Cool Unique Unisex Names

Ellington is a swinging musical name, evoking the jazzy and elegant persona of the Duke (born Edward Kennedy Ellington). While that reference may seem to make Ellington a male name, it is also occasionally used for girls.

With its surname-style, literary feel, and similarity in sound to Finley, Juniper, Pippa, Riley, and Presley, Ripley is an unexpected choice that was given to more than 200 girls in each recent year. First used back in the 80s, thanks to the powerful character played by Sigourney Weaver in the Alien films, it began to be used more substantially in the 2000s, after it was chosen by actress Thandiwe Newton for her daughter.

Giovanni is the Italian form of John, and Gio is its dashing nickname. A lot cooler than Johnny, no?

Heaven, Peace, Serenity: parents seem especially attracted to word names that signal paradise, but Halcyon sounds quite feminine, and might conjure up the sleeping pill Halcion.

Guthrie, one of the most attractive Scottish names that's also a surname, has a particularly romantic, windswept aura, with a touch of the buckaroo thrown in.

This super-charged variation of Jett is on the rise -- along with the unlikely newcomer Jetson.

Despite the possibility of gender confusion, the Hero in Greek myth was a woman. Myleene Klass got that when she chose Hero for her daughter, and Sam Taylor-Wood and Aaron Johnson used it as their daughter's middle--and we wouldn't be surprised to see more girls with this heroic name.

This is one of the ninety-nine attributes of Allah, deemed by Muhammad to be a recommended name for a male child. In this country, it's been primarily associated with boxing immortal Muhammad Ali, known as "the greatest." But Ali is also one of the most popular unisex names for both boys and girls.

An inspirational and aspirational word name that evokes ideas of loyalty, faith, honesty, and accuracy, True is a unisex name, which is just slightly more popular for boys. Like an updated form of Trudy and Prue and with the virtuous feel of Grace, Faith, and Hope, True was given to around 200 girls in 2024 (and about 225 boys).

Quincy is a Presidential surname name that actually sounds both cute and strong when used for a girl. For the first time ever, Quincy joined the Top 1000 roster for girls in 2023, given to over 250 baby girls that year.

A Biblical name with a modern feel, Azaria is a spelling variation of the Hebrew name, Azariah. Used as a masculine name in the Bible, this spelling is now more commonly used on girls.

Dune is a name of several layers. It's a modern nature name, like Ocean, Bay and Reef, although rarer, conjuring up images of breezy sand dunes on summer beach days.

Blessing is among the Top 1000 girls' names in the UK and recently joined the ranks in the US as well. With modern spiritual names like Shiloh, Chosen, and Halo trending upwards, Blessing is likely to continue to rise in popularity.

Crimson could be a possible competitor for Scarlett's success, though it's lacking that Johansson charm.

Abbott is a neglected masculine surname with religious overtones, used to describe the head of a monastery or a prominent church figure, such as a priest. Though the feminine nickname Abby could be seen as a slight drawback, that's hardly stopped Abner or Abraham rising up the charts, and besides, there's nothing wrong with a gentler boy name.

One of the fierce new animal names new to name lists, helped by its strong x-ending.

The name from which Jordan arose, Yarden has a nice combination of river imagery and a sound connoting a garden. Like Jordan, used for both sexes.

Poet is a new entry in both the trendy word and occupational categories as well as a member of the growing group of gender neutral names. A handful of baby boys received the name in the US last year. A perfect choice, especially in the middle, for the child of writers or those with a poetic bent. And Po is an adorable nickname for either gender.

The calming variety of marijuana, used as a baby name every year since 1992.

Asking for trouble. Rebel Wilson is a hilarious Australian actress who puts a female spin on this contemporary badass baby name. Still, we think this name is truly gender neutral – though hardly neutral in any other way. Rebel is undoubtedly one of the edgiest girls' names starting with the letter R.