Unisex Names for Girls

Oakley, with its nature name roots and its Annie Oakley charm, is a hot name for both genders but more than twice as popular for girls. This name made it into the Top 1000 for the first time in 2013, one of only four girl names starting with O to rank that high. A decade letter, it's aiming for the Top 100.

Lennox is one of the new breed of surname names on the rise as a Scottish name for girls as well as boys. The final x makes the name a bit masculine a la Max and Felix, but female inspirations include Eurythmics' Annie Lennox, Mary Lennox in The Secret Garden, and Lennox Scanlon in sitcom Melissa & Joey.

Reign is one of a new, ahem, kingdom of word names that suggest a high-born child, joining Royal, Lorde, Titan, Saint, King, Princess, and Noble. We predicted this kind of defining name to be the Number 1 baby name trend of 2015...two weeks before Kourtney Kardashian and Scott Disick named their third child, a boy, Reign. Reign is as appropriate for girls as for boys. The female version is often spelled Rain -- or Raine or Rayne -- though that makes is more nature and less royal word name. Reign entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2016.

Most female Rays used to spell their names Rae, but now the Ray Charles, ray-of-sunshine way is cool for both genders.

In Japan the lotus is the Buddhist symbol of purity and perfection. In the US, Ren can also be short for Lauren or Renee, but it could be misspelt as the more popular Wren.

Though it still swims out of sight below the Top 1000, Lowen jumped more than a thousand places in rank for girls between 2022 and 2023, a mark of a name destined for far greater popularity. Nearly a hundred baby girls were named Lowen in the US last year.

One of the most evenly divided unisex names these days; strong and energetic, if overused, for both genders.

The capital of England makes a solid and attractive twenty-first-century choice in the US where it is currently in the Top 1000. Given to nearly 1000 girls and 200 boys each year, it is a unisex option that has been in slow decline since its peak in 2013. Conjuring up images of Big Ben, red phone boxes, and the London Eye for some, but perhaps the rush hour commute and grey skies for others, London is far less popular in the UK and other English-speaking countries.

Rarely used until the 90s, Payton rose up the charts when it was popularized by the football star, Peyton Manning, and, interestingly, by the character of "Peyton Flanders", the villainess of the 1992 film, The Hand That Rocks The Cradle.

With the sounds of Jennifer and Alexis, and the vibes of Eden and Serenity, Genesis is a Biblical inspired choice that has been popular in the US since the 2000’s.

State name Alaska stems from an Aleutian word for the land mass itself. The number of baby girls named Alaska has doubled in the past five years, and is sure to continue increasing as more place names are annexed as baby names. Wilder but as habitable as Dakota or Cheyenne, Alaska is a girls' name choice for the future.

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.

Less common than other virtue names, Liberty is nonetheless a name with a long American heritage.

Best known as one of the moons of Jupiter, Callisto was a nymph coveted by Zeus who was turned into a bear by Hera, becoming the Great Bear (Ursa Major) constellation.

Yael is an Old Testament name often heard in Israel that could work well here: just remember that it's pronounced with two syllables...it is also spelled Ya'el. In the Bible she was a Kenite woman in the time of Deborah who killed the enemy general, Sisera.

Blue suddenly came into the spotlight, as the unusual color name chosen by Beyonce and Jay-Z for their baby girl Blue Ivy. Blue is also a starbaby middle name du jour, used for both sexes in different spellings and forms, from John Travolta and Kelly Preston's Ella Bleu to Alicia Silverstone's Bear Blu. Dave 'The Edge' Evans named his daughter Blue Angel back in 1989.

Ocean is a nature name that comes right out and states its meaning and association. Full of power and depth, Ocean is one of the fastest-rising baby names for both girls and boys, making the US Top 1000 for both genders in 2021. Oceane, the version that's trendy in France, was used for only 11 baby girls in the US in the same year. Ocean-lovers who want to be less obvious can choose such subtler names that mean ocean as Jennifer or Marissa, but coming right out and using Ocean is a perfectly valid way to go.

Amaris sounds like "amorous," which is a loving name for a child, but doesn't really have a clear derivation or meaning of its own. The popular Amara is one of the most international names on the charts, with derivations and meanings in cultures that truly span the globe. And Amariah is an ancient Hebrew name. Still, Amaris is unusual and pretty, and that may be enough.

Halo is a glowing word name that's both cosmic and spiritual, and with its shiny imagery and bright sounds, it was one of the fasted rising names in 2023.

Everett is a male name that's a prime crossover candidate, much like Eliot, Ellis, and Ellery.