Top Unisex Names 2013

Rowan maintains the Number One spot, as it has all year, on our list of Most Popular Unisex Names 2013.

Quinn and Kai are second and third.  Our two new entrants to the Top 20 are the celebrity-inspired North along with Arden at Number 16.

We define unisex names as names given to less than 90 percent of either gender in the U.S.  We include the gender split taken from the most recent Social Security figures, which you can view in more detail on the chart on our Unisex Baby Names home page.

Our popularity lists are tabulated by ranking the unique page views each name attracts out of the over 20 million total views of our baby name pages in 2013.  Starting in 2014, we’ll be able to calculate the number of views of our names by gender and so will rank names considered unisex with the overall girls’ and boys’ popularity lists.

One trend evident from this list is the unusual predominance of names that start with the R, a trend that applies to unique names as well as unisex names, with E-starting names in second place.  Remy is the name most evenly divided in use between the sexes, with Marlowe the choice used most often for girls and Kai leaning furthest toward the male side.

Top Unisex Names

1. Rowan – 37 percent female, 63 percent male

2. Quinn – 68 percent female, 32 percent male

3. Kai – 13 percent female, 87 percent male

4. Sawyer – 17 percent female, 83 percent male

5. Charlie – 41 percent female, 59 percent male

6. Avery – 81 percent female, 19 percent male

7. North**

8. Finley – 66 percent female, 34 percent male

9. Elliot – 17 percent female, 83 percent male

10. Emery – 80 percent female, 20 percent male

11. Emerson – 61 percent female, 39 percent male

12. Rory – 31 percent female, 69 percent male

13. Riley – 59 percent female, 41 percent male

14. Marlowe – 88 percent female, 12 percent male

15. River – 36 percent female, 64 percent male

16. Arden* — 74 percent female, 26 percent male

17. Peyton – 68 percent female, 32 percent male

18. Remy – 46 percent female, 54 percent male

19. Sage – 66 percent female, 34 percent male

20. Ellis – 35 percent female, 65 percent male

**All 13 babies named North on the 2012 Social Security list were male, but most views of the name on our site in 2013 were inspired by baby girl North, daughter of Kim Kardashian and Kanye West.

Once more, we invite you to guess the next name on the list.  Every person to guess the correct Number 21 on the list wins a copy of our ebook The Nameberry Guide to Off-the-Grid Baby Names in the digital format of their choice.