Unisex girls names

Hot star Ashton Kutcher is pushing this unisex choice toward the boys' camp, but its variation Ashtyn is on the rise.

More often used as a boys' name, parents have also been choosing Austin for their little girls - as the 176 female Austins born in the US in 2022 demonstrate. May we suggest the literary version "Austen" for girls, as a well-deserved homage to the famed English author Jane Austen?

Billie is a tomboy nickname name, part of the growing trend for using boyish nicknames for girls and now destined for stardom along with its most famous contemporary bearer, music sensation Billie Eilish.

The unisex Blake, which indeed has two conflicting meanings, has a briskly efficient image when used for a girl.

Callen is a unisex Gaelic name growing in popularity here. Its newfound trendiness is possibly related to the Chris O'Donnell character on "NCIS: Los Angeles", known only as G. Callen.

Stronger and more contemporary twist on Carla or Carly, Carlin was used just about equally for girls and boys in the US last year.

In the US, nearly 300 baby girls were named Chandler in the US last year, which first appeared on the girls' Top 1000 in the heyday of Friends. While the TV character was masculine, today the name is 43 percent female and climbing, making it one of the trendiest boy names for girls.

Once a common boy name in Ireland, the dynamic Darby now has a definite unisex feel. A bit like a mash up between Darcy and Ruby, it appeared in the US Top 1000 in the 90s, peaking in 1995 when it reached #499. It's likely this sudden interest in Darby was owing to the 90s book and film, The Pelican Brief, starring Julia Roberts as a law student called Darby.

Drew is an elegant formerly male-only alternative to Andy that joined the stylishly upscale Paige-Brooke-Blair sorority, thanks largely to Drew Barrymore. Barrymore comes by her first name legitimately: it was the maiden name of her paternal great-grandmother, Georgiana 'Georgie' Drew Barrymore, one of many esteemed actors in her family history.

Boys' favorite retains more of its poetic, windswept quality when used for a girl, as Robin Wright and Sean Penn did. Alyssa Milano gave her daughter Elizabella Dylan as a middle name.

This was Irish name was once used exclusively for boys, and remains so in England and Wales where it's a Top 50 choice. In the US, however, celebs Jason Sehorn, Angie Harmon, and Lisa Marie Presley inspired many parents to consider this name for girls instead, after they chose it for their daughters. In fact, up until 2024, it ranked considerably higher for girls than it did for boys.

The most enduringly popular hero of Irish myth was Finn McCool, whose name is one of the coolest ever. When used for the female protagonist of How to Make an American Quilt, Finn established its hipness for girls as well.

This color name, spelled either Gray or Grey is rapidly catching on. Actress Jenny von Oy recently called her daughter Gray Audrey.

Hadley, most famous as the name of Ernest Hemingway's first wife, is more sophisticated, professional, and modern than cousins Harley, Haley, or Hayden. The hit book The Paris Wife, a novel by Paula McLain told from the point of view of Hadley Hemingway (born Elizabeth Hadley Richardson), has helped popularize the name, which also appears on the vampire show True Blood. Hadley could become this generation's Hailey. Adley, a mashup of Hadley and Addie, has also appeared on the scene.

Once a macho biker name, Harley is now showing its softer side. In the UK, Harley is predominantly masculine, but it's currently more popular for girls than boys in the US.

Hayes is a stylish surname name given to more and more baby girls -- nearly 100 in the US last year. That's a considerable number, but many fewer than the nearly 1800 baby boys named Hayes.

This surname gained momentum in the 1990s, when it was particularly in vogue for males. However, it seems to be experiencing a surge for females—it was one of the fastest-rising names of 2013, jumping 266 spots back into the Top 1000.