All-Gender Naming

Despite the existence of unisex names, naming is very gendered. That's especially true for names with moderate to long usage histories. Most unisex names are nearly or completely contemporary in female usage. 

However, as our society recognizes the difference between sex and gender, naming gets more complicated. Despite finding out the sex of their child during pregnancy, parents really won't know the actual gender for a few years. It is not until children enter early childhood at age 2 that they recognize their gender. If that's the case, what if parents hold off on choosing a name until then? Or else, they could pick unisex names that could fit all genders.

The problem with unisex names, though, is that many have risen so quickly for females in recent years that they're bound to date to an era. Here are some examples:

• Addison (#47) entered the girls' top 1000 in 1994 and reached the top 100 in 2006, jumping all the way from #106 to #28, and then from #28 to #11. 
• Harper (#10) entered the girls' top 1000 in 2004 and reached the top 100 just seven years later. After just four additional years, Harper broke the top 10. 

However, there are some unisex names that have risen more gradually for girls, taking more than 20 years to reach their peak. Here are some examples:

• Aubrey (#56) entered the top 1000 in 1973 yet didn't reach the top 100 until 2006 despite jumping from #153 to #93 that year. Peaking at #15 in 2012, Aubrey is now declining and will sound dated in about twenty years. However, because of its initial gradual rise, it will come back someday. 
• Quinn (#85) entered the top 1000 in 1995 and took 20 years to reach the top 100, where it peaked at #76 in 2017. Due to its quick rise from #488 to #97 between 2009 and 2015, Quinn will also eventually feel dated but will have comeback potential in a century. 

Here are some unisex names that seem to be rising slowly for females at the moment:

• Denver (#894)
• Eden (#130)
• Landry (#879)
• Monroe (#537)
• Sage (#222)

While the names listed above are mostly modern in usage, there are some unisex names with more history. Here are some names that have entered and left the top 1000 at least thirty years ago and are on the rise:

• Blair (#333)
• Charlie (#122)
• Frankie (#591)
• Nova (#38)
• Stevie (#409)

Male Names that Could Become Unisex

With our society moving away from traditional norms, more and more names might become unisex. Here are a few male candidates that could work for females:

• George (unranked)-For males, George was almost always a popular choice. It ran in the female top 1000 through the mid-1950s, too. Plus, British novelist Mary Ann Evans (1819-1880) used George Eliot as her pen name. 
• James (unranked)-James was always in the male top 100. For females, it has actually been used at least five times every year since 1880 while ranking in the top 1000 through the 1980s. Today, James is due for a female comeback. 

Female Names that Could Become Unisex

While I mostly talked about unisex female names in this post, I will discuss the other way around here:

• Clara (unranked)-Classic Clara was always in the top 600, ranking in the top 100 a century ago and again within the last few years. At the same time, Clara ranked in the boys' top 1000 most years through the 1900s. Plus, if we're using Noah and Ezra for boys, why not Clara? 
• Scarlett (unranked)-Today, Scarlett is widely recognized as exclusively feminine thanks to Gone with the Wind. It has a decent history of use for females, too. However, Scarlett actually began as a rare unisex choice. It has recently been used for boys in small numbers, too. 

While many genderless names tend to date, there are some that will last a long time.