolb said. "However, what they go by on a day-to-day basis would be gender neutral."