Newly fashioned but familiar and with an on trend, unisex feel, Addison seems like the perfect solution for anyone who can’t decide between Madison, Adeline, and Alison. 
Addison really took off in the mid-2000’s, making a spectacular jump from being outside the Top 100, to being nearly within the Top 10, just two years later. Undoubtedly influenced by the introduction of Dr. Addison Shephard to “Grey’s Anatomy”, the name was at its peak in 2009. 
While it’s been steadily falling back down the charts, it does remain a popular choice. Currently given to nearly 4000 girls in the US each year, it ranks highly in New Zealand and Canada too. In the UK, it has made significant gains, becoming familiar for girls – and for boys too. 
Borrowed from an English surname, meaning “son of Adam,” Addison joined Madison as one of the few “son of” names to be used almost exclusively on girls. It also joins the 17 strong crowd of “Ad- names” in the charts for girls, including Adeline, Adelyn, and Adelaide. 
Contemporary and cool with a cute, sassy nickname, Addison has been a popular choice for celebrities. Baseball player Jason Bay, TV personality DeAnna Papas Stagliano, NASCAR driver Sam Hornish Jr, and Joe and Kendra Duggar all have daughters called Addison. 
It is unclear if Addison will fall as fast as it rose, but for now it remains comfortably within the Top 100. So, if love Addison but want your choice to stand out, you could try: Sullivan “Sunny”; Halliday “Hallie”; Barrett “Betty”; or Alcott “Lottie.”

Addison

Though it relates to the Irish original, Ashlyn and its next most popular form, Ashlynn, owe more of their popularity as baby names in the US to the megastar Ashley, though all three have been dropping on the charts lately.

Ashlyn

Bailey -- a jaunty surname -- was first used for a female TV character in 1978 in the show WKRP in Cincinnaati, then caught on big time. Bailey's still an appealing choice, though, and a celebrity fave. Parents of daughters named Bailey include Scot Baio and Stella McCartney.

Bailey

Credit, of course, to the artist for inventing this secretive pseudonym, but we actually have Hilary Duff to thank for Banksy as a baby name. Banksy is Duff's nickname for her daughter Banks, born in 2018. Banksy debuted on the charts in 2020, when it was used for seven baby girls.

Banksy

Beckett

Beckham

Beckley

Bellamy is emerging as an up-and-coming <a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">girls' name</a>, an Irish surname-y riff on the super-popular Bella series of names. While the Bella connection makes Bellamy sound a little trendier and more popular than it really is, we see the name possibly rising through the ranks for both genders in the coming years.

Bellamy

Norwegian city name heard much more often as a last name than a first.

Bergen

Despite the strong association with the University of California, Berkeley, the more common version of this name omits the second E, Berkley.
 
Beware if you travel across the pond — Berkeley is pronounced BARK-lee in England.

Berkeley

Berklee

The name of an affluent suburb of Columbus, Ohio and a section of Greater London, Bexley is increasingly being coopted by parents looking for a novel name in the Kinsley/AInsley/Paisley family. Bexley debuted on the US Top 1000 in 2016 and is definitely one of the trendiest <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/b">girl names starting with B</a>. Think of it as a 21st century Becky.

Bexley

Blair with a little something extra, though that's hardly needed.

Blaire

Blakeley is one of the many -ley ending surnames that is being adopted as a first name, updating the 80s darlings Blake and Ashley.

Blakeley

Boston

Brecklyn

A short, breezy name with a sophisticated yet upbeat image, that doesn't betray its Irish roots.
Bree first came to notice here in 1971 via the complex prostitute character in the movie Klute, which earned Jane Fonda an Oscar. More recently, it was tied to the character of Bree Van de Kamp on Desperate Housewives.
 Other recent references include Stephenie Meyer's novella The Short Second Life of Bree Turner in the Twilight series. And in the popular Fancy Nancy children's book series, Bree is Nancy's bff.
 The Bree spelling is much preferable to the cheese-related Brie.

Bree

Fairy-tale memories of Sleeping Beauty inspire some parents—such as Rachel Bilson and Hayden Christensen—to call their daughters Briar Rose. But Briar plus a different middle name might work even better. It's one of the newly popular nature-word names, charting in the US for the first time in 2015 for both genders.
 While there are about four girls named Briar to every three boys, the name is on the rise for both genders. It could make for an interesting choice to honor a Brian.

Briar

Out-of-the-way place name (it's an antiquated holiday spot on England's south coast) that might make a brilliant choice. Actor/director Jon Favreau named his daughter Brighton Rose.

Brighton

This English surname turned girls' first name owes its rise to supermodel Christie Brinkley, who first rose to fame in the late 70s and early 80s. Brinkley appeared on the charts for the first time in 1985, peaking at 90 births in 2012 and 2013. It probably derives from the Old English masculine name Brynca + "ley" (woodland clearing).

Brinkley

Brooke variation – or is the other way around? – that makes it more a nature name, less an eighties-style androgynous name.

Brook

Brooke has long projected an aura of sleek sophistication, and can also be seen as a stylish water name.
 It was Brooke Shields (born Christa) who took it from quietly fashionable to ultra trendy when she was just a young girl; socialite Brooke (born Roberta Brooke) Astor gave it social status. 
 Brookes have appeared on soaps like The Bold and the Beautiful" and All My Children, and on Melrose Place and One Tree Hill.
Chynna Phillips and Billy Baldwin have a daughter named Brooke.

Brooke

This extra-N variation is hot on the tails of mega popular Brooklyn and takes it a bit further from the New York borough.

Both spellings are off their highs of around 2010, but Brooklyn is holding up better -- not surprisingly, as original names usually have more staying power than the variations they inspire.

While the popularity of the name Brooklyn is often credited to its choice by Victoria and David Beckham for their first (now married) son, the name is overwhelmingly more popular for girls than for boys. Brooklyn was used for about 3200 baby girls and only 57 baby boys last year, while the Brooklynn version was used only for girls, given to 874 baby girls in the US.

Brooklynn

A fresh and gender-neutral take on Gen Z favorite Brooke, Brooks is a stylish and sleek choice. Currently in the US Top 100 for boys, Brooks is also given to 70 girls each year. A small number at the moment, but, with Harper, Avery, Emerson and Marlowe trending upwards, that number could increase in coming years. 
 
If you like the wordy, surname style of Brooks, you could also consider Bridgers, Baylor, Rivers, Truett, Rayne or Lark.

Brooks

Brooksie

Bryn is an up-and-coming gentle, yet substantial, Welsh name that would also be effective in the middle spot. In Wales it's a traditional boys' name, but it's far more popular for girls now in the US.
 Bryn entered the U.S. girls' popularity list in 1999 but is outranked by the Brynn spelling. Reality star Bethenny Frankel named her daughter Bryn in 2010.
 Trivia tidbit: Bryn Mawr college was the first institute of higher learning to offer graduate degrees to women.

Bryn

Brynn outshines the original Welsh Bryn in the popularity stakes. This simple, brisk name might be seen as a combination of Bree and Lynn, an androgynous-sounding choice that especially in this spelling is not truly unisex: Brynn, for boys, is not even in the Top 1000.
 
Other variations trendy now include Brynna, Brynnan, and Brynnley spelled many different ways.

Brynn

Bronx

Charleston is one of those <a href="https://nameberry.com">baby names</a> that may become more popular thanks to its nickname Charlie, now used about equally for boys and girls. If you want to call your daughter Charlie but believe she needs a more formal name, you might try Charleston instead of Charlotte. And Charleston is a lovely city in South Carolina.

Charleston

Chelsea is still being used, but it was much more popular a few decades ago--it peaked at Number 15 in 1992. Chelsea first entered the American consciousness in a major way via the character Jane Fonda played in On Golden Pond in 1981 and later of course was frequently in the headlines when Chelsea Clinton (whose name was inspired by the lyric of a the Joni-Mitchell-Judy Collins song "Chelsea Morning") became First Daughter.

Chelsea

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. 

Dylan

Ellington's popularity may be inspired by jazz great Duke, but the name is used slightly more often for girls today, perhaps because of its trendy El- beginning. Like a host of other El- names, from the familiar Ella to Eleanor to the more niche Elodie and Elula, Ellington carries the popular Ellie nickname.


Ellington

Fallon is one of several boyish surname names introduced in the over-the-top 1980s nighttime soap Dynasty: they sounded cutting-edge at the time, but no longer.

Fallon

When Frankie meets Brooklyn, what happens? You get Franklin, a Presidential name used almost exclusively for boys up until now. But parents who want an out-of-the-box long form for popular nickname Frankie might consider this.

Franklin

This name is a combination of the traditional Grace and popular suffix -lyn. Both Gracelyn and spelling variation Gracelynn work as alternatives to the highly popular Brooklyn.

Gracelyn

With Brooklyn, Trenton, and Camden on the rise, Harlem can't be far behind -- it's already been picked by one celebrity, and it certainly has a strong historical and cultural identity.

Harlem

Modern, feminine form of the rustic, boyish name Harlan. With the popularity of Harley and Harlow in recent years, it is no surprise that Harlyn on the rise too. The name Harlyn was given to 134 baby girls in 2022.

Harlyn

Kim Basinger and Alec Baldwin put Ireland on the map when they chose it as a first for their daughter, saying that geographic names were a family tradition. And it seems they were a bit ahead of the curve (or trendsetting)—Ireland has been among the fastest-rising names of recent years. Other Irish place names include Shannon, Kerry, Galway, and Dublin.

Ireland

Jacklyn

Jocelyn has gotten new life and popularity as a result of the current passion for lyn endings. Though it was a male name in medieval times, now Jocelyn couldn't sound more softly feminine.
 John Galsworthy's 1989 novel Jocelyn is part of his Forsyte Saga. Singer Joss Stone's birth name was Jocelyn.
 Jocelyn would make a pretty namesake name to honor a Grandma Joyce.

Jocelyn

A huge name in the late 90's and most of the 00's, Kaitlyn's been on a downward trend in recent years. Kaitlyn and its soundalikes have been so well used in the US that they can no longer be seen as fresh, but it's still relatively popular in Canada.

Kaitlyn

Kensington is a place name with a number of referents; there are cities by the name in Australia, Canada, South Africa, the UK, and the US. As a girls' name, it entered the US Top 1000 in 2015, likely as a fresher way to get to nickname Kensie/Kenzie than Mackenzie, Mckenzie, or Makenzie.

Kensington

<a href="https://nameberry.com/girls-names">Baby girl names</a> ending in lyn seem to become more numerous all the time, and this choice combining the pretty nature suffix Lake with lyn is destined for more widespread use. Lakelyn and her sister spelling Lakelynn both entered the US charts for the first time in 2022, and are sure to continue to rise.

Lakelyn

Not quite a nature name and not quite a surname — whatever Laken is or isn't, we know it's definitely a name to watch.

Laken

This phonetic spelling of a traditional Scottish male name wasn't seen until used by Vince Vaughn for his daughter. As Lachlan becomes more of an established boy's name in the US, more parents are turning to the Locklyn spelling on the girl's side.

Locklyn

The capital of the United Kingdom makes a solid and attractive twenty-first-century choice, with a lot more substance than Paris. It's in the unisex column, with both girls and boys given the name in recent years.
 There was a rich girl character named London Tipton — inspired by Paris Hilton — on the Disney TV series The Suite Life of Zack and Cody beginning in 2005. Paris named her daughter London in 2023, continuing the city name theme and nodding to her Disney Channel facsimile.

London

Londyn is now a more popular name than the original London for girls.  Some parents feel that varying the spelling nudges the name away from over-identification with the British capitol. Substituting a y for another vowel is also seen by some as more feminine. For boys, London is five times as popular as Londyn -- though both variations are far more popular for girls.

Londyn

Since we wrote a book called Beyond Jennifer & Jason, Madison & Montana, encouraging parents to move beyond overused names, it's no secret what we think of this trendy surname name, inspired by a mermaid named Madison in the 1980s movie Splash.
 
Madison originated as an English surname, a variant of Mathieson, meaning "son of Matthew." It is occasionally translated as "son of Maud," as Maddy was historically a nickname for Maud. It was introduced as a feminine given name when the mermaid character in Splash takes her name from a street sign on New York’s Madison Avenue..
 
Madison ranked in the Top 10 for nearly 20 years, from the late 1990s until 2015, and has been on a gradual decline since then. But there are still more than 5000 baby girls named Madison in the US each year (along with a few dozen baby boys).
 
Madison’s longtime popularity can be credited to its connection to several of the hottest naming trends of the 21st century so far. It’s a place name, the capital of Wisconsin, ala Savannah and Sienna. It’s also a surname with an Old Money veneer in the vein of Addison and Emerson that feels gender-neutral even if it’s not.
 
And it may have felt like a fresh way to get to the popular nickname Maddie or Maddy, though the classic Madelyn may have more staying power.

Madison

Manhattan is the smallest yet one of the most populous New York City boroughs. The area was historically inhabited by Munsee Lenape and Wappinger tribes of Native Americans, and the name Manhattan is derived from the Munsee Lenape language. Hickory trees that were used to make bows grew on the southern part of Manhattan, which inspired the term manaháhtaan, from the Munsee Lenape words for "gather" and "bow."
 
Manhattan debuted as a girl name in 2000 and has been used sparingly since then. Hattie is a potential nickname.

Manhattan

Male name that seems feminine enough to switch genders, if you're looking for a new lyn spin. 

Newlyn

Oaklyn is one of the oak-related names moving up the popularity charts, along with more popular sister Oakley and near-identical twin Oaklynn. The Oaklynn spelling used for three times as many baby girls as Oaklyn -- 1800 vs. 600. 

The suffix lyn means lake in Welsh so you can think of this as meaning oak lake.

Oaklyn

With Parker crossing over to the girls' side in recent years, now almost in the Top 100, some parents are looking for a more overtly feminine version. Parklynn, with its' trendy -lynn ending, was among the fastest-rising names in 2022, and the Parklyn spelling had a small boost as well.

Parklyn

Quinn is one of the first popular Irish unisex surnames, a strong and attractive choice on the rise for girls but still popular for boys. Quinn was used for about 3000 baby girls and 700 boys in the US last year.
 
Quinn is the Anglicized version of the Irish patronymic surname Ó Cuinn, meaning "descendent of Conn." Conn has two possible derivations—the Old Irish cond, meaning "intellect," or cenn, meaning "chief." One of the most notable Quinn clans was from County Tyrone in Northern Ireland. 
 Quinn started taking off for girls in the mid-nineties, possibly influenced by the popular show Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Since then, there have been female Quinns on the animated MTV show Daria, on Zoey 101, and—most prominently—on Glee, featuring cute blond cheerleader character Quinn Fabray.
 Some other, more <a href="https://nameberry.com/lists/category/unusual-names">unusual names</a> with the Q-factor: Quincy, Quintina, Quintana, Quinta, Quilla--and, on a different note, Queenie.

Quinn

After entering the Top 1000 in 2009, Raelyn has climbed the charts. It's ridden the coattails of Raelynn (which remains more popular), but also may be benefiting from the rise of Brooklyn. The use of -Lyn and -Lynn suffixes has grown in recent years, even as the name Lynn itself languishes.

Raelyn

A place name with a deep Southern accent, the once-obscure Savannah shot to fame, with others of its genre, on the heels of the best seller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, which was set in the mossy Georgia city of Savannah. Originally a substitute for the overused Samantha, Savannah is now becoming overused itself, long among the top <a href="https://nameberry.com/search/girls-names/s">girls' names starting with S</a>.
 Before that, there were Savannahs in the novel and movie The Prince of Tides, in the Terry McMillan hit novel and film Waiting to Exhale, played by Whitney Houston and, even earlier, in a 1982 movie called Savannah Smiles.
 Savannah has actually been on the popularity list since records started being kept in the 1880's; she's been in the Top 100 since 1993. Desperate Housewives' Marcia Cross chose Savannah for her twin daughter, and it's the name of Queen Elizabeth's first great-grandchild. And Savannah Guthrie can be seen every morning on the Today Show.

Savannah

Lynn is a particularly popular suffix for combination names, dating from the days of Marilyn through Katelynn to today's Ashlyn and Brooklyn and, right, Skylynn (or Skylyn or Skylinn or Skylynne).  Skylynn is probably more influenced by the trendy Skylar than by word name Sky, but Skylar itself is a variation on the Dutch Schuyler.

Skylynn

Sydney was a hot girls' name in the 1990s, but she's arguably still cool. One of the original old man names adopted for baby girls, Sydney's popularity may be down but she's not out. 
 Cool girl actress Sydney Sweeney, of Euphoria and White Lotus, is doing a lot to burnish Sydney's image. The city of Sydney, Australia is another familiar reference.
 Katharine Hepburn played a female Sidney in her first movie, A Bill of Divorcement and lately there have been women named Sydney all over the big and small screens, including Annette Bening in The American President, and on Alias, Parenthood and Hope and Faith.
Actor Sidney Poitier named his daughter Sydney back in 1973,

Sydney

This name of one of the most romantic cities in the world could easily find its way onto an American baby girl's birth certificate. 

Venice

Williamsburg

York is one of those names that's always been around but has never gone anywhere. There are records of baby Yorks born in 1880, yet since then it has never been given to more than 20 children in a single year. York has only ever charted as a girl name twice: in 2018, when it was given to five baby girls, and in 2020 to six girls.

York

MiaLen's list "Alternatives to Brooklyn" of 60 great name ideas: Addison - York!

Alternatives to Brooklyn

Brooklyn is the hottest New York place name as of now, following names like Katelyn and Madison to wider use. Here are some similar names. 